Saloon?

[Mothman]

According to Citroen its a saloon not a hatch, at least according to the handbook.

Andy

[KevR]

the old A40 Farina Countryman was ahead of the game.

First car I owned - inherited from my grandfather in about 1980 when I was about 14, and I never did get it fixed. It disappeared one day, but I still have the log book in my grandfather's name! Completely agree about modern cars and their pathetic reverse-Tardis designs. A so called 'Mini' these days takes up more room on the road than a Series Land Rover, and has less room inside than the top box on my bike...

As for French names, they don't really differentiate between a saloon and a hatchback - both would be called 'une Berline' by anyone other than a complete anorak, who might add that the former was 'une tricorps' while the latter is 'une bicorps' - three-box or two-box, basically. That's probably why Citroen called the BX a saloon - they didn't have a translation for Hatchback!

[Mothman]

The French would probably have to call it a Backhatch wouldnt they?

[KevR]

The French would probably have to call it a Backhatch wouldnt they?

Une Trappe Arrière....

[Kitch]

last time i checked we weren't in other countries.

I am!

People that are don't count. Rules.

[Thread Bear]

The French would probably have to call it a Backhatch wouldnt they?

Une Trappe Arrière....

Le 'Atchback? (Actually that is a very not French word in spelling). Well they missed this door option out when they were building coaches with edible motive power. Trouble is they really dislike using English words. I believe they have a sub ministry of language to keep French pure. Who is to say they are wrong. We have the OED, much like the nation, if it looks handy, welcome.

[Gary C]

last time i checked we weren't in other countries.

I am!

And I was thinking you were just off the Hog's Back!

[KevR]

Ah, not 'that' Normandy!

[Tinkley]

And I was thinking you were just off the Hog's Back!

Well, electrokid and I are pretty close to 'that' Normandy!. I even looked at a couple of houses there some years ago....

I think the BX was preceded by the Austin Maxi in many ways, and that was a development in one sense of the A40. In fact there is an A40 quite close by, pretty rare these days, in grey and white. Many moons ago I remember my Cycling Proficiency Instructor having one. Well two in fact as he changed it, to another one during the course, as he was so impressed with it. The first one had done a lot of miles.

BL missed a big trick with not properly replacing the Maxi, IMHO and the Princess which was a poor resolution of the concept (Princess concept drawings) and with ancient engines which doomed it against Euro opposition.

[citsncycles]

It can't have just been the ancient engines that les the Princess down - Citroen has a long established tradition of carrying engines over to new models!

We had a Maxi when I was a boy - very capable and comfortable car, only let down by zero corrosion resistance. Dad also had a Princess through the 80's that covered a 1/4 million miles before being sold (and further used for a few years), and the only major breakdown was a dropped valve at around 200,000miles. It never needed welding either, although it was tatty cosmetically by the time he sold it.