BX (EN) by citrovisie

Citroën BX

ISBN 978-90-828147-9-8

9 789082 814798

Over the years, the introduction of variants such as an estate car, a version with automatic transmission, numerous diesel models and all kinds of sporty versions and special, limited series contributed to the continuous success, so that the BX ultimately not only helped the ailing Citroën company recover, but also went down in history as one of the most successful Citroëns ever.

Thijs van der Zanden

citrovisie

The BX: with its avant-garde dashboard, streamlined design, semi-concealed rear wheels and hydropneumatic suspension was a traditional Citroën. Its razor-sharp styling, however, was a radical break with all the brand’s design traditions. The BX incorporated new, lightweight materials, was the first Citroen to be designed with computer assistance and was a huge leap forward in quality. Here was a new generation of Citroën, not just a new car but a reinvention of the marque.

A new generation of Citroën

Thijs van der Zanden Julian Marsh

CIP-data Zanden, van der, T.H.J.M. BX, a new generation of Citroën Bemmel, 2021 312 pg, 22 x 24 cm ISBN 978-90-828147-9-8 NUR 462 Editor Julian Marsh Keywords Citroën (cars); History Lay-out Thijs van der Zanden

www.citrovisie.nl info@citrovisie.nl

Contents 5

Contents

Rennes, birthplace of the BX

Foreword

Model year 1984

Introduction

BX coupé, sedan and three-door

Project XB

108

Model year 1985

Presentation

124

Model year 1986

Model year 1983

146

Compétitions, an unsuccesful adventure

158

Model year 1987

178

Quality

180

Model year 1988

191

Accessories

195

Model year 1989

209

Model year 1990

218

Model year 1991

224

Model year 1992

227

Workhorses

240

Model year 1993

244

Model year 1994 and beyond

246

BXs abroad

286

Production figures

290

Colours and upholstery

311

Afterword

312

Credits & sources

Contents | 5

Help from outside The two external parties from whom the management requested assistance were Italdesign (from des igner Giugiaro) and Carrozzeria Bertone, both from Italy. The design studio of Pininfarina was probably excluded from consideration because they already worked for Peugeot, and they really wanted something different for Citroën. The first contacts were made at the beginning of 1978. A useful advantage was that Citroën’s marketing director Boris Gonzalez spoke Italian well, so there was no language barrier. As early as March 1978, the two companies presented their first scale models and in the summer, full size models were available. Xavier Karcher, who attended the presentations, remembers: “Compared to the other models, Bertone’s really stood out, attracting much more attention than the other.” The choice was made: Bertone’s design would be worked on further.

The design that Italdesign sent to Citroën strongly resembled the Lancia Megagamma (see next page), an Italdesign concept car from the same year.

Italdesign made these spotty but unique Polaroid shots of the model under construction, probably to keep Citroën informed of progress.

24 | Project XB

The person behind the chosen design was Marcello Gandini, Bertone’s chief designer. Gandini recalls: “I had to work on this project on a very tight time scale. That is not surprising, of course: Citroën’s own team had been working for a couple of years on designs that the management did not like, so time was of the essence. I never visited the Citroën design centre because of this time pressure, I had never seen their own designs and I had not had any contact with Citroën’s own designers. All the contact was via the management and I just did my work in Italy. By the way, Jean Giret, together with a technical colleague, came to visit Italy and undoubtedly would have seen me as a competitor. Imagine if you will; you have worked on a design for two years and your management says it is no good, and lets an outsider create a new design... But, of course, I was not hired to make friends.” The very tight timetable can also be seen throughout the course of the project. Gandini: “We had to work fast, for project XB I had hardly made any sketches when I immediately started work with models. In September I finished my design in the form of an asymmetrical model of the exterior in full size. I did this as a quick job without asking myself too many questions. I just got started and stuck in. I even think that the result can be better if one has little time. The asymmetry in the model was due to the fact that on one side a window was placed in the C-pillar and on the other it was missing.”

Some of the few sketches Gandini made for the XB project. The striking side window behind the rear door can already be seen on the bottom sketch.

The Lancia Megagamma from Italdesign closely resembled the design that Italdesign made for project XB.

