The Citroen C5 X is an intriguing sort of car, as big Citroens tend to be. It’s quite hard to know what to make of it when you first clap eyes on it. For Citroenists, it has a few styling nods to past glories, but in contemporary terms it looks very much like an enlarged C4, if you’re familiar with that one, with its high waistline and sloping roof, but the C5 X is rather longer and in fact has a noticeably big overhanging boot at the back. It is, very much as Citroen intended, a combination of an executive saloon, an SUV, an SUV-coupe crossover and an estate car.
It’s got a bit of everything about it, and it all comes together rather well. It’s supposed to be a “celebration” of the likes of the glorious CX, XM and C6, for example (though not the classic DS, which, presumably, is what their new DS brand is all about). Like the best of the big Citroens, it has presence on the road and an attractive sort of stance. It’s sleekly aerodynamic, with a drag coefficient of 0.29, and the SUV-like height gives you a nice commanding view of the world. It’s no Range Rover, so you don’t quite feel majestic up there, but it feels good all the same.
