Keith Higgins  

I first met Keith early in 1957 when I started at Maxim’s as an apprentice. At that time he had a maroon L15 and was waiting for a new one.  The new one was to be painted two tone but the maroon one was involved in an accident and the new car (a black one) was put into service.   Oxy decokes were the rage at the time and we had just done Keith’s (still black) and given it a tune.

Very keen on Performance, Keith tried it out that night and unfortunately bent it rather badly and did slight damage to himself.

Still limping and nursing wounds from this he bought a 21/2 litre Riley and came in all smiles because for the first time in his life he had done  100 miles per hour.

 When his L15 was repaired it was painted two tone in what he called his lettuce and beetroot colours.  At first the lettuce was very bright and it matured into deep cream and looked really smart.  For a time, Keith was in Mareeba.

It was during this time that the D.S. was announced and one of the early claims for this new car was that a glass of champagne could be held in the rear seat at 80 m.p.h. without spilling a drop ant that small print could be read with no trouble.  Not to be outdone he wrote down and told us that he had driven at 80 m.p.h. with a glass of water in one hand and read aloud the fine print of a bible!  Who needed a D.S.?

Keith was without a Citroen for a few years but eventually succumbed to a used D.S. which I advised him not to buy. Those early D.S.s were a real headache.

 This was a real love/hate affair for Keith when it was going well but you couldn’t wish for anything better but they were also very unreliable.  However, Keith eventually got it into shape mechanically and bodily.

John our panel beater had painted it and when he heard of Keith’s passing he said to me, “He gave me a pair of socks when I done his car, he was the only one who ever gave me anything.”  Such was Keith’s appreciation and thoughtfulness.

The D.S. was sold and a ’65 ID took its place and then in 1970 a new D Super was ordered.  We had discussed this purchase for so long that we at Maxim’s were just as excited as Keith, who by the way was so nervous that he wasn’t game to face the traffic.  The car must have been one of the cleanest to ever leave our place and it was standing in the showroom with a big tag tied to the handle which read “To Keith from all at Maxims”, my bet is that that tag would still be among his personal things.

I had always been keen on having a Citroen Car Club but felt it was not good politics to organise this myself. Many times, I had mentioned this to Keith and said he would start one sometime.  He came in one night and said he was ready to do something about the Club and the result was an inaugural meeting in our showroom and the rest you know.

Keith often dropped in for a chat on the way home and we spent many hours talking about many things but mostly Citroen.  If I was late home Val would make a question like statement “Keith in to see you tonight?” and often the phone would go and it would be Mrs Higgins checking up to see if Keith had left yet?” 

Well Keith has left us and we will all be the worse for it.  He worried just as much, if not more about M.M. as I did and devaluation or French ban or any such drama would see Keith scurrying in to see how it would affect us. The Club knows his value not necessarily in the actual work he did but in his ability to pick the right people to do the job properly.  Citroen have lost a great advocate but he planted the Citroen seed far and wide.

Mrs Higgins carries on the family tradition however, by telling every cab driver that she hires that he ought to buy a Citroen as his car is rough, noisy, uncomfortable and difficult to get in and out of.  Those chariots in the sky may already be riding on air, but very soon, if not already they will have the drive up front and bear the mark of the Double Chevron.

 Jim Reddiex