My bodged Citroen BX 16v
Discussion
Kitchski said:
.....the wheel-tracking shots are pretty cool, as Citroen suspension is awesome! ....
It's every bit as good as people keep telling me - it's like the bumps aren't there - which is why I bought a 1988 CX GTi a couple of weekends ago. Always wanted one and now I finally have my midlife crisis!Horsetan said:
Kitchski said:
.....the wheel-tracking shots are pretty cool, as Citroen suspension is awesome! ....
It's every bit as good as people keep telling me - it's like the bumps aren't there - which is why I bought a 1988 CX GTi a couple of weekends ago. Always wanted one and now I finally have my midlife crisis!Crumbs! 10k asking for this 32000 mile 16v car.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-GTi-16-valve...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-GTi-16-valve...
LeoZwalf said:
I'd love to see the video shots of which you speak. Are they available?
I'll try to get something knocked together and uploaded 
Zonergem said:
Crumbs! 10k asking for this 32000 mile 16v car.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-GTi-16-valve...
Yeah, it's got a few tongues wagging in Citroen circles too. Obviously what it's up for and what it might actually sell for a two separate entities, but the general consensus seems to be that he owns a number of older Citroens, and he's put a number of them up at daft money as he actually only needs to sell one (against his will, it seems), ergo whichever one goes will at least fetch a tidy price. I can't see that BX fetching £10k, but I think £6-7k is probably realistic now. A highly modified one went for £7k last year, though the value of the parts on it was worth that, in fairness. Others have been placed up for sale at £5k-£6.5k in recent months, possibly as some current owners think it's a bubble that will burst and want to try and cash in. Personally, I can't see it bursting. The BX is still near the bottom of the slightly-go-faster crowd of the 80's, so while everything above it climbs, the BX will climb in relative numbers too.https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-GTi-16-valve...
Well, another day, another broken record to play. It's the same old story with this car; I drive it around and love it, then spot something which leads me to decide that it needs to come off the road. Then I take it off the road and behold! Six months later and I'm sat behind the large, positioned-like-a-bus steering wheel once more. And so, that is exactly what happened this year, when I decided to drag it back out onto the road and off to Donington for that Practical Classics shoot (that my car ended up in the crease of....)
Well, this time, the BX 16v truly is off the road. It's actually in a garage as we speak, and since reading about the £10k BX 16v above, I put a dehumidifier on there with it, and flicked the switch! That's where the BX's story ends this year (and likely for next year too), but up to that point in time, I enjoyed having it out and about. I also managed to add a list of things to sort out to the existing list of things to sort out.
However, I also managed to scrub a line off of the existing list. I bought a mop, and decided my pride and joy was the best thing to learn how to use it on! Luckily, it went well.....up to a point!
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/xbgxSUVv.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/4ly7UmnH" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/4ly7UmnH.jpg)
The point it got to was where the car ran out of paint, in a number of locations! It was going to happen one day! Still, at least the primer is glossy now....
The main reason behind this uncharacteristic session of car shining, was that the BX was being w
ed out AGAIN! This time to Autocar magazine (Hello Haymarket people 
), as I have a friend who writes in the Used Car section, and wanted to do a 'Pastmasters' article on the BX, like they did with the 250,000 mile AX GT I had until recently. Oh.....the AX. Hadn't missed that for a while now - hello darkness my old friend!
They also did one on my TVR at the same time as the BX, but you came here for unloved French chod, not unnecessarily-macho-yet-misunderstood British tomfoolery.
A good morning was had, watching someone else cain the living st out of my car. On one occasion he passed, I commented I could smell it cooking EVERYTHING. "Well, you told him to give it some" was the response from Mr Cameraman. I'll follow this thread up with some videos taken on my phone of the day.
Mr Cameraman did some good stuff though. I'd be naughty if I showed you everything, but here's one of my favourite shots:
The article reads well, though in fairness the writer is a big fan of the BX 16v, so it's a fairly glowing appraisal. That said, I try to be as straight as I can on opinions, and if I honestly think something I own/love is crap, I'll say so. On this occasion, I pretty much agreed with everything he said.
