Citroen let me raid its museum and drive some classics

You know you're having a good day when French brand Citroen lets you drive some of its most iconic cars - straight off the Citroen Conservatoire museum showroom floor.

Yep, off the back of the 2018 Paris motor show in October, Citroen trusted me (and a few other Aussie journalists) to safely pilot some of its best-known models.

And so, when I found out I'd be allowed to get behind the wheel of some Citroen classics - a few of which are worth seriously big bucks now - I felt a mix of nervous trepidation and genuine excitement.

XM

First off was the XM, a delightfully boxy diesel manual sedan-slash-hatchback from 1996 with hardly only 1234 kilometres on the clock. With such low mileage there's no wonder it felt tight - in a 1990s kind of way - but its soft ride and long-throw manual shift action wouldn't be out of place in something sourced from China today.

The blue velour trim was delightful, and it was generally fine… but this was hardly the model I wanted to drive most.

Traction Avant

If I ever wanted to picture myself as a 1930s gangster, this could be the car I'd want to be seen in - pinstripe three-piece on, hair like an oil slick, a crumbling cigar at the edge of my mouth, Tommy Gun at the ready.

But the Citroen Traction Avant wasn't designed with that in mind - it was a pioneering family car, the first mass-produced model with four-wheel independent suspension, and the first mass-produced front-wheel drive - that's what traction avant translates to.

While the Traction Avant I drove had that 1930s look about it, it was actually a 1952 long boot model.

Our car had a strong 2.9-litre in-line six-cylinder engine with a three-speed manual column shift, and no synchromesh, which made for some wince-worthy stopping procedures. But when it was moving, boy did it move - not at breakneck speed, but rapidly enough, and with plush ride comfort, too.

DS

The Déesse, or goddess, of the Citroen range has been named the most beautiful car ever made, and it's easy to see why when you take in the spectacle of the big, long, flying saucer in person.

Apparently the development of this model, the successor to the Traction Avant, was conducted in secret over 18 years, and at the time of its unveiling in 1955 it was heralded as a design trophy, a car that looked as though it had "fallen from the sky". It saw some updates over its 20-year tenure, but still looks futuristic today, I reckon.

It's easy to see why. Its sleek body and squat stance - down to the fitment of Citroen's patented hydropneumatic suspension - meant that the car would slink to a stance that plenty of Euro modders wish they could achieve, and it was auto-levelling, raising up for easier access, and lowering to improve handling.

It's a beautiful thing in action, and unlike some modern day airbag systems that take up to 30 seconds to adjust things, the DS dumps itself like a lowrider at Santa Monica beach.

To drive, the DS was the most challenging of this trio - and that came down to its button brake pedal, which was both stupidly jumpy and also very hard to judge and modulate. There were a few 'almost' moments when riding two-up… almost having the passenger's head smash into the windscreen, that is.

2CV

The 2CV was what I was looking forward to most. It's the quintessential Citroen, a storied member of the family that debuted at the Paris motor show in 1948 - yes, some 70 years before my drive of it. It was built from 1948 to 1990 in multiple body styles, making it one of the longest continually produced models in history.

They may be rare today, but more than nine million (that's 9,000,000,000 - or about nine times as many cars are sold in Australia annually) examples of the 2CV and its variations were sold over that period, and while - admittedly - the fact there were a few dozen on the floor at the Conservatoire made it feel a tad less special, the drive experience lived up to expectations.

Okay, if you've heard of the manual shift action of the 2CV, it's not as bad as it's made out to be. Once you get your head around the fact you actually push and pull the shifter under the dashboard, it's fairly simple.

The steering of 'my' 1961 2CV was light and a little jittery, which I loved from this front-engine, front-wheel drive model. But when I reached the first corner, I found out what made it so much fun - it feels like it's going to hit its mirrors on the road, there's that much body roll!

The original idea of the super soft suspension in the 2CV was that it could deal with driving through farmers' paddocks and also work as a family car. Plus the removable seating - if you can call it seating - meant it was possible for owners to go picnicking without having to pack folding chairs.

Ever wondered what 2CV or deux chevaux actually means? It translates loosely to two horsepower. I've never ridden two horses at once, but that sounds about right to me.

If you could drive any old car on the planet, what would it be? Tell us in the comments below.