Project XB | 25

Bertone’s interior design from October 1979 was immediately appreciated. It is unclear to what extent Gandini has been working on this because he had resigned from Bertone by this time.

40 | Project XB

Bertone did not send one, but two proposals. The version below was not chosen. Note the extremely flat spoke on the steering wheel.

Citroën was responsible for the detailing of the dashboard. Some proposals on the left for the instruments housing.

At the end of 1979 Designer Eric de Pauw came up with the idea of locating the seat adjustment knobs at the front of the seat instead of the rear. Project XB | 41

capacity, rounded to two digits (1580 cc became 16), while the letters denoted the level of equipment and an indication of the level of performance. In the BX three types of equipment were distinguished: a basic level, without further addition; riche (indicated by an R) and très riche (indicated by TR). The fuel systems offered a choice between économique (indicated by an E) and supérieure (S). This combination of engines and equipment levels gave the BX a range of five models: the BX (basic), BX 14 E, 14 RE, 16 RS and 16 TRS.

The BX, BX 14 E and 14 RE The simplest version, was simply called ‘BX’, with the 62 bhp engine and four gears and a top speed of 155 km/hr (97 mph) was achievable. The same engine with a bit more power and a five-speed gearbox in the BX 14 E and 14 RE resulted in improvements in performance with a top speed of 163 km/hr (102 mph) and less fuel consumption. The BX base and 14 E both had the same level of equipment, which nowadays would be viewed as particularly austere. The decor of the interior was bare: all parts were made of grey plastic and there was only one kind of grey upholstery. A single interior light was mounted on the driver’s side B-pillar, the rear seat was fixed and only the backrest could be folded. In the rear, static belts were fitted instead of inertia reel seat belts although that differed from country to country - for instance the Dutch market cars had no seatbelts at all in the back. The wheels were only equipped with a small black hub cap and the window frames and bottom edge of the body were not painted black. There were no rubbing strips on the sides and only a single exterior mirror was fitted. The BX 14 RE was slightly better equipped with, among other things, a digital clock, pre-wiring for a radio, a fully foldable and tilting rear seat, a second interior light and rear seat belts. Depending on the body colour, the 14 RE was given a grey, beige or 70 | Model year 1983

The BX at its purest and simplest: an entirely grey interior and an exterior lacking any extraneous adornments or matte black accents.

In the April 1983 Mobil Economy Run a BX 14 RE won in the 6 and 7CV categories where, over a 225 km (140 miles) long hilly course, it used only 14.7 litres (3.23 gallons) of petrol – a fuel consumption of 6.5 l/100 km (43.5 mpg).

Model year 1983 | 71

Further finishing and assembly was mainly by hand, although it was made easy for the workers by rotating the bodywork through 90 degrees so that the underside was easily accessible. At the end of the line, every car was inspected before being parked in the storage yard.

84 | Rennes, birthplace of the BX

Factories all over France Not all parts were produced in Rennes. Citroën factories all over France were involved in the production of parts for the BX: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Asnières: hydraulic components Caen: front and rear sub frames Charleville: cast parts Clichy: cast parts Dijon: steering systems Douvrin: engines Metz: gearboxes Mulhouse: drive shafts Nanterre: gearbox housings Reims: pedals and gear levers Rennes-la-Barre-Thomas: rubber components La Rochelle: front and rear sub frames Sochaux: gearboxes St Ouen: smaller pressed steel parts Trémery: engines Valenciennes: gearboxes

Additionally, a large number of parts, such as bumpers, lamps and all kinds of plastic components, were sourced from external suppliers.

Various parts such as seats, door panels, headrests, carpets, etc. were manufactured in another department. The wiring harnesses were also assembled here. Engines, gearboxes and suspension components were supplied from other factories. Together with the interior parts, these were all added step by step to the body shell in the assembly hall. This was completely computer-controlled to ensure that the right part arrived at the right assembly point at the right time. In many cases the assembly was still done manually, but for some operations the body was turned through 90 degrees, so that the work could be done in the most comfortable position possible. After assembly, a final check on quality, watertightness and adjustments followed. Additionally, one in ten cars was subjected to additional random checks and tested on the factory’s test track to rule out production errors.

