For Sale £299! It's French, it's sound it bounces on the ground. NOW CU L8RD!

[Cavcraft]

The horse has bolted, the train not far behind.

[drum]

Corsavette you have no doubt seen this but just in case

http://www.maestro.org.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=8395&highlight=D621

[Cavcraft]

I did thanks, Drum. There are rumblings of discontent somewhere (else) I think, as a previous owner had done a really good job of restoring it and it's now not what it used to be. At least it's on the road and being used though, that's the main thing.

[Cavcraft]

Now officially C U L8RD from the fleet.  

[barrett]

Now officially outside my gaff. Great car, top bloke. Had a lovely clear run back to Brighton with no hassles whatsoever. Consider me officially converted to BXs.

[vulgalour]

I may be unduly concerned of the effects of the CoB combined with the propensity for BXs to offer LHM surprises to their owners.

[HMC]

Hope you enjoy bx ing Barrett! I enjoyed my time with it, think minimad5 is to thank for it being such a relaxed long distance car. He had soft spheres fitted to it ( turbo -ds usually had harder ones) It does make it initially squat a bit when you boot it, but that's all part of the fun!

[Cavcraft]

Hats off to Mr Barrett for a bloody long journey up here and back. Truly a pleasure to meet you, mate, may the BX continue giving you sterling service 

[dollywobbler]

These developments please me.

[cort16]

Barrett on his way to work tomorrow

 

[barrett]

I drove around in this a bit today for no real reason and then parked it outside one of my favourite local houses. POINTY

[forddeliveryboy]

Probably the bestevvapartsbinmota sent down the lines. There were rumours at the time from within the factory that Citroen had made it look like a cornflake packet cutout to demonstrate to their newish masters that they could make equally boring, mundane cars and the styling was a piss-take of Peugeot's abilities (who of course had new big ideas about themselves and were bringing out the 205) and insistance that the family-sized new PSA Citroen had to be cheap and boring.

 

Even so, there was still the old guard who wouldn't waste their time trying to wedge springy steel springs between the wheels and body, nor would they accept spiky column stalks or wishbone pivots made of rubber. Until BX 2. For a car which was almost 100% Peugoet in its bits, the BX still seemed to me as if the Citroen spirit lived - it handled superbly, the ride was magic and even in the 80s the already decades-old gas/hydraulic springing and braking made it seem a bit special.

 

Top marks for he who screwed on softer spheres - a rather lovely '92 19RD I had was made to feel almost DS-like with more compliant rear spheres, yet it would corner and swallow small roundabouts at higher speeds in a very French fashion. Remember a larger sphere is rather like increasing spring travel and increasing the pressure gives a softer initial spring rate. Loads of Xantias were sprung for France's super-smooth EU cheque book roads, altering their spheres (especially on the Hydractive models) a little can make a vast difference on British roads.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

                Gotta be honest that doesn’t sound very convincing, the BX styling is really good I reckon, plenty of straight lines obv but its beautifully proportioned and has lots of interesting features like the funny semi-transparent C pillar, class wheeltrims (on the early ones) and the non-painted body coloured bumpers which I think were pretty novel at the time. I also faintly remember a TV advert with Marcello Gandini walking past his Countach and getting in his BX to drive to work. It defo doesn’t seem to me like any sort of piss taking was going on with it.

[dollywobbler]

Gandini designed it, so it's not surprising it looked as curvy as a Countach. The looks were nowt to do with any Frenchman, cardboard or not. The basic shape of the BX already existed in the late 1970s. They are a wonderful mixture of wacky and sensible. I think the only reason I've not owned a GS yet is that the BX is a far better car, with ridiculous fuel consumption by comparison.

[forddeliveryboy]

Interesting you find it looks so curvacious, DW (there are some very, very clever and subtle curves hiding in that boxy shape). Different eyes see things differently, obviously. Could be a conditioning thing going on - I grew up when cheap cars were boxy and full of straight lines, with curves added to soften the often cheap designs. More expensive and expensively-designed machines like Jaguars and Citroens were very curvacious, very sexy. I just remember first seeing a BX and thinking 'bloody 'ell, they've gone all Ford Cortina!". Back in 1982 you expected a new Citroen to be an earth-shattering event, almost as awesome as the lunar landing probably seemed at the time. It's difficult to explain how perceptions have changed so completely as the company has become what it is today.

 

Yes, it's well-proportioned with interesting features but to my eyes at least, it looked cheap. (Doesn't any more, since it's now out of its own time and looks very sharp, to my eyes at least. But hardly elegant like a 405.) Not cheap as in Lada, or Ford ftm, just cheap and straightforwards, very simple. Its drag factor was 0.34 - reasonable but a long way from the class best at the time. Its predecessor was so far ahead of the game in 1970, even at the end of the BX's life it was still more aerodynamic and more aerostable than the class best, and for pure fun came with an ally boxer four, double wishbone front susp and so on. But was way better than the market required it to be - not something accountants like. They prefer a fundamentally cheap design with little bits of bling to attract the gullible pubic.

 

I love the look of the early BX in the pic below -

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cavcraft]

I have to say I've never, not even for a split second, seen a BX and thought it looked remotely like a Cortina.

