Unless you’ve spent a lot of time in Europe or have strong general knowledge in regards to France’s automobile industry, you probably don’t even know what a Citroen Xantia is.
It’s an old, but still sharp-looking, D-segment family car designed by Bertone and built as a successor to the Citroen BX, on the same platform as the Peugeot 406. It was replaced by the Citroen C5 after 10 years of production, between 1992 and 2002. Higher-spec models even came with a hydropneumatic self-leveling suspension, a pretty big deal at the time.
Other impressive features included the self-steer rear axle, where the rear wheels would turn in line with the front wheels when tackling tight bends. The Xantia was also the last Citroen model to use a common hydraulic circuit for suspension, brakes and steering, taking after the iconic DS.
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So what might this clever French family car have in common with the Pontiac Firebird? Well, nothing, of course. The fact that this particular model that was caught by Carscoops reader Javier B. in Europe is wearing Trans Am Special Edition decals is pretty ridiculous. It even has a hood bulge to hide the NOT 6.6-liter V8 engine.
In reality, the most powerful engine ever used in a Xantia was a 2.9 V6 unit with 188 HP (190 PS) and 197 lb-ft (235 Nm) of torque, introduced initially on the Peugeot 406 Coupe.
In the end, these mods (bulge, rear spoiler), together with the muscle car decals do very little to honor either of the two models in question. To make matters worse, the execution is really poor too, to the point where we genuinely wish we never even laid eyes on it.
Thanks to Javier for the pics!