To contrast something positive, my intake bellows decided that metered air flow is overrated, and that it would add a bit more oxygen into the mix (literally) just for fun. To overcome this, I applied some black goo:
And, my gearknob decided that, after nearly 28 years, it wanted to shed its outer form:
After the Autocar shoot finished them off, my brakes were well and truly goosed. My calipers have always made a 'kerr-donk' when applied in reverse, and it turns out the slider pins operate in bushes that are well-shagged.
A refurbished set of calipers arrived last month, from Poland of all places!
As the BX's time drew near, one last car show was attended. It was the Southern Vehicle Preservation Society.....or something like that. Had low expectations before the event, and was blown away not only by the friendliness and warm welcome of the organisers, but by the love for the BX! You think classic car show on a Sunday morning, and immediately think 'MGB, Cortina, Escort, Dolomite and a Mini'. Turning up to an event such as this in a BX is something you normally don't even bother doing, and yet, how wrong could I be?! It was brilliant, and I will endeavor to get down to any local events they do next year. Allsorts there, from the usual classics to a DeLorean, a Jag XJS, some classic American stuff and ANOTHER BX!
And then I saw it:
I've always been a big Honda fan, and I've loved the Prelude since I was a 13yr old lad. A friend's parents had one, and I remember thinking it was fantastically quirky and different, yet good. I even went on to own a 2.0 - 16 GSI 2nd gen model, which was a rare beast. Funnily enough, I only ended up buying it because the red ph2 BX 16v I'd seen for sale that I wanted (but couldn't insure) had sold for £999 in the paper, and I just missed it. Funnily enough, the Prelude was £300 less to insure than my AX GT!
Anyway, on the whole we actually had a very bad day, because two of my three kids acted up big-time, and we left in a huff with two 8 year olds in the back having a complete meltdown. Everyone's gawping too (lucky when I go back, it won't be in that car!) A sad end to the summer with this car, but they're more important than a car, and the day spurred us on to take some of their 'characteristics' more seriously. A day that bad is a day wasted, if you learn nothing from it
I never took a picture of the BX there, but when I got home, my brother-in-law sent me this of it and his Dad's Sierra XR4i:
I was being a right saddo though. I even had the Modern Classics article spread out across the back, because they were in the boot and I was all chirpy because people were actually being kind about it for once
....I'll conclude the rest of this after I've eaten a pizza from Aldi, and watched an episode of The Apprentice from about 5 weeks ago on catch-up.
Well, this time, the BX 16v truly is off the road. It's actually in a garage as we speak, and since reading about the £10k BX 16v above, I put a dehumidifier on there with it, and flicked the switch! That's where the BX's story ends this year (and likely for next year too), but up to that point in time, I enjoyed having it out and about. I also managed to add a list of things to sort out to the existing list of things to sort out.
However, I also managed to scrub a line off of the existing list. I bought a mop, and decided my pride and joy was the best thing to learn how to use it on! Luckily, it went well.....up to a point!
The point it got to was where the car ran out of paint, in a number of locations! It was going to happen one day! Still, at least the primer is glossy now....
The main reason behind this uncharacteristic session of car shining, was that the BX was being w
ed out AGAIN! This time to Autocar magazine (Hello Haymarket people ), as I have a friend who writes in the Used Car section, and wanted to do a 'Pastmasters' article on the BX, like they did with the 250,000 mile AX GT I had until recently. Oh.....the AX. Hadn't missed that for a while now - hello darkness my old friend!They also did one on my TVR at the same time as the BX, but you came here for unloved French chod, not unnecessarily-macho-yet-misunderstood British tomfoolery.
A good morning was had, watching someone else cain the living s
t out of my car. On one occasion he passed, I commented I could smell it cooking EVERYTHING. "Well, you told him to give it some" was the response from Mr Cameraman. I'll follow this thread up with some videos taken on my phone of the day.Mr Cameraman did some good stuff though. I'd be naughty if I showed you everything, but here's one of my favourite shots:
The article reads well, though in fairness the writer is a big fan of the BX 16v, so it's a fairly glowing appraisal. That said, I try to be as straight as I can on opinions, and if I honestly think something I own/love is crap, I'll say so. On this occasion, I pretty much agreed with everything he said.
