IDRIVEACLASSIC reviews: Citroen AX Chicago (a special edition!)

Video Description

A video on a Citroen AX?! Wonderfully French and massively underrated *** Check out Adrian Flux! They keep me insured and can offer you insurance on your beloved car too: *** If like me you're hard of hearing, this is the fact script on walkaround: Last week we looked at the Citroen Visa, so it only made sense this week to look at the Citroen AX. And this isn’t just any Citroen AX - this is a Citroen special edition - the AX Chicago. The AX burst onto the scene as Citroen’s first supermini in 1986 at the Paris Motor Show as a three door before adding a 5 door model in 1987. Interestingly the car wasn’t launched in right hand drive buying markets until 1987 where we first got the 3 door before the 5 door joined the line up in 1988. The car was given some really interesting promo activity to bring it into the competitive super mini market - which was well established by this point - including a trip along the Great Wall of China for the TV advertising campaign. You know, back when car manufacturers had real fun with their advertising… If you watched the Visa video last week, you’ll have been struck by how wonderfully different the car was to everything else out there - whereas this car feels a lot more sensible - which may be due in part to the fact it was a lot more Peugeot than the Visa. In fact, early plans for the car itself began back in 1983 where it had briefly been discussed making the AX a sister model to replace the Talbot Samba but the company saw the success of the 205 and decided the AX needed to give Citroen market share in the supermini space. And a successful market candidate it was, with 2.5 million units sold during the production years of 1986 to 1998. Which isn’t a massive surprise when you consider what the car offered. The car, like the VISA it replaced, was aerodynamic which allowed the 1 litre version to achieve a fuel consumption of over 70 miles per gallon when driven at a steady speed of 56 miles per hour. The car we’re testing here today is your first generation which ran from launch until 1991 and offered a 1 litre 3 or 5 door hatchback, a 1.1 3 or 5 door hatchback in RE, TGE, TRE, TRS and TZX spec, a 1.4 3 or 5 door hatchback in TRS, GT, TZS or TZX spec and then a 1.4 diesel which was available in RD, TGD and DTR spec. The engine as you’ll probably spot when we’ve looked under the bonnet is the PSA TU-series belt driven overhead cam set up. Although these engines have been used in a lot, the first car it was used in was the AX at launch in 1986. It replaced the PSA X engine, which was discontinued fully in 1990. These engine options ran through into the second generation launched in 1991, albeit with different specs, before being joined by a 1.5 diesel option in May 1994. Of all the models, the diesel was always very highly regarded by buyers who did their research, because independent testers and reviewers found them to be not only highly economical within the range but also one of the most economical small cars to buy new at the time. Production came to an end on the car when it was replaced by the Saxo, but if you’re not a massive Ctitroen buff you may not know that Proton actually produced a version of the AX under license called the Proton Tiara for 4 years from 1996 to 2000. Although they did change things like the grille, bumpers and rear light clusters and it was only ever sold as the 1.1 litre variant and was only ever sold in Malaysia to protect Citroen sales. Now going back to the AX,you’ll remember from last week we met the owner of the Visa called Colin, well this belongs to him too! So before we have a closer look at the dash, let’s find out what Colin had to say on this lovely Chicago addition AX. #citroenax #classiccitroen #citroenax11 #citroenaxreview #protontiara