Quality circles In order to involve the workers more in the product and at the same time to further increase the quality of production, Citroën in Rennes worked from the early 1980s with so-called ‘cercles de qualité’: groups of five to ten employees from the same department who engaged in quality improvement in the broadest sense of the word. These people were empowered to identify problems, come up with suggestions and solutions and implement any improvements. That system turned out to work so well that other factories also adopted this procedure and by 1984, there were 225 such quality circles that together had solved more than 3000 problems. The cars were transported from the factory by road or rail to the dealers.

Rennes, birthplace of the BX | 85

During the presentation Olsen managed to get approval for his ideas and management gave the order to continue working on three variants. First of all, they wanted a four door sedan, based on the production car but with a 15 cm (6 inches) extension behind the rear doors. Work could also be done on a three-door berline. The roof line and bonnet of the standard five-door version had to be retained, but the sides could be altered. Finally, they wanted to see proposals for a coupé, which was to be a lot shorter and was different from the berline in many more areas. In October 1983, an initial full size model of the sedan was ready and was generally agreed to be quite a successful design. This model was refined even further into two different versions and was ready in February 1984. The model of the BX sedan, by designer Perrier, during an interim presentation in September 1983. There was still much work to do...

98 | BX coupé, sedan and three-door

For the Swiss magazine Automobil Revue, designer Pavel Husek imagined in 1985 what a BX sedan might look like.

In October, the model was further refined ( top ) and in February 1984 the final design ( bottom ) was ready. Certainly not an ugly car.

BX coupé, sedan and three-door | 99

Heuliez made two different proposals for the darkcoloured area around the rear window. The lower version was finally chosen. With the dark part, the difficult transition between the falling door line and the angle of the rear side window was neatly camouflaged.

rear doors of the berline for the break. That was very important, because making changes to body parts such as doors always entails high investments. The roofline of the berline fell sharply, and with it the top of the rear doors. For the break, however, we had a straight roofline in mind. I think the BX break would never have come about if we had been unable to find an elegant solution to this problem.” That solution turned out to be hiding the roof and optically camouflaging the difficult transition between the falling door line and the start of the third side window with a layer of dark grey paint. People at Citroën were enthusiastic. In contrast to an exclusive BX coupé, which was also discussed around the same time, the practical and elegant break seemed a guaranteed winner. The green light was given and the design of the break was taken over virtually unchanged. Heuliez then experienced an exciting time: 150 million francs were invested in the development and production start-up. The BX break would be built entirely in-house as Heuliez wanted, not on the basis of converted berlines, but entirely from scratch. This naturally required a lot of preparation. In January 1985, the first cars rolled off the Heuliez line. Laurent Pautrot of Heuliez stated: “At that time, Citroën’s own factories were running flat out and still finding it difficult to meet demand. After the first few breaks we helped them out and only built berlines for three months. On the one hand, we were able to calmly increase our production pace and familiarise employees with the production of the car and on the other hand, Citroën were able to deliver a few dozen extra cars every day. After three months we started to build both breaks and berlines and from the summer we produced breaks only. Soon we were on nine hour workdays and were building 150 cars a day.” 130 | Model year 1986

A look at the break production line at Heuliez. The cars were not adapted from berlines but built and finished from separate parts. With this, Heuliez’s long-held wish to manufacture rather than modify cars was fulfilled.

Model year 1986 | 131

Compétitions, an unsuccessful adventure In 1980, Guy Verrier (1928) became head of Citroën Compétitions, the brand’s sports department. Under his leadership Citroën began to profile itself more and more actively in rallying, something that was fully supported by the marketing department because it contributed to the sportier image that Citroën wanted to acquire. Verrier initially opted for the Citroën Visa as a rally car, and he used ten of these in 1981. The following year, two hundred versions of the Visa Trophée were developed specifically for rallying, and from 1983 Citroën gained experience with the Visa in rallies that counted for the world championship. These cars performed with quite some success: in the challenging Greek Acropolis rally, Citroën factory drivers Philippe Wambergue, Maurice Chomat and Christian Rio managed to finish ninth, 146 | Compétitions, an unsuccessful adventure

tenth and eleventh in the general classification and first, second and third respectively in their class. Verrier, of course, did not send his team on the road for nothing: his goal was to actively participate in the World Rallying Championship (WRC) from 1985 onwards. Although the light and manoeuvrable Visa was the ideal car for this, the marketing department preferred a rally car based on the BX. Verrier said about this in an interview: “We are torn between two solutions. On the one hand, we can distinguish ourselves from our competitors by coming with a small car with 210 hp. That would be the Visa. We could also do what most others do and develop a car in the 960 kg class, which makes up the majority in Group B. That would certainly be a BX. To be honest, at the moment we are so undecided that it is even possible that we might come up with two different versions in group B.”