To contrast something positive, my intake bellows decided that metered air flow is overrated, and that it would add a bit more oxygen into the mix (literally) just for fun. To overcome this, I applied some black goo:
And, my gearknob decided that, after nearly 28 years, it wanted to shed its outer form:
After the Autocar shoot finished them off, my brakes were well and truly goosed. My calipers have always made a 'kerr-donk' when applied in reverse, and it turns out the slider pins operate in bushes that are well-shagged.
A refurbished set of calipers arrived last month, from Poland of all places!
As the BX's time drew near, one last car show was attended. It was the Southern Vehicle Preservation Society.....or something like that. Had low expectations before the event, and was blown away not only by the friendliness and warm welcome of the organisers, but by the love for the BX! You think classic car show on a Sunday morning, and immediately think 'MGB, Cortina, Escort, Dolomite and a Mini'. Turning up to an event such as this in a BX is something you normally don't even bother doing, and yet, how wrong could I be?! It was brilliant, and I will endeavor to get down to any local events they do next year. Allsorts there, from the usual classics to a DeLorean, a Jag XJS, some classic American stuff and ANOTHER BX!
And then I saw it:
I've always been a big Honda fan, and I've loved the Prelude since I was a 13yr old lad. A friend's parents had one, and I remember thinking it was fantastically quirky and different, yet good. I even went on to own a 2.0 - 16 GSI 2nd gen model, which was a rare beast. Funnily enough, I only ended up buying it because the red ph2 BX 16v I'd seen for sale that I wanted (but couldn't insure) had sold for £999 in the paper, and I just missed it. Funnily enough, the Prelude was £300 less to insure than my AX GT!
Anyway, on the whole we actually had a very bad day, because two of my three kids acted up big-time, and we left in a huff with two 8 year olds in the back having a complete meltdown. Everyone's gawping too (lucky when I go back, it won't be in that car!) A sad end to the summer with this car, but they're more important than a car, and the day spurred us on to take some of their 'characteristics' more seriously. A day that bad is a day wasted, if you learn nothing from it
I never took a picture of the BX there, but when I got home, my brother-in-law sent me this of it and his Dad's Sierra XR4i:
I was being a right saddo though. I even had the Modern Classics article spread out across the back, because they were in the boot and I was all chirpy because people were actually being kind about it for once
....I'll conclude the rest of this after I've eaten a pizza from Aldi, and watched an episode of The Apprentice from about 5 weeks ago on catch-up.
Edited by Kitchski on Friday 24th November 10:38
Kitchski said:
.... the general consensus seems to be that he owns a number of older Citroens, and he's put a number of them up at daft money as he actually only needs to sell one (against his will, it seems), .....
CX GTi Turbos, more precisely. The Series 2 he's flogging at £6500 isn't bad on paper, given that a similar one (a Turbo 2) sold last week at auction (Barons, I think) for £7700.....continued....
Some time later, the BX made its appearance in Autocar:
You don't read many publications with accurate reporting on a BX. No errors, no incorrect info....it was all quite surreal, really!
Just before the car came off the road (did I mention it was coming off the road?), I took it out for a run at lunch. Initially, it was only to pop up the road to get something, but I found myself at one of my favourite local haunts taking pictures once more!
It dawned on me that the last time I took it off the road, I drove just up the road from here. I have a strange fascination with disused railway lines. Not current ones, or even heritage ones (nice as they are). For some reason, I love seemed evidence of a past history, and railways are one of the ones that fascinate me the most.
In between this drive out, and the last drive out I did, before I parked it up, I had a day at work where I blitzed through the list of customers who wanted to go on the rolling road dyno. I don't like doing them, and for the most part it's been out of action, but for this particular Friday, the dyno was on-line.
For reasons I'm not entirely sure, inbetween customers using the dyno, I decided to run three of my cars, live on Facebook. If they did well, great success! If they did badly, huge embarrassment. And if they blew up live on camera, enough comedic content to last my friends the rest of the decade.
The three cars were my Hillman Imp (of which there is also a blog in this very parish), my TVR S1 (which there is also, but I don't really do anything with it) and, of course, le BX. I announced my plans in advance, and suggested people estimate the results. The BX was on the end of the most negative responses, one guy thinking it wouldn't bust 130bhp. The TVR was generally massively over-egged, but in fairness some people didn't realise that I didn't actually have a V8!
