YORK, England — Through the hour our wave century were given began, maximum American automotive customers had transform absolutely dedicated to pickups and SUVs as their most popular rides. Pass the Atlantic at that hour, alternatively, and also you’d in finding that the compact MPV used to be one of the crucial widespread possible choices for Western Ecu drivers in search of enough of passenger and load territory in a mini bundle. The Citroën Xsara Picasso used to be one of the best-selling compact MPVs of its era, and I’ve discovered this ’06 in a self-service scrapyard (as they call them here) in York, England.
It’s been 51 years since new Citroëns have been offered in the USA, and so I’ve best controlled to document a handful of them throughout my junkyard travels. Citroën began building cars in 1918, merged with Peugeot in 1974 and became part of the mighty Stellantis Empire in 2021.
How did it occur that Citroën is permitted to playground Pablo Picasso‘s well-known signature on its automobiles? In 1989, Pablo’s son sold the rights to Citroën for $20 million.
The brochures for this car endure ill very crispy at the Pablo Picasso connection.
Even if the Xsara Picasso by no means got here near to being offered in the USA, right here’s one within the booklet negotiating the Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange in Los Angeles (the place the bus-jump scene in 1994’s “Speed” took place).
The California prime barren region in 2006, the place police officers in 15-year-old box Caprices conceal at the back of Picasso billboards to deliver to bust rushing Citroëns.
The U.Okay.-market 2006 Xsara Picasso used to be to be had in Want, VTX and Unique short ranges. This one is the bottom Want fashion. Those badges now survive my storage wall.
For a automotive that weighed smartly below 3,000 kilos, the Xsara Picasso presented a great quantity of inside territory. There’s room for 5 inside of, with airliner-style folding tables for the rear-seat passengers; the ones rear seats are detachable to put together room for large shipment.
This kind of car by no means stuck on in North The usa, in spite of the best efforts of Japanese manufacturers.
The Xsara Picasso used to be succeeded via the C4 Picasso, which has since developed into the kind of crossover SUV that would look right at home on American roads. It took awhile, however the SUV craze after all has conquered Europe.
The Xsara Picasso used to be some of the first automobiles designed via Donato Coco, who went on to work at Ferrari and Lotus. Along with his paintings designing many Citroën fashions, Coco used to be at the back of the styling of the Ferrari 458 Italia.
This one is a petrol-engined fashion with five-speed handbook transmission, that includes 110 horses underneath its bonnet. Diesels and automatics have been to be had as smartly.
U-Tug-It York’s inventory listing for this car displays that it had 114,279 miles at the odometer when it used to be retired with front-end harm. A test of its MOT history signifies that it handed its ultimate inspection in October 2022 and that its registration used to be allowed to run out a yr next.
Citroën were given its cash’s significance out of that Picasso branding offer.
The ones rebellious assembly-line robots have had their minds freed via the spirit of a long-dead Spaniard.
The faces of habitual French youngsters transform terrifying Cubist sculptures once they trip in an Xsara Picasso.
Richard Hammond reviewed the first-year Xsara Picasso in 2000.