Group B From 1982, Group B was one of the categories in which the FIA classified race and rally cars – letters replaced the old numbered groups. Group B was the category for modified cars, in which the rules were the most flexible. To get a rally car admitted to one of the other groups there had to be at least five thousand examples built every year whereas in group B there was only a one-off series of two hundred necessary. That made this a class ideally suited to reasonably experimental models that are often characterised by enormous engine power thus making it a very attractive spectacle. However, there was little safety for the ever-growing crowds and inevitably some major accidents occurred. After two such accidents in 1986 in which a total of 31 spectators were injured and six drivers killed, group B was abolished in 1987.

Test driving a BX rally prototype.

Guy Verrier.

In the end the choice fell on the BX. From 1983 Citroën worked on a rally version with which they could participate in the WRC in 1985. However, because Citroën Compétitons had only 24 employees, there was close collaboration with various external rally vehicle preparers in the development of the WRC BX. Numerous possibilities were investigated: two or four wheel drive, front or rear engine, turbocharging, etc. There were three options in terms of the engine: a six-cylinder engine from Peugeot, a further developed version of the engine from the BX 16 or a four-cylinder Chrysler unit, which PSA also had available to it after the acquisition of Chrysler Europe. The Peugeot engine could not be fitted into the BX and therefore this solution was dropped. According to Verrier, the further development of the BX 16 engine required too much work and this left the Chrysler engine. Dating back to the 1970s, it was also used in the Peugeot 505 Turbo from 1983. It was a robust and reliable engine that could also be souped up easily. Both Citroën and the Polytechnic company built a BX rally prototype in 1983, and both of these were with the Chrysler engine in the front. Polytechnic mounted a new cylinder head with sixteen valves Compétitions, an unsuccessful adventure | 147

Model year 1988 The changes made to the BX a year earlier had had a good effect on sales: in Europe Citroën sold almost 17% more cars in 1987 than in 1986. Citroën performed particularly well in Spain (where sales increased by 59%), Sweden (+ 45%), Great Britain (+ 34%) and Austria (+ 22%). With such good results, the changes for model year 1988 were only minimal: one does not change a winning formula. The chevrons on the Citroën badge on the tailgate were removed and the automatic versions lost the designation ‘automatic’ on the back. The rear window wiper could no longer be switched on permanently, so forgetting to turn off the wiper was no longer possible. From now on, the button had no lock so the wiper operated only as long as it was kept depressed. All BXs received a grab handle as standard on the passenger’s side above the door but these were not fitted on the Entreprise or versions with a sunroof. The RE, RS and RD, also had grab handles at the rear. These versions, however, lost the storage compartments in the rear doors. The four rubber roof strips were deleted on the RS and RD break. In the TR models, ABS was added to the option package and, in addition, the upholstery fabrics were changed. Some BXs had already been fitted with these new fabrics from April 1987 onwards. From Look for the differences! From the 1988 model year, the two chevrons after the Citroën name disappeared.

180 | Model year 1988

1 July 1987 to 30 June 1988

The BX sixteen valve: the new top model from Citroën.

equipment level TR up, all models were provided with an audible signal that warned that the lights had not been switched off when removing the ignition key. A few changes were made under the bonnet: the petrol models were modified with a different steering gear ratio, the BX 15 and 16 were fitted with a different carburettor, and apart from the BX 11, 14 and GTi, a new oil pump housing was installed in all the other models. Especially for the Swiss and Swedish markets, the BX 16 was equipped with a new, even cleaner engine. One of the novelties was an electronically controlled carburettor with a carbon filter in which petrol vapours could be stored. This further reduction of emissions was at the expense of power, which fell to just 75 bhp. The BX diesel gained a modified air filter, a new camshaft, larger valves and revised combustion chambers all of which increased the power from 65 to 71 bhp and a top speed of 165 km/hr (103 mph) became possible. Those who ordered the diesel with an automatic gearbox now received an automatic transmission with slightly different shift speeds.