The BX, especially in Mk1 form is a real looker of a car and very distinct.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That early basic BX looks absolutely class doesn’t it. 100% SOLID ACE

[barrett]

I have for such a horn for a mk1 BX, they are a properly great bit of design. Do they go as well as later ones? Must have been pretty impressive in 1982 or whatever if they do.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I once had a BX 14 RE identical to that blue one ( but RHD) at the same time as a G reg 1.9 TZi estate, they were completely different , the A plate 14 smelled like an old French car and the interior was flaky and dusty in that cool Gallic way , the velour lined estate could have been a 405 or even a Cavalier.

I took it as p/ex on an MG Maestro and on the way back from Birmingham it actually felt faster on the motorway.

We'd taken a towing dolly with us to bring the BX back as I didn't know what it was like , but didn't bother getting it out of the estate. In fact I smoked it round for a week or so till it sold as it was full of petrol.

[twosmoke300]

I did enjoy driving dads poverty spec mk1 round Wales.

Really love the dash

[dollywobbler]

I have for such a horn for a mk1 BX, they are a properly great bit of design. Do they go as well as later ones? Must have been pretty impressive in 1982 or whatever if they do.

 

You can't have a Mk1 turbo diesel sadly, unless you build it yourself. The petrols are quite nippy though. A Mk1 GT remains the best BX I've ever driven (might have had something to do with the mere 54k on the clock too. I've never driven another BX with fewer than twice that many miles).

 

 

Interesting you find it looks so curvacious, DW (there are some very, very clever and subtle curves hiding in that boxy shape). 

 

 

 

Interesting that you clearly misread my post. Unless you think a Lambo Countach is curvy? There are more curves on Fearne Cotton.

[barrett]

Well, I've used this pretty much every day since I got it. Did a big slog to Brum and back shortly after purchase, it's a lovely long distance cruiser and easily the most comfortable car I've driven (even better than the arm chairs equipped 740GLE)

It has a pretty steady LHM leak from the front control thingy which a local Citroen bloke didn'tthink worthy of mentioning ("I've seen worse "). It did mysteriously dump a load out of the reservoir too last week but it doesn't seem to be a permanent thing - I wonder if it expanded and spilled out in the heat? Anyway, I ruddy love the thing, cheers to everyone involved! If I can be arsed I reckon I should treat it to a new bonnet and bumper if anyone finds some in the right shade...

[Cavcraft]

I think we went from here to Norfolk in my old 1.7D BX years back in one hit. Getting out the other end was like we'd just driven to the local shops, they're so comfortable it's untrue.

[retrogeezer]

great looking motor from the days you could tell a pov spec apart from a top spec!

[forddeliveryboy]

I did enjoy driving dads poverty spec mk1 round Wales.

Really love the dash

 

x10 if you drove a GSA! Proper suspension, alloy boxer engine, lower aerodynamic drag, inline engine and so on.

 

 

Interesting that you clearly misread my post. Unless you think a Lambo Countach is curvy? There are more curves on Fearne Cotton.

 

Aye, twas musread. Even more so than Corsaviuor misread what I wrote:

 

I have to say I've never, not even for a split second, seen a BX and thought it looked remotely like a Cortina.

The BX, especially in Mk1 form is a real looker of a car and very distinct.

 

Glad you agree it looks great - but I didn't compare its looks to a Cortina, if you read a little more carefully. Do peeps really think a BX is in the line of DS/CX/GS? It has no Citroen parts other than the LHM bits and early models' dash clocks and 'stalks. Which isn't to knock it - just clarify what it really is. A PSA car with LHM.

 

I think we went from here to Norfolk in my old 1.7D BX years back in one hit. Getting out the other end was like we'd just driven to the local shops, they're so comfortable it's untrue.

 

Try a decent GS or CX - they're something on a different plane entirely. If you thought a trip from Cheshire to East Anglia was like a trip to the shops in a BX, then gawd knows what you'd make of a car running on the suspension as it was designed to be used.

[dollywobbler]

I'd really like to try living with a G for a while. The CX I actually found too soft - both in terms of seats and suspension. The roads undulate so violently here that the thing was always bouncing of the bump stops, and the seats lacked lumbar support. Mind you, I did some epic trips in it without too much cause for complaint. It wasn't as comfortable as the Merc W124 though.

 

The BX was a winning machine precisely because it had enough Peugeot in it to make it almost sensible. As good as the GS was, the flat-four engines were always a pain in the arse to work on and hardly economical. The ride was firmed up enough to remain comfortable, but improve handling and reduce wallow. For me, the main BX failings are often heavy clutches (that is a PSA influence as my Pug 306 was the same) and a shonky, often horrible gearchange (perhaps because nearly every BX I've driven had well over 100,000 miles on it). I'm determined to own an automatic BX to do away with those last two problems.

[HMC]

Mustard mit, that bx was a revelation to me. I loved the ride and handling and the ethos of lightness that ran through the car, at odds with the uncompliant ride and obsession with perceived quality that seems to be a theme with moderns. I even loved its size, it doesn't really fit into a distinct class today based on its dimensions, it's closer to a polo never mind a passat these days!

[dollywobbler]

The lower-spec BX was a bit like the Maestro - supermini priced at the time, but clearly a fair chunk bigger. I'd love to have a ride in this one again now it's got new spheres. It had tired TD spec ones on it before, so wasn't the most comfortable of vehicles (though still better than a Maestro van!)

[cort16]

Ultimate project, Maestro van with BX running gear and suspension.

[dollywobbler]

That'd be pretty awesome. I'd be beating the girls off with a shitty stick.