A nice article!

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 2:39 pm

Quite complimentary really.

Ian

Edit, heres the linky Jon

Oops, sorry Jon! Did it very quickly at work and got it wrong!!

tom · Post by **tom** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:18 pm

Very dated looking. Yes, you can see out of it.
Estates as utility vehicles. Yes, that is what they were for before they became lifestyle accessories.
Carburated estates are complicated and best left alone

A proper classic Citroen. Stating the bleedin' obvious

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:26 pm

To get standard ABS anti-lock brakes, alloy wheels and uprated sports suspension, however, you had to go for the GTi 16-valve...

Is that to be taken literally? By which I mean are they implying that ABS as standard you had to get a 16V and it was an option on other cars or do they mean it was only available on 16V`s?
I realise that may sound a bit pedantic but it`s just a mate had an eight valve GTi years ago which had ABS and was indeed the first car fitted with ABS that I had ever driven.
I`ve also seen some late estates (TZD) with ABS, or at least the badges!

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:32 pm

ABS was introduced at sometime in 1987 or 88, and was available on many models as an option. What I don't know if this was the old manufacturers trick of fitting it in the factory and then making the dealers sell them or whatever. My 89 DTR Turbo estate has it as do many turbos at that time as well as 8 valve Gti's. If anything it seems a less common option on later cars.

I wonder who made the first diesel car to be sold with it?

jeremy

tom · Post by **tom** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:35 pm

Probably Ford.

It is standard on late TZD spec estates, I reckon.

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:51 pm

I don`t know actually Tom. I`m racking my brains (won`t take long!) to think of Ford`s of that sort of era and I`m pretty certain Sierra 2.3, Escort and Orion 1.6 diesels were never fitted standard or option with ABS. I`m fairly sure later 1.8TD Sierra`s weren`t fitted with it either, though I stand to be corrected. My own memory of the 2.3 (diesel) Sierra`s were that they would never go fast enough (or last long enough

) to ever actually need brakes and therefore I wonder if maybe, just maybe, BX diesels were one of the first?

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:54 pm

I think ABS was standard on some models: 16TZS, 19TZS, 19TZD, TZD Turbo, GTi and GTi 4x4 (on UK spec cars anyway) from 1989 onwards.

tom · Post by **tom** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 7:27 pm

Ford were the first manufacturer to offer ABS across the range. If you have ABS on your BX, you'll find that the sensor plugs are clearly marked Ford, but in tiny print.

ken newbold · Post by **ken newbold** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 8:38 pm

Stan Platts of Citroen CX fame, tells me that the CX was the first production car to feature ABS

AlanS · Post by **AlanS** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:30 pm

Here's an exercise for the "eBay watchers" in our ranks.
See if this article has any effect on either bid numbers or resale prices when it sinks in with the general public.
Be interesting to see if it revs up a bit of general interest. (Y'know - "It must be true, I saw it on the Telly")

Alan S

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 11:11 pm

tom wrote:Ford were the first manufacturer to offer ABS across the range. If you have ABS on your BX, you'll find that the sensor plugs are clearly marked Ford, but in tiny print.

Cheers Tom, thankfully I don`t have ABS on my BX or I`d have to get the angle grinder and microscope out

DLM · Post by **DLM** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 4:10 pm

I seem to remember Ford made a great song and dance about ABS when the 1985/6 model of the Granada was launched - including a TV ad that's stuck in my head in the sense that I remember it existed and plugged ABS in a big way, but didn't stick in my head in that I can't remember a thing about the ad itself. Perhaps this means it was good advertising?

Tom - you're right. All TZD estates after a certain point had ABS as standard, though it was introduced around about the time that Jeremy quotes (as an option on some models, except on the 16v, on whic it was standard).

Stinkwheel · Post by **Stinkwheel** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 4:39 pm

I have to say that my 1985 CX had ABS but so did a friends 1985 Granada so must be a pretty close run thing.

tom · Post by **tom** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 6:04 pm

Platts is of course mistaken by a good decade (actually, a pretty rotten one. The 1970s.) The first production car with ABS (Although it wasn't called that at the time) was the Jensen FF.
This is naturally disputed by all owners, past and present, of the Austin Seven.

Ian_Fearn · Post by **Ian_Fearn** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 7:01 pm

There are also rare four-wheel-drive BX GTi models, the eight-valve, fuel-injected hatchback and carburettor-fuelled estate, although these were designed more for utility use by French farmers than high-performance motoring. They are also complex to maintain - dedicated Citroen fans only need apply.