Anyone fancy an AX???

[retrogeezer]

I don't....

 

 

 

This was cool....

 

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

That doesn't look as survivable as I'd like...

[Rocket88]

Probably got hit by an empty crisp bag....

[Minimad5]

Probably got hit by an empty crisp bag....

HAHA.

[Alexg]

Shit, I hope whoever was in it was ok.

[fiatdaft]

eek.nice lada though.

[AXrescuer]

Yep, that's why I stopped rescuing them. Shame they are only as strong as tissue paper cos they're lovely little motors.

[Milford Cubicle]

I'm not put off, I'd still like an AX GT.

[Rocket88]

Back in the eighties, my then girlfriend had an AX GT, and made the big mistake of asking me to drive her [and it] down to her parents place in Geneva, drop her off, and then drive it back to Jersey. On the way down, we had a bit of a "domestic"...........on the way back, I thrashed the living Beejasus out of the poor little thing [Geneva to St Malo in 7.5 hours]. I steadfastly refused to blow up, and it did go quite fast..............

[MrRegieRitmo]

Isn't it true that an AX doesn't so much have crumple zones, as the whole car is a crumple zone?! Did Citroen mean them to be so flimsy in some sort of cost cutting drive?

[Captain Mainwaring]

I'm not put off, I'd still like an AX GT.

I'll have the 1.5 diesel, please.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I made the mistake of picking up Auto Express in the supermarket the other day. It had these screaming headlines about 'REVEALED - THE UK'S MOST DANGEROUS CARS' and listed the cars in which you were most and least likely to survive a crash. 'Safe' cars are:L-R DiscoveryToyota LandcruiserVolvo XCLexus LS400etc etc.LETHAL cars were:Rover MiniHyundai AtozVauxhall CorsaVarious other small lightweight cars.There was then some commentary from some geezer in the RAC saying we should all drive Range Rovers if we want to maximise our chances of surviving an accident. It almost made me wanna cry, then I realised it was only a wanky 'news' paper and I shouldnt take it so seriously. I'm sure the survival stats for range rovers wouldnt be so red hot if they only ever drove into other fuggin range rovers.Then I had a conversation with a mate who described when someone had hit him head on. He was in a Cavalier, and this other person was in a Fiesta or AX or somehting. He had not really copped any injuries, but the other car had folded up quite badly and broke the drivers sternum. From seeing this episode, he had concluded that it was always better to be in a reasonably heavy, large car. I pointed out that if the other driver had taken this advice and driven into him in a big tank, HE would probably have got the broken sternum instead so where was the net benefit? No real answer to that, but as a father etc etc he wasnt taking any chances. That photo doesnt put me off driving an AX at all, its just a tin box like all other cars.

[warren t claim]

As someone who is contemplating the purchase of a Bedfordshire Scallywag mini van type thing you can probably tell that frontal impact protection isn't as high up on my list of priorities as it probably should be.

[saabhappy]

That photo doesnt put me off driving an AX at all, its just a tin box like all other cars.

Isn't there rather a lot that isn't tin, just plastic panels in non-load bearing areas and varying the thicknesses of steel in the bodyshell to be the minimum needed to take required loads.

[VWPowered]

must be catching i found a 405 like that

 

[Tayne]

.

[Mr Lobster]

AX doesn't look any worse than you expect from an old, small car sent sideways into a post. Sure my Renner_4 wouldn't be any safer. Certainly wouldn't put me off.

[saabhappy]

I think I'd like a bit more metal than the AX's thin-gauge tin and plastic, but you're all right when you say you don't get put off driving your own old cars, because we all know the risks involved and hopefully drive within the car's limits.

[Jon]

Cue gratuitous photo of my AX I sold last year:

 

 

 

True, I'd rather crash in the Sierra than this (or even better our 9000), but I didn't crash, so all round good I suppose.

 

When I went to pick it up from the seller, he mentioned that he'd written off his Ford Ka when he hit a deer on the way to work and had intended to take the AX but didn't, as he'd sold it to me already. I'm certain that decision saved his life, though as Mr Bol says, things like this didn't stop me driving it and I'd have another. Good job really, as I'd probably never drive the Imp either!

[hammy]

A friend of mine had his P-reg AX written off about 10 years back at South Mimms, he'd come off the M25 and was waiting to join the A1 at the lights when an Audi A4 hit him at about 30mph. The Audi was fine but the AX was written off, the shell folded up above the back axle, the impact so bad that the RAC had to be called to beat out the wheelarches so the thing could be moved.

[The Liberator]

^^^^^^^^^^

 

Many years ago I made the mistake of accelerating into the back of a Montego that had set off on a roundabout and then stopped, while I was looking to the right to see there was nothing coming. I was driving a 1978 Alfasud Sprint.

 

Net damage to the Sprint: squashed front bumper, minor dentage to the front of wings and bonnet, split washer fluid bottle. That was it. Grille, headlights, indicators etc. all intact.

 

The Montego was written off, I'd squashed it to Maestro length and the rear doors wouldn't open, so the two teenage girls in the back, who the young driver and his mate were presumably en route to plying with alcopops, had to clamber out over the seats and through the front doors.

[AnthonyG]

IIRC side impact regulations in Europe were fairly lax until the early 1990s, hence cars designed prior to that didn't have to be that strong there. Of course there were always exceptions, but they tended to be executive motors: Mercs, Volvos, Jags, larger Rovers etc. I think the Volvo 300 was only 'ordinary' car with side impact bars for most of the 1980s.

[Lankytim]

Humm, large cars are safer than small cars, whoda thought?On a more serious note any car with a seperate chassis such as an older discovery can often be much more dangerous than a monocoque type vehicle as the super stiff chassis can fold up and crumple in an uncontrolled manner.

[Talbotman]

The thing is we all should be driving round in ax,s a diesel one of those is far more enviromently friendly than a hybrid does nearly 100 to the galllon - slow enough not to matter if you do smash it - and cos everybody else would be driving around in em - theyed be driving so sensibly anyway because they know if they did drive like a complete knob - the likely hood is theyd die - lets do a reverse scrappage scheme - swap your your discos and Q7s for axs 205s and metros - save the planet - and safer driving!!!!!!

[Skizzer]

lets do a reverse scrappage scheme - swap your your discos and Q7s for axs 205s and metros - save the planet

+1: Talbotman, I'd vote for you for transport minister

any car with a seperate chassis such as an older discovery can often be much more dangerous than a monocoque type vehicle as the super stiff chassis can fold up and crumple in an uncontrolled manner.

Fifth Gear demonstrated this a couple of years back:

[Jonnyvalenta]

Years ago,one of our customers had a head on in her Discovery with a BX... Although the BX was wrecked,the Disco needed a new chassis....