Imported. Well maintained Citroen BX 16 TS

1988 Citroen BX

This unit has arrived from Europe. Being the previous owner a Citroen dealer employee. the car has been always properly maintained. Everything works. and body is in very good shape. showing no rust. with the exception of a minor dent on the rear left side. Power windows and locks have been retrofitted to manual. This car is a BX 16 TS -Intermediate 8 valve engine (from BX14 1360cc. BX16 1580cc. BX19 1905cc) -Intermediate trim (from trims S. TS. TZS offered after 1989) The car has cleared customs and EPA requirements (as a 25 year old car it is exempt from emissions). and it is legally registered in the State of Connecticut. Connecticut doesn't issue titles for cars 20 years or older (just the registration) Seller reserves the right to cancel the listing anytime. as car is also sold locally. Would help accommodate delivery up to 50 miles from car location. Near major airports and transportation. Car is sold "As is". with no warranty from the seller. Please feel free to ask any question. Car is located in South-western Connecticut. ----- A little bit of history: The best of both worlds After years of losing money. Michelin - the owner of Citroen - withdrew in 1974. Citroen fell into the hands of its arch-rival Peugeot. The conservative new owner started rationalizing Citroen. eliminating excessive technologies and sharing components with its own models. This eventually brought Citroen back into black. but it also killed the individual character of Citroen. BX was launched during this transitional period. However. compare with later Citroens it preserved most of the unique character. while compare with older Citroens it was far more reliable and practical to own. Combining the best of the two worlds. BX was probably the best Citroen since 2CV. BX was unique in many ways. First of all. its Bertone design. penned by the famous Marcello Gandini (Lamborghini Countach. Lancia Stratos. first gen BMW series 5). looked like no other cars around. It lacked the oddity of traditional Citroen. replaced by a striking angular shape yet achieved a wonderful drag coefficient of 0. 34. Best of all. this design remains timeless today. while contemporary family sedans like Ford Sierra. Renault 21 and Peugeot 405 feel far more outdated. BX brilliantly avoided the two traditional weaknesses of Citroen. namely. overweight and rust problem. by using composite and plastic body panels extensively. The glass-fiber reinforced plastic composites included the bonnet. the tailgate and the roof. while the bumpers and fuel tank were made of plastics. the trasparent quarter panels were polycarbonate. Therefore the BX was very lightweight (e. g. 960 kg for a typical 1. 6-litre BX) and quick on its feet. Its packaging was also worth praising. A compact exterior dimensions enclosed a long wheelbase and a somewhat "cab-forward" proportion to enable vast of headroom and legroom for all passengers. The cockpit had a futuristic digital instrument panel. All controls were concentrated within a finger distance from the steering wheel. very aircraft like. When the BX launched in 1982. fans of Citroen must be delighted it continued to use the independent hydro-pneumatic suspensions. A sphere containing gas and liquid at each corner provided springing and damping. Their setting was stiffer than Citroens of the past. thus gave better roll resistance to please keener drivers. Low speed ride suffered a little. but at high speed the ride quality still marked it out from other cars. The self-leveling function kept ride height unchanged regardless of load. It also raised or lowered the car automatically in relationship to speed. or adjusted by the driver. Besides. the hydraulic system got simpler and more reliable. These continue improvement made the BX far more livable than previous Citroens. BX also tackled another traditional weakness of Citroen - engines. It was benefited by the much better SOHC engines from Peugeot. The most popular were the 93hp 1. 6-litre. The lovely BX lived until 1993. Some 2. 33 million units were sold in 11 years. bringing Citroen the greatest success since the days of 2CV. It was replaced by Xantia and then C5. both had lost its charm somewhat and failed to match its sales success. ----- A cold start in the morning. the high pressure pump and the hydraulic suspension start working. The rear goes up first as it is lighter.