I did manage to download the live vids, and again I'll post the results. Needless to say, the BX hit 158bhp: 2bhp off the quoted book figure, or, if we're now running SAE correction figures (Oh! Guess what? We are...!) then 158bhp is actually exactly what it should chuck out. The Imp did OK, and the TVR....I don't want to talk about the TVR.
The final drive came the following weekend. Keen to finish off on a high, I simply had a day out with my wife in the car I was in when I first met her. My increasing fascination with old railway lines hasn't caused her to desert me yet, and it took her a while to realise the route I took the car down (Romsey to Andover) was actually the route of an old railway line. Still, we stopped in Stockbridge (just like the railway...OK, I'll stop) which is where we got married. And to cap the day off, I bought FIFA 18. Still a kid at heart
And there endeth the tale for now. Honestly, I can't get it back out again. It'll fade and there's no paint left to polish! Its rusting underneath and it needs a fair amount of elbow grease to halt all that and maintain what's there. Some people are happy to jack it up, wire brush it and slap a load of Hammerite all over it. I'm not, I want to do it properly. I don't have time to do that now, so I will wait until I do have time.
That will be after I've got the 16TRS on the road (can be found here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...) and that (along with my Dad's GT) is the BX I'll be concentrating on for now. Sure, it's not the go-faster one, but it's much older, more quirky and I will have it riding so smooth, it'll make every passenger feel motion sick within 5 mins of being in it. And this way, the 16v can sit back in a dark garage, not being eaten by UV rays and preserve itself for future me in a couple of years.
Perfect
Some time later, the BX made its appearance in Autocar:
You don't read many publications with accurate reporting on a BX. No errors, no incorrect info....it was all quite surreal, really!
Just before the car came off the road (did I mention it was coming off the road?), I took it out for a run at lunch. Initially, it was only to pop up the road to get something, but I found myself at one of my favourite local haunts taking pictures once more!
It dawned on me that the last time I took it off the road, I drove just up the road from here. I have a strange fascination with disused railway lines. Not current ones, or even heritage ones (nice as they are). For some reason, I love seemed evidence of a past history, and railways are one of the ones that fascinate me the most.
In between this drive out, and the last drive out I did, before I parked it up, I had a day at work where I blitzed through the list of customers who wanted to go on the rolling road dyno. I don't like doing them, and for the most part it's been out of action, but for this particular Friday, the dyno was on-line.
For reasons I'm not entirely sure, inbetween customers using the dyno, I decided to run three of my cars, live on Facebook. If they did well, great success! If they did badly, huge embarrassment. And if they blew up live on camera, enough comedic content to last my friends the rest of the decade.
The three cars were my Hillman Imp (of which there is also a blog in this very parish), my TVR S1 (which there is also, but I don't really do anything with it) and, of course, le BX. I announced my plans in advance, and suggested people estimate the results. The BX was on the end of the most negative responses, one guy thinking it wouldn't bust 130bhp. The TVR was generally massively over-egged, but in fairness some people didn't realise that I didn't actually have a V8!
I did manage to download the live vids, and again I'll post the results. Needless to say, the BX hit 158bhp: 2bhp off the quoted book figure, or, if we're now running SAE correction figures (Oh! Guess what? We are...!) then 158bhp is actually exactly what it should chuck out. The Imp did OK, and the TVR....I don't want to talk about the TVR.
The final drive came the following weekend. Keen to finish off on a high, I simply had a day out with my wife in the car I was in when I first met her. My increasing fascination with old railway lines hasn't caused her to desert me yet, and it took her a while to realise the route I took the car down (Romsey to Andover) was actually the route of an old railway line. Still, we stopped in Stockbridge (just like the railway...OK, I'll stop) which is where we got married. And to cap the day off, I bought FIFA 18. Still a kid at heart
And there endeth the tale for now. Honestly, I can't get it back out again. It'll fade and there's no paint left to polish! Its rusting underneath and it needs a fair amount of elbow grease to halt all that and maintain what's there. Some people are happy to jack it up, wire brush it and slap a load of Hammerite all over it. I'm not, I want to do it properly. I don't have time to do that now, so I will wait until I do have time.