The BX GTI 16v From the mid-80s onwards, the emphasis in the auto motive world was very much on electronic gadgets and technical highlights. These did not always really add anything, but primarily served as a status symbol through a boot lid badge. ABS, four-wheel steering, an on-board computer... even necessary items such as a catalytic convertor were proudly mentioned on the back by the marketeers. In the spirit of the times, the first ‘sixteen valves’ also appeared on the market: four-cylinder engines in which not just two, but four valves were fitted in each cylinder. Nowadays even the smallest car is fitted with this technology, but in 1987 a sixteen-valve model was still seen as the absolute apogee, the standard bearer of the brand. This also happened at Citroën when the BX 16 Valve was announced in April 1987. It was proudly reported that this was the first French car with a multi valve engine. With this engine the BX reached a top of 218 km/hr (136 mph) and the sprint from zero to 100 km/ hr (62 mph) was possible in 7.9 seconds! From July 1987, the BX GTi 16 Soupapes, as the car was called in full, became available in France and a short while later in export markets. This meant the

Model year 1988 | 181

Large volume Those who found a standard BX too small could, from the mid-1980s, go to numerous converters and suppliers who removed the rear seats and extended the load floor to the rear of the front seats. In this way, every standard BX could in principle be converted into an Enterprise or Service version, with all the associated tax benefits in countries that permitted such vehicles to be treated as vans. A size bigger than the Entreprise was the BX Van, a model that was sold in Finland among others. The Van was a BX break that was equipped with a high superstructure above the roof, thereby increasing the load volume to 3000 litres (106 cu ft). Although the front of the superstructure nicely followed the rake of the windscreen, the rear looked a bit strange. They had chosen to leave the standard break tailgate which required a sort of bite to be removed from the roof to accommodate it in the open position. Coach builder Heuliez came up with an alternative solution based on the BX Clinique ambulance: the BX Grand Volume. This was simply an ambulance with A Spanish company produced this BX pick up.

236 | Workhorses

The roof of the BX Van nicely followed the line of the windscreen at the front, but at the rear there was a strange bite out of the roof to allow the tailgate to be fully opened. Suppliers such as Teilhol offered kits with which in principle permitted any BX to be converted into an Entreprise.

none of the additional ambulance appurtenances or flashing lights, thereby creating a large delivery van. As far as is known, this car was not supplied in large numbers, although some were exported to Norway in the late 1980s.

The BX Grand Volume from Heuliez was sold in Norway in the early 90s.

The leader in this field was the Belgian company Pijpops, known for their large vans based on the CX. In the early 90s they converted a standard BX into a pick-up for their own use. This turned out to be a very handy car and a few additional BXs were built, but this time they were extended to 5.6 meters (18.4 feet) and were equipped with a twin rear axle. In addition, a nice polyester superstructure could be placed on the body, so that a closed delivery van was created with a loading space of more than 6000 litres (212 cu feet) and a loading capacity of 1300 kilos (1.2 tons). In order to get all this weight moving quickly (and again coming safely to a halt), Pijpops used a BX turbo diesel with ABS as the basic vehicle. However, no more than five were built. The conversion was relatively expensive, so most buyers preferred a CX or XM as their basic vehicle. In Belgium, Pijpops built these highly attractive six wheel vehicles based on the BX turbo diesel.

Workhorses | 237

It seems that preference was given to the solution without the hydropneumatics, because in March 1980 another photo of the ‘version mécanique’ model shows that the design had been further developed. What happened next is unfortunately not entirely clear, because after 1980 the archives remain silent about American versions, with the exception of some photos of a rather strange-looking design from the summer of 1982, at the time that the BX was presented. Around that time, Jacques Lombard, who was a member Citroën’s management team, was asked in an interview whether the BX would also be marketed in the United States, and if so, under what brand name. Lombard: “To my knowledge, the BX is a Citroën, so in all countries of the world, including the US, the model would be sold under the Citroën name. However, at this time we have decided not to follow up on our plans to sell the BX in the US. We now have more important things to do than try to get a foothold in North America.” March 1980: the further developed steel sprung version featuring the small small American license plate mount and the indicators in the front bumper. This model was photographed in June 1982. Designer Nozati had designed this version based on the production-ready BX, with only a few minor modifications to comply with American legislation. By no stretch of the imagination can it be called beautiful.

