In article ,
The Other Mike writes:

Jacking up a hydro-pneumatically suspended Citroen wasn't that easy if
the floorpan was only just clearing the ground.

Of course you could start the engine, lift the suspension to its
highest setting, stick a block of wood or a prop underneath, move the
suspension to its lowest setting and the wheel(s) would lift off the
ground, but by then you wouldn't need to spin the wheel to start the
engine.

Part of the problem starting that car was that the starter was also
driving the hydro-pneumatic pump. There was many a day when the whole
family lept into the car as we set off to go somewhere, and it wouldn't
then start. This was met with the cry "everyone out", at which point
we all got out except dad, and then it started OK (and pumped up the
suspension), and we got back in again.

Back on to batteries, the car wasn't that good with them either.
Although alternators were standard on most cars by then, the Citroen
had a much more crude hybrid, which used an alternator to generate
the electricity, but the regulation and charging was done with
dynamo-style circuit using switching relays, and unlike a real
alternator, it couldn't charge the battery at tickover speed.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]