Citroën AX

Rear o pre-facelift AX

The Citroën AX is a supermini biggit bi the French manufacturer Citroën frae 1986 tae 1998. The AX wis launched at the 1986 Paris Motor Show tae replace the Citroën Visa an Citroën LNA.

Owerview

The caur wis available frae launch as a three-door hatchback wi 1.0, 1.1 an 1.4-litre TU-series belt driven OHC ingines. Shortly afterwards, a five-door model an a 1.4 diesel wur introduced; the latter wis later replaced bi a 1.5-litre unit. It haed fully independent lang traivel suspension. It wis initially backed bi a memorable TV advertisin campaign filmed in Cheenae, starrin actress Janet Mas an an elderly gentleman, whose character wis simply kent as Mr Wong.

The caur wis vera economical, lairgely acause o excellent aerodynamics for its cless o caur (drag coefficient o 0.31) an a vera licht wecht o 640 kg (1,411 lb) for the basic version. This wis due tae the extensive uise o plastic panels in non-load bearin auries an varyin the thicknesses o steel in the bodyshell tae be the minimum needit tae tak required loads. It an aa optionally uised self coloured plastic bumpers. This technology came frae the PSA Peugeot-Citroën / Renault / French govrenment ECO 2000 project. The production version wis muckle mair conservative than the oreeginal 'ane box' design prototype, that wis closer tae the Eco 2000 stylin efter negative reactions in focus groups. The 'ane box' supermini eventually came tae mercat wi the early '90s Renault Twingo. In 1989 a naturally aspirated diesel AX, uisin the 1360 cc aw aluminium alloy TUD ingine, managed a figure o 2.7 litres per 100 kilometres (100 mpg-imp; 87 mpg-US), totallin ower 1,000 mile (1,609 km) frae Dover tae Barcelona. This wis the langest iver distance travelled on 10 imp gal (45.5 L; 12.0 US gal) o fuel an earned it a place in the Guinnes Warld RecordsGuinness Beuk o Records as the maist economical production caur. An aa available wis a 4x4 variant, but wi leemitit success when compared tae the rival Fiat Panda 4x4. This wis no sauld in the UK.

Red Citroën AX 3 door

White Citroën AX 5 door

The first performance version wis the limitit-run AX Sport frae 1987, wi a 1.3 ingine an twin carburettors producin 95 bhp (71 kW; 96 PS), wearin iconic white steel wheels (5,5" x 14") which resembled those on its brither, the Peugeot 205 Rallye. The AX Sport uised Solex ADDHE 40 carburettors till 1990 an wis then replaced wi Weber DCOM 40s, juist lik the 205 Rallye 1,3. The AX Sport haed a shorter inlet manifauld than the 205 Rallye, tae save room in the smawer ingine compartment. Later on the sport wis lichtlie revised, available in ither colours an wi optional GT wheels. Later, the AX 14GT, wi a single-carburettor 85 bhp (63 kW; 86 PS) 1.4 ingine an aa foond in the Peugeot 205 XS, wis introduced. Frae 1991, this model utilised fuel injection tae coincide wi the revamp o the entire range an tae coincide wi tougher 1992 EU emission regulations that introduced exhaust catalytic converters.

Late 1991 saw the range revised, wi a hivily face liftit tailgate an interior bein the maist notable chynges. The follaein year saw the introduction o the maist pouerful AX variant, the 100 bhp (75 kW; 101 PS) GTi. The GT wis sauld alangside the GTi for a few months, but wis eventually phased oot. New models wur introduced sic as the Forte, Spree, Elation an Dimension

The range wis slimmed-doun in 1996, follaein the introduction o the Saxo, wi production o the AX endin in 1998 efter a 12 year production run.

Interior o an early AX.

Interior o a later AX.

In Januar 1995 the Citroen AX Echo wis creatit, reachin a tap speed o 110 mph (180 km/h). Its competitor at the time, the Peugeot 106 Ski, wis lackin interest on buyers in Europe whilst the Citroen AX's sales wur sky hie.

The Peugeot 106 an Citroën Saxo wur baith developments o the AX. Thay follaed the '90s trend for hivier, mair solit an 'safer' feelin caurs that continues the day. The AX wis designed for lichtness, wi a 'less is mair' philosophy, but wi mair conventional stylin than previous Citroëns.

AX derivatives

In 1996 the EV3 ingine (air ingine) wis mountit intae a regular Citroen AX caur bi MDI.

Heuliez presentit an estate version cawed the AX Evasion at the 1988 Mondial de l'Automobile.

The Citroën AX BB Cabrio wis a smaw roadster derived frae the AX (1988). In Portugal, Citroen dealership Benjamin Barral creatit an unoffeecial convertible version, cawed the BB Cabrio, oreeginally pouered bi the twin-choke carb AX GT 1.4 L ingine, but later available wi ony teep o ingine that equipped the 3 door AX. Considered vera handsome, due tae the lack o the uisual roll bar that convertible normally require, thir caurs are nou collector's items an command a hivy premium ower the normal models thay are based upon. This model wis no sauld in the UK.

At ane stage, parent firm PSA Peugeot Citroën haed planned tae launch a Talbot Samba replacement as a version o the AX wi a different grille an a Talbot badge, but this plan wis cancelled, as the entire Talbot marque wis axed in the same year the AX wis launched.

The Proton company o Malaysie produced a version o the Citroën AX, the Proton Tiara, frae 1996 tae 2000.

Aixam Mega at ane time biggit an AX derivative cawed Mega Club. It wis somewha inspired bi the Méhari, wi a plastic bodywirk an an optional convertible version, wi 2 wheel drive or fower wheel drive. It wis discontinued in 1998. A competeetion version o the Mega Club wi a tubeframe chassis raced in the Andros Trophy in the early 1990, but pouered bi Ford an Honda ingines.

External links

• Citroën AX at Citroenet
• CITROENS: Proton Tiara Archived 2016-08-10 at the Wayback Machine
• AX links at Citroën World Archived 2006-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
• CITROËN AX on the Road Archived 2008-09-16 at the Wayback Machine
• AX Owners Club Forum Website Archived 2010-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
• AX French Owners Club Forum Website Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine