Ever tried to photograph a car at two in the morning – Sunday morning? Last weekend, I did just that, while being out with friends. You see, this place I like to frequent has a nice view to the street behind it, and the white Citroën BX wagon just peeked out in there. I immediately put down my small Guinness and barged to the patio, which was just about to close.
“You can’t get through here, sorry.” “But there’s a car there I need to photograph!” The exchange was something to that effect. Patience and good manners paid off, and here’s the result: some noisy and blurry shots of a white French econobox. Isn’t it great?
The Suomi Finland -registered Citroën was bone stock except for the five euro hubcaps bringing down the property values all around it.
As the tailgate sticker proclaims, the Citroën is the comfiest drive.
And hey, at least it isn’t one of the Finnish-converted van versions, with a fiberglass boat upturned on the roof.
Such simplicity. On such a complicated, yet light and understandable car.
[Images: Copyright 2015 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]
Night Owl: Citroën BX 16 TGI Break
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That’s 2 AM? I think your sun is broken, Finland.
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During midsummer in the north of the Nordic countries, the sun never sets. Ever. The catch is that in the middle of the winter, it never rises. Ever. Taking a winter shot of a car after 3 PM is impossible.
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There’s a guy living at the street next to me with an extremely well kept BX estate. It seems to be in the garage 99% of the time though, so I’ve barely seen it.
Completely unrelated, there’s a guy with an equally well kept and equally rarely seen CX at an equal distance from where I live, but in the opposite direction. Never thought of it, but the odds have to be minimal considered how few I’ve ever seen of both. -
Coincidentally, this was my chariot for the day; tough to beat a Citroen wagon. Picture was taken at 2:00 p.m. in northern Ohio with a rare glimpse of sunshine.
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I hope you brought enough to share with everyone.
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Looking at those wheels, I have to ask if AutoZone has opened stores in Finland.
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I like the opening shot: either the building is sinking, or the road is sloped. The BX certainly is lower on the rear, as they design it for parked Citroens.
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After being parked the suspension lowers… slowly. The rear goes down first. Here’s mine, parked for about an hour (first picture) and parked for (half?) a day or so (second picture).
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“Take a note, Watson: the car was parked substantially longer than one hour.”
“But Holmes, how do we know that the pneumatic system is gas-tight?”
“I checked it by breathing my pipe smoke into the system – I could not smell any burley or latakia from the car.”
“Note taken.”
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i feel the same way about this as i do the DS Safari. i guess it’s neat that it’s rarer, but the roofline that’s such an important part of classic Citroen design is lost. not worth it.
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I’d take it, especially in BX 1.9 GTi 16V guise. It’s basically a Peugeot 405 Mi16 with hydropneumatic suspension, which makes for some interesting characteristics when hustling it.
Related to the 405 Mi16: the basic 405 architecture was derived from the BX, minus the hydropneumatic bits – except on the 405 Mi16x4, which got the BX’s hydropneumatic suspension but only at the rear. -
Aren’t these just a little big and well-equipped to be an ‘econobox’?I don’t think anything with L’hyropneumatique can be described as such.
A Xsara or a Saxo, on the other hand…definitely. Any Citroen described by a pair of letters can’t be so prosaic. That’s left to the ones with names and steel suspension.
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