278 | BXs abroad

In terms of body panels, only the bonnet and bumpers have been revised. The indicators have found a place in the bumper and in their place there is a ribbed plastic cover with a reflector meaning no further changes to the metalwork were needed. On this car the logos are missing which would seem to confirm the rumours that the BX might be marketed in America under the name Peugeot.

BXs abroad | 279

Colours and upholstery In the overviews in this chapter the combinations of body colours and upholstery materials are listed by model year. Not all colours and upholstery were available everywhere. For the sake of clarity, only the colour and upholstery combinations available in France have been used when compiling this chapter. For the same reason, the countless limited edition models and limited series have also been disregarded. As an illustration, only the grey version of the relevant upholstery textile is shown in each overview. The French names of the colours and upholstery are not translated in this book. In some countries, the Netherlands for instance, the French names were used, but in other countries they were translated - sometimes quite literally, such as Neptune Grey (Gris Neptune) or Delage Red (Rouge Delage), but often also a bit more freely, such as Alpine White (Blanc Meije). The name Blanc Meije was sometimes accidentally written by Citroën as Blanc Neige, which in the pronunciation sounds almost the same and means ‘snow white’ - no illogical error. In the German brochure for example this name was incorrectly translated into Schneeweiß.

Jaune Cédrat The Jaune Cédrat colour was seen in the 1983 model year on the models used for the press introduction. For a long time it was assumed that this colour was not supplied on any production models, because nobody could actually remember ever seeing such cars in real life. However, the yellow could still be ordered throughout the model year. Perhaps because it was a fairly loud colour it was therefore not often chosen, which explains the rarity. It is not even inconceivable that yellow cars were resprayed in a more neutral colour to make them more saleable on the secondhand market. In 2014, by the way, a yellow BX from April 1983 appeared, proving that Jaune Cédrat was indeed not just a 1982 introduction colour.

Colour codes When a car had to be repainted after damage, the exact body colour could be determined on the basis of a stencilled code that was applied in the engine compartment. This code was made up of five letters, each with its own meaning. In the colour code GNE dS (Bleu Argenté) the G stood for Citroën paint (one might have expected the letter C here), the N for the colour group (in this case blue) and the E for the exact shade. The additional letter d identified the paint supplier and the S identified the type of paint: synthetic (S), acrylic (A) or varnished (R). From the summer of 1984, Citroën changed the colour coding. In most cases, only the letter G in the code was changed to E (Gris Perlé GVE thus became EVE), but sometimes other changes were made: GYA (Noir), for example, did not become EYA but EXY.

Jaune Cédrat was available throughout the model year in 1983.

290 | Colours and upholstery

Model year 1983

Level basic Level E

Level R

Level TR

Colour and colour code

Front and rear seat

Jersey Uni

Jersey Chiné

Jersey Pied de poussin

Beige Colorado

GDB

Gris

Beige Daim

Beige Sloughi *

GDH

Gris

Beige Daim

Blanc Meije

GWB

Gris

Bleu-Vert

Bleu Argenté *

GNE

Gris

Bleu-Vert

Bleu Lagune

GNA

Gris

Bleu-Vert

Gris Neptune *

GVF

Gris

Beige Daim

Gris Perlé *

GVE

Gris

Jaune Cédrat

GDG

Gris

Noir **

GYA

Gris

Rouge Vallelunga

GKB

Gris

Vert Tuileries

GRD

Gris

Beige Daim

* **

Metallic paint Varnished paint Colours and upholstery | 291

Citroën BX

ISBN 978-90-828147-9-8

9 789082 814798

Thijs van der Zanden

citrovisie

A new generation of Citroën

Thijs van der Zanden Julian Marsh