That will be after I've got the 16TRS on the road (can be found here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...) and that (along with my Dad's GT) is the BX I'll be concentrating on for now. Sure, it's not the go-faster one, but it's much older, more quirky and I will have it riding so smooth, it'll make every passenger feel motion sick within 5 mins of being in it. And this way, the 16v can sit back in a dark garage, not being eaten by UV rays and preserve itself for future me in a couple of years.
Perfect
Edited by Kitchski on Friday 24th November 10:35
Best thread update to start my day off. The BX looks fantastic, though some nightime shots in the mean street of Andover, neon buzzing and headlights on are my request!
Train sidenote - May I recommend Yeovil Junction down the A303 if you want a day actually driving a few steam/diesel locos.
Train sidenote - May I recommend Yeovil Junction down the A303 if you want a day actually driving a few steam/diesel locos.
Have just read and enjoyed this - brought back great memories of growing up when my dad had a series of BX's from the disreputable to the respectable. GTI's were always great fun as was the 19TZD which seemed a rocket ship back then - favourite though was an early (series 1?) 19 with 250K on the clock and the bonkers interior. First modern car I drove. Truly horrible really in beige on beige but would love to see one again!
Has brought about a pang of Citroen nostalgia - he had an SM, a CX GTI and an XM at various points and most of my elderly relatives were equipped with AX's, from 10E to GT.
May have a browse on ebay..
Has brought about a pang of Citroen nostalgia - he had an SM, a CX GTI and an XM at various points and most of my elderly relatives were equipped with AX's, from 10E to GT.
May have a browse on ebay..
did anyone else notice this £10k Bx GTi 16v on ebay?
only 32k miles
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-GTi-16-valve...
only 32k miles
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-GTi-16-valve...
rallycross said:
did anyone else notice this £10k Bx GTi 16v on ebay?
only 32k miles
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-GTi-16-valve...
I take it you've not actually read the thread then...only 32k miles
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-GTi-16-valve...
seiben said:
S100HP said:
good read as always
Agreed. Always look forward to your updates, despite not having owned a Citroen since my first car - a sexy maroon AX 10e 
Spinakerr said:
Best thread update to start my day off. The BX looks fantastic, though some nightime shots in the mean street of Andover, neon buzzing and headlights on are my request!
Train sidenote - May I recommend Yeovil Junction down the A303 if you want a day actually driving a few steam/diesel locos.
Be a while until it's back in Andover!Train sidenote - May I recommend Yeovil Junction down the A303 if you want a day actually driving a few steam/diesel locos.
Yeovil Junction, not heard of that one. Driving a train is something I want to do one day. Done a car, done motorbikes, done a plane (kinda). Train next
ettore said:
Have just read and enjoyed this - brought back great memories of growing up when my dad had a series of BX's from the disreputable to the respectable. GTI's were always great fun as was the 19TZD which seemed a rocket ship back then - favourite though was an early (series 1?) 19 with 250K on the clock and the bonkers interior. First modern car I drove. Truly horrible really in beige on beige but would love to see one again!
Has brought about a pang of Citroen nostalgia - he had an SM, a CX GTI and an XM at various points and most of my elderly relatives were equipped with AX's, from 10E to GT.
May have a browse on ebay..
Cars like these are great, because they bring back lots of memories for people. Convert your nostalgia into currency, and go buy! Has brought about a pang of Citroen nostalgia - he had an SM, a CX GTI and an XM at various points and most of my elderly relatives were equipped with AX's, from 10E to GT.
May have a browse on ebay..
Swervin_Mervin said:
You've set me off now Kitchski. Got my dad on the case hunting for pics of the BXs he had when I were a nipper. I'm fairly sure his first was an A-reg 16TRS in red...
There's a chance you're thinking of my life, not yours rallycross said:
did anyone else notice this £10k Bx GTi 16v on ebay?
only 32k miles
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-GTi-16-valve...
They did Craig, further up. Big money for a B.only 32k miles
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-GTi-16-valve...
S100HP said:
I take it you've not actually read the thread then...
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