The
Citroën AX is a
superminiA supermini is a British term that describes automobiles larger than a city car but smaller than a small family car. This car class is also known as the B-segment across Europe, and as subcompact in North America....
built by the French manufacturer
CitroënCitroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
from 1986 to 1998. The AX was launched at the 1986 Paris Motor Show to replace the
Citroën VisaThe Citroën Visa is a supermini that was produced by the French car marque Citroën from 1978 to 1988.-Development History:The Citroën Prototype Y to replace the 2CV based Citroën Ami that dated back to 1960 in the early seventies, was originally developed in co-operation with Fiat...
and
Citroën LNAThe Citroën LN and Citroën LNA are supermini automobiles produced by the French manufacturer Citroën between 1976 and 1986....
.
Overview
Development of this model started in 1983, and was initially also going to form the basis of a sister model from
TalbotTalbot was an automobile marque that existed from 1903 to 1986, with a hiatus from 1960 to 1978, under a number of different owners, latterly under Peugeot...
to replace the
SambaThe Talbot Samba is a supermini car manufactured by the PSA Group in the former Simca factory in Poissy, France, and marketed under the short-lived modern-day Talbot brand. Based on the Peugeot 104, it was the only Talbot not inherited from Chrysler Europe, engineered by PSA alone. It was also the...
; however, the falling popularity of the Talbot brand had led to
PeugeotPeugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
deciding to axe it by the time the Citroën AX was launched, and so the Talbot version never made it into production.
The car was available from its launch on 2 October 1986 as a three-door
hatchbackA Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...
with 1.0, 1.1 and 1.4-litre
TUThe PSA TU engine is a family of small four-cylinder engines used in the Peugeot and Citroën range of cars. It was introduced in 1986 with the Citroën AX, replacing the X family, although it shared many components with its predecessor...
-series belt driven OHC engines. Shortly afterwards, a five-door model and a 1.4 diesel were introduced; the latter was later replaced by a 1.5-litre unit. It had fully independent long travel suspension. It was initially backed by a memorable TV advertising campaign filmed in China, starring actress Janet Mas and an elderly gentleman, whose character was simply known as Mr Wong.
The car was very economical, largely because of excellent
aerodynamicsAerodynamics is a branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air, particularly when it interacts with a moving object. Aerodynamics is a subfield of fluid dynamics and gas dynamics, with much theory shared between them. Aerodynamics is often used synonymously with gas dynamics, with...
for its class of car (
drag coefficientIn fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment such as air or water. It is used in the drag equation, where a lower drag coefficient indicates the object will have less aerodynamic or...
of 0.31) and a very light weight of 640 kg (1,411 lb) for the basic version. This was due to the extensive use of plastic panels in non-load bearing areas and varying the thicknesses of steel in the bodyshell to be the minimum needed to take required loads. It also optionally used self coloured plastic bumpers. This technology came from the PSA Peugeot-Citroën / Renault / French government ECO 2000 project. The production version was much more conservative than the original 'one box' design prototype, that was closer to the Eco 2000 styling after negative reactions in focus groups. The 'one box' supermini eventually came to market with the early '90s
Renault TwingoThe Renault Twingo is a city car built by French automaker Renault, first presented at the Paris Motor Show in September 1992 and sold in continental European markets beginning in 1993...
. In 1989 a naturally aspirated diesel AX, using the 1360 cc all aluminium alloy TUD engine, managed a figure of 2.7 l/100 km , totalling over 1000 miles (1,609 km) from
DoverDover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
to
BarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. This was the longest ever distance travelled on 10 imp gal (45.5 l; 12 US gal) of fuel and earned it a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the most economical production car.
Also available was a 4x4 variant, but with limited success when compared to the rival Fiat Panda 4x4. This was not sold in the UK.
The first performance version was the limited-run AX Sport from 1987, with a 1.3 engine and twin carburettors producing 95 bhp, wearing iconic white steel wheels (5,5" x 14") which resembled those on its brother, the Peugeot 205 Rallye. The AX Sport used Solex ADDHE 40 carburettors until 1990 and was then replaced with Weber DCOM 40s, just like the 205 Rallye 1,3. The AX Sport had a shorter inlet manifold than the 205 Rallye, to save room in the smaller engine compartment. Later on the sport was lightly revised, available in other colours and with optional GT wheels. Later, the AX 14GT, with a single-carburettor 85 bhp 1.4 engine also found in the
Peugeot 205The Peugeot 205 is a supermini produced by the French car manufacturer Peugeot between 1983 and 1998. It was declared 'Car of the Decade' by CAR magazine in 1990. The 205 won 1984 What Car? car of the year.-History:...
XS, was introduced. From 1991, this model utilised
fuel injectionFuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
to coincide with the revamp of the entire range and to coincide with tougher 1992 EU emission regulations that introduced exhaust catalytic converters.
Late 1991 saw the range revised, with a heavily face lifted tailgate and interior being the most notable changes. The following year saw the introduction of the most powerful AX variant, the 100 bhp GTi. The GT was sold alongside the GTi for a few months, but was eventually phased out. New models were introduced such as the Forte, Spree, Elation and Dimension
The range was slimmed-down in 1996, following the introduction of the Saxo, with production of the AX ending in 1998 after a 12 year production run. A total of 2,425,138 AXs were produced.
In January 1995 the Citroën AX Echo was created, reaching a top speed of 110 mi/h. Its competitor at the time, the Peugeot 106 Ski, was lacking interest on buyers in Europe whilst the Citroën AX's sales were sky high.
The
Peugeot 106The Peugeot 106 is a supermini produced by French automaker Peugeot from 1991 to 2004.-Phase I:The Peugeot 106 was introduced on 12 September 1991, as the French marque's entry level car slotting in beneath the 205 - although it is now largely considered the 'true' replacement to the 205. It was a...
and
Citroën SaxoThe Citroën Saxo is a supermini produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1996 to 2003. It was also sold in Japan as the Citroën Chanson. It shares many engine and body parts with the Peugeot 106 , the major difference being interiors and body panels...
were both developments of the AX. They followed the '90s trend for heavier, more solid and 'safer' feeling cars that continues today. The AX was designed for lightness, with a 'less is more' philosophy, but with more conventional styling than previous Citroëns.
AX derivatives
In 1996 the EV3 engine (air engine) was mounted into a regular Citroën AX car by
MDIMDI may refer to:In computer science:*Media Delivery Index, a metric used in IPTV networks*Medium dependent interface, a type of Ethernet port connection*Microsoft Document Imaging Format, a proprietary file format...
.
HeuliezHeuliez is a French company that works as a production and design unit for various automakers. It specializes in producing short series for niche markets, such as convertibles or station-wagons....
presented an
estateA station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
version called the AX Evasion at the 1988
Mondial de l'AutomobileThe Paris Motor Show is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held around October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show was the first motor show in the world, started in 1898 by industry pioneer, Albert de Dion. The show...
.
The Citroën AX BB Cabrio was a small
roadsterA roadster is a two-seat open car with emphasis on sporty handling and without a fixed roof or side weather protection. Strictly speaking a roadster with wind-up windows is a convertible but as true roadsters are no longer made the distinction is now irrelevant...
derived from the AX (1988). In Portugal, Citroen dealership Benjamin Barral created an unofficial convertible version, called the BB Cabrio, originally powered by the twin-choke carb AX GT 1.4 L engine, but later available with any type of engine that equipped the 3 door AX. Considered very handsome, due to the lack of the usual roll bar that convertible normally require, these cars are now collector's items and command a heavy premium over the normal models they are based upon. This model was not sold in the UK.
At one stage, parent firm
PSA Peugeot CitroënPSA Peugeot Citroën is a French manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles sold under the Peugeot and Citroën marques. Headquartered in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, PSA is the second largest automaker based in Europe and the number eight in the world.-History:In December 1974 Peugeot S.A....
had planned to launch a
Talbot SambaThe Talbot Samba is a supermini car manufactured by the PSA Group in the former Simca factory in Poissy, France, and marketed under the short-lived modern-day Talbot brand. Based on the Peugeot 104, it was the only Talbot not inherited from Chrysler Europe, engineered by PSA alone. It was also the...
replacement as a version of the AX with a different grille and a
TalbotTalbot was an automobile marque that existed from 1903 to 1986, with a hiatus from 1960 to 1978, under a number of different owners, latterly under Peugeot...
badge, but this plan was cancelled, as the entire Talbot marque was axed in the same year the AX was launched.
Malaysian car company Proton produced a version of the Citroën AX, the
Proton TiaraThe Proton Tiara was a Malaysian automobile based on the Citroën AX, built under licence by the automobile manufacturer Proton between 1996 and 2000.-History:...
, from 1996 to 2000.
Aixam Mega at one time built an AX derivative called Mega Club. It was somewhat inspired by the
MéhariThe Citroën Méhari is a utility car and off-roader produced by the French automaker Citroën. 144,953 Méharis were built between 1968 and 1988. A Méhari is a type of fast-running dromedary camel, which can be used for racing or transport...
, with a plastic bodywork and an optional convertible version, with 2 wheel drive or four wheel drive. It was discontinued in 1998. A competition version of the Mega Club with a tubeframe chassis raced in the
Andros TrophyThe Andros Trophy is the French national Ice Racing championship.-History:The idea of an Ice Racing series first became an idea when professional racer Max Mamers and the owner of the Andros company , Frédéric Gervoson met as rugby fans in 1985...
in the early 1990, but powered by Ford and Honda engines.
External links