Why the BX?

[peterbot]

For a car that ended production in 1994 the BX certainly has a big following. Just wondered what started other members interest in it.
For me I guess it is memories of being a teenager....My father had one of the first Mark 2 BX's..a 1986 19dtr in that lovely cream colour they did. I remember going to the dealers with him, The salesman was offering discounts on the mark1's in a bid to clear them. We took a test drive in a mark 1 leader (lovley tartan upholstery). 5 BX's later i'm still hooked.I think it has timeless looks and don't forget it was the car that saved the Citroen name.

[M]

Well for me it is a combination of comfort and size - im hardly small and the BX / Xantia are lovely cars - the BX far more comfortable than the Xantia for some reason.

[Stewart (oily!)]

I was in the Doctors waiting room many years ago, I read a roadtest of the new Citroen BX, light weight, fewer panels/joins, less opportunity for rust, Diesels! a few years later I needed a decent car and bought my first BX, a gold coloured MK1 19RD, space age beige interior, drove it for 50k miles then put the motor into a GTI which truth be told was not as good a shell,but it did have all the toys then a turbo engine was found, then after five years the body went a bit far and I became a bit depressed, when depressed I treat myself to a new motor, generlly I build them, usually having more money than time so Ebay, TZD late model, needing a clutch, Headgasket and some TLC for peanuts, there was a 1.9 TD motor in the garage sitting there doing nothing and so the Hooligan was born
Stewart

[sleepy0905]

Mine was simple i needed a diesel car for its economy i had a pug 405 1.6 petrol, The brother in law rang me to say i have a diesel in so i went and had a look he did a straight swap. The car was filthy inside and out the electric windows did not work the instrument lighting did not work and the front spheres were knackered but we took her home brother in law did the spheres i did a temporary repair on the window ( new earth ) and got the panel lights working then gave her a good clean inside and out, after a few months of owning her i think the BX bug must of bit me because i have never looked back i love the car and i have had mine now 5 years.

[cavmad]

Because I hated them with a passion! My mate was working at the car auction and got me a job there when I promised to sell loads of cars if he did.
He then got the cars cheap because he worked in the office, I cleaned them and sold them and we split the profits.
Having lived up to my promise of selling `anything cheap` we got a BX17TGD diesel hatchback which was very tidy with a long MOT for £70 and I had it for about 2 or 3 weeks before I sold it.
In that time I fell in love with it (and the economy) and missed it after I sold it for a huge profit.
The owner sadly died about 12 months later and I bought it back and had it about 18 months or so.
This is now being used by a friend of Vanny`s who I believe is rightly made up with it.

[Mr. Bridger]

Because I was dropped on my head at an early age....

[Linegeist]

A previously confirmed Rover P6 fanatic, I got my first BX about 4 years ago, unwillingly and almost by accident, when I arrived in France, sans voiture, to work.

I needed a car and, if you've ever lived in France, buying a half decent used car for half decent (used) money is harder than trying to snog an unused Nun.

Having given up on the local dealers in disgust (I couldn't stand the feeding frenzies when I walked into their nests with folding stuff in my mitts) my wife and I spotted a 1986 Mk1 BX1.9GT with a 'For Sale' sign in its window (......well, it was actually in French, but you get the idea, right?) - a phone call later, and the rest was history.

The car was bought for €1,000 with a new, 2-year MOT, new tyres and a full service history and was being sold by the son of the old chap who'd had it since new (and had put 68,00 verifiable kilometers on it since then!). So, working on the premises that, in an emergency............

1. Even a horrible piece of merde like a Citroen would do for temporary transport............
2. €1,000 isn't a whole lot of wonga to risk on a piece of merde ..............
3. If I coudn't flog this particular piece of merde for a similar amount a few months later (after I'd managed to get a PROPER car) I needed lobotomising with a blunt axe ...........

I duly bought it.

Within days I had to admit (grudgingly) that it was simply an amazing car! With the help of 'the other BX place' (especially Alan S and Anders) I learned about the intricacies of Hydropneumatic suspension, weird French engineering logic and gallic workshop contortionism. Another 60,000 kilometers and 23 months later, the Mk1 sailed through it's French MOT drawing compliments from 'les mecaniques' ............. requiring nothing more than brake pads, a set of spheres and a cambelt plus the odd oil change to run faultlessly in that time (apart from when it ran downhill into the under-house garage a week after I got it when the handbrake failed (French MOT's eh? Tsk! ) but I digress).

The old girl now graces the driveway outside my Warwickshire hovel, where it delivered me faultlessly from Versailles. It sits, forlornly, next to the 1.7TZD Estate I bought several months ago (also from 1 elderly owner and with a verified 52,000 miles since new in '93 .. but that's another pile of old woffle) and to whom she is slowly donating bits and pieces.

Now I'm a BX convert - once you get to know their idiosyncracies (and can think convoluted - like a French Mechanic) there's a twisted and beautiful logic behind the concept ........... and that ride!!!

I'd still swap 'em both for a DS though!

[Oscar]

My folks emigrated to Spain 20 years ago and bought a CX safari to move the family chattels and goods. I was fascinated by the dash - the revolving drum speedo, controls so ergonomically designed and the levitation.

Before and after that I had no interest in cars whatsoever, unlike my brother, who learnt to drive when he was 5!

Anyway, 15 years later I passed my driving test at the 4th attempt aged 30. Went out looking for cars and came across a black BX. Some ancient memory stirred......

I found a red TGD in the paper and bought it. The previous owner was another Cit nut and raved about them. I had it for 3 years before getting rid of it for nothing when I was unemployed. A year later, getting married, SWMBO and I decided to get a car. I bought a Pug 106 which I couldn't drive safely as my feet overlapped on the pedals, so I swapped that for a ZX. That was OK but had no charisma. So I sold that at a loss and bought the TZD as a £30 MoT write-off. Since then SWMBO and I have brought it back to life - bodywork, hydrauflush and spheres, cambelt and bottom hose...I've learnt a huge amount, feel much happier about owning a car now that I know something about them and get a grin on my face every time I start the engine. It's cost a few quid but money well-spent for the fun and satisfaction of making the car my own and the new knowledge.

[tim leech]

Im hooked as in 1985 my dear late father brought home a black 19RD with a sunroof, which replaced a mk1 cavalier, so you can imagine what a 10 year old made of this spaceship like car, it had eletric windows for gods sake! And when he showed me what the suspension could do that was me hooked for life! He had 2 more after that and all were great, if a litlle more conservative being MK2's. When he swapped to a xantia then a boring Primera I missed them so much I bought one, then 2 then the 2 I have now. I remember in 1991 sitting in cedar motors in a new 16v at the age of 16 dreaming about owning one! 7 years later I did!

Theres no mainstream car like it is there!

[citroenxm]

Because they have everything that fords or vauxhalls dont have!!

Windows front and rear on most not all that move with buttons not levers

HUGE sunroof!!! Never seen another one bigger

Central locking with remote on most

PAS

Super smooth ride which NOTHING beats...

ABS!! Which can work

Oh and of course the BX 16 valve!!! Thats just something else..

What did Ford and Vauxhall have from 1983 to 1992 that could beat that lot

Dont think the escort RS turbo is any better then the 16v (more standard rust on the escort I guess)

Sorry for any offence

[ken newbold]

Because they're unconventional, I've found all mine to be ultra reliable, economical, comfortable and cheap to buy.

What more do you want.

[citroenxm]

Only one more thing I'm not keen on anymore, the steering wheel position.

I guess I'm just used to the Xantia and XM's "normal" position. It doesn't help my back anymore...

[tom]

120MPH load carrier capable of 50MPG available for £0.

And your question was?

[Barnsley BXer]

I fell in love with the BX when it first came out although it was 1989 when I first drve one.On my advice my dad bought a GTI.What a car!!!In 1996,I bought my first,a 1990 GTI 4x4 and hve been hooked since.As has been previosly mentioned my reasons are space pace comfort style(???) economy,large sunroof,plenty of toys,need I go on?

[Cornishbx16v]

mine was super simple! My old cra (309gti) died on the sunday on route to work, (my working week was thursday to monday) and i needed a car by the thursday! and it was the only car that took my fancy in the trader for the money i had at the time! (advertised as a gti not a 16v though!)
havent got rid of it as its not worth it at the mo!!!! and it still works! lol!