If you wish to cause a stir at any classic car gathering, large or small, you do not have to arrive in a Lotus Cortina Mