From France with Love (via Germany): Citroën C6

Am I the only Citroën C6 fan in the UK to have missed this German TV ad? How come YouTube – the world’s second biggest search engine – has failed to notify me of its existence? It’s very quick to suggest I may be interested in a video of a kitten falling off a skateboard. Or the greatest goals of Cristiano Messi. Or even a young lady’s shirt ‘accidentally’ coming undone whilst taking a passenger ride in a drifting Toyota.

But Sean Connery in a Citroën C6? Arguably the greatest ever Bond driving what is undeniably one of the loveliest Citroëns ever made? Not a dicky bird. Not even a whisper.

Well YouTube, I’m feeling a little shaken and more than a little stirred.

As far as I’m aware, this ad never aired in the UK. It’s quite obviously a German TV ad – the language and German web address present pretty obvious clues to its origin. Which is strange, given that the Citroën C6 is about as German as a missed penalty.

Three things strike me about this video.

Number one – Mr Connery is clearly enjoying the Citroën C6 experience. So much so that by the time he reaches his hotel, he’s magically transformed from The League of Extraordinary Gentleman to Goldfinger.

Number two – the Germans clearly have a sense of humour. This becomes clear when the hotel porter greets Connery with a wonderfully cliched ‘Mr Connery, we’ve been expecting you’.

And number three – I thought it was only German to English TV ads that were badly dubbed. Look and listen out for Sean Connery’s response at the end, in which he does a brilliant impression of a yawning cat.

The Citroën C6 remains a brilliant car that is still hovering just above the magic £5k mark on the used car market. Misunderstood by the British public, one day it will be revered as highly as the DS and SM are today. Buy one, enjoy it and cherish it. Just don’t spend more than £20,000 unless you’re prepared to lose an awful lot of money in the short term.

Would the Citroën C6 have fared better in the UK with the help of Sean Connery? I guess we’ll never know, but it certainly wouldn’t have done it any harm.

Who knows, perhaps Daniel Craig will be rolled out to promote the new Citroën C4 Picasso this year? Now that’s something PetrolBlog would like to see. Besides, it’s not as if the DB5 is likely to be doing any 007-related duties any time soon. The last time we saw it, the old girl was doing a very good impression of a barbecue somewhere in Scotland.