RE: Citroen BX GTI: Spotted

[MuscleSaloon]

E31Shrew said:

Had a new one in 1987 and covered 80000 miles in 3 years. Great car and would have one again albeit probably looking through rose coloured specs.
AFAIK the 16v had alloys as standard

Are you sure it was over £10k new? Seem to recall mine was about £6.5k

£10k plus sounds about right. I bought a very early '86 GTi which was less than 3 years old at the time and I'm sure it cost about £6k.

Yes they look plain now but they were great at the time with the big spoiler and everything. Decent performers too. The 8 sec to 60 time is still not too shabby all these years later.

[BFleming]

There was a BX GTI as Shed of the Week about 6 years ago, and it looked a damn sight nicer than the one on offer this time round - have a read here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=11... It's still on the road too.
The same article rattles on about how cheap the 309 GTI has become. Time changes everything I suppose.
I worked in a Citroen garage in 1989, and BX's were a great seller. I do remember though that we fitted spoilers & front foglights to almost all of them. The subject of this article does look poverty spec for a GTI, but it has the right engine I suppose.

[mooseracer]

MuscleSaloon said:

A totally forgotten car and must be very rare .. along with the previous GT with the twin carbs.

I had one back in the early 90s - complete with 115ch stickers on the side Certainly had some entertaining drives in it, being a feckless youth at the time. Agreed, there really can't be many left in this country.

[rtz62]

Those front seats are like;

[sosidge]

My dad had one of these. Bought new on an F-plate (his third and final BX). The BX is the car I grew up with.

Trims are from a TRS I think, the GTI trims had black strips on them to mimic the (optional) alloys. 16v was not available in the UK at the time IIRC, remember being very excited to see the "16 soupapes" version while on holiday in France!

[Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah]

Hub said:

Don't crash it - I saw the outcome of a BX crash back in the 90s and it wasn't pretty.

A quick Google confirms you're correct. It seems the driver is the crumple zone

[aaron_2000]

BFleming said:

There was a BX GTI as Shed of the Week about 6 years ago, and it looked a damn sight nicer than the one on offer this time round - have a read here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=11... It's still on the road too.
The same article rattles on about how cheap the 309 GTI has become. Time changes everything I suppose.
I worked in a Citroen garage in 1989, and BX's were a great seller. I do remember though that we fitted spoilers & front foglights to almost all of them. The subject of this article does look poverty spec for a GTI, but it has the right engine I suppose.

I still complain about the fact I turned down a 309 GTI as my first car for £1000, the same car sold a while ago for £4k. That and the pre facelift 405 SRI I turned down are the 2 that got away

[lord trumpton]

I'd say the mileage has been jibbed too

When the digits are misaligned then it's a sure fire sign

[daytona111r]

Dad had a silver 19GT, the pre facelift model, 105hp but lightweight, went well in a straight line and in the corners for the time. I adored that car to bits, and still have a big soft spot for BXs.

[BFleming]

aaron_2000 said:

BFleming said:

The same article rattles on about how cheap the 309 GTI has become. Time changes everything I suppose.

I still complain about the fact I turned down a 309 GTI as my first car for £1000, the same car sold a while ago for £4k. That and the pre facelift 405 SRI I turned down are the 2 that got away

My 2nd car was a 205 GT which drove like a go kart, and was phenomenal fun. I went all over Europe in it, even driving from Cologne to Kerry in one hit. Amazing little car. But I was driving past the Peugeot dealer in Essen one day in 1996 & saw a black 309 GTI phase 2 and knew I had to have it. 2 days later I drove off in it, having paid the princely sum of 10,000 DM for it (£4k ish). I got a few hundred DM's for my old 205, which had lunched its gearbox by then. The Peugeot dealer was around the corner from the A52 Autobahn, so I drove off the forecourt, turned right & right again, and hit the Autobahn. OMG what a car. Quick, solid (compared to the 205 on both fronts), comfortable, roomy... I loved it. I hit 200kmh very quickly, then it spluttered to a halt - out of fuel! Luckily I had a gallon of unleaded with me, as seemed to be standard practice in Germany back then.
After almost 3 years of ownership the 309 was almost paid for, and I loaned it to my then girlfriend as she needed to go to Frankfurt for a corporate event. With a boot full of red wine bottles she hit the end of a Stau (German traffic jam with stealthy powers of just appearing out of nowhere). She hit a week old E39, writing off both cars in the process. I got to see the car 2 weeks later to retrieve my personal possessions at the scrap yard, and there was mushrooms growing on the back seat where the wine had spilled. I got 500 DM for the car. Heartbreaking. I still miss that car.

[MuscleSaloon]

Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:

Hub said:

Don't crash it - I saw the outcome of a BX crash back in the 90s and it wasn't pretty.

A quick Google confirms you're correct. It seems the driver is the crumple zone

To be fair the damage to the one in the pic looks like an offset hit to something pretty immovable. Its probably done as well as anything similar from that era would have done.

[Hub]

I think these would be the correct period wheel trims?



Maybe they were prone to falling off and are now no longer available!

[Sebastian Tombs]

My dad had a new one in the 1980s. In black the unfinished bumpers and mirrors didn't look bad.
I loved it as a teenager, and he loved it as the owner. It felt so fast and comfortable, and not a single thing ever went wrong on it.
He traded it for a ZX Volcane which I thought was an ugly hateful car in comparison.
Alloys were an extra or a dealer-fit option. My dad went the latter route to beat a price-rise had a mint set of steels and trims for decades in his garage.

[K50 DEL]

I ran a 1990 8v GTI for a while back in the late 90s, my first ever car with electric windows and central locking.
Also the fastest thing I'd driven at that point by some margin!

Sadly the spheres were on their way out and with zero mechanical knowledge the car had to go.... swapped in the end for a Mk2 XR2

Fond memories for me, though I think I'd buy a valver if I was in the market nowadays, their styling just seems a little more resolved.

[rastapasta]

Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:

Hub said:

Don't crash it - I saw the outcome of a BX crash back in the 90s and it wasn't pretty.

A quick Google confirms you're correct. It seems the driver is the crumple zone

Jebuuss. My old man had two, one in 1987 and the other in 1990 and drove them like they were stolen, with me riding shotgun alot of the time. good cars these. He reckoned the 1990 16v was as quick a car as he ever had as it was so light (he subsequently stayed with form, going for Xantia's and C5's).

[Kitchski]

For anyone interested, I just read this on Facebook:

"E879 DGX is the reg number for anyone interested. Just Google it and all the history is there."

[aaron_2000]

Kitchski said:

For anyone interested, I just read this on Facebook:

"E879 DGX is the reg number for anyone interested. Just Google it and all the history is there."

Avoid it like the plague, it was sold at Motorhub in Keighley.

[kellydk]

Do like these but to be honest, not sure I’d buy one. Remember seeing two back in my University day. A black and white pair of GTI’s with matching plates:

H1 SBX
H3 RBX

😀

[aaron_2000]

kellydk said:

Do like these but to be honest, not sure I’d buy one. Remember seeing two back in my University day. A black and white pair of GTI’s with matching plates:

H1 SBX
H3 RBX

??

H1 SBX doesn't exist on a car anymore, H3 RBX is a Citroen Berlingo now.

[MuscleSaloon]

E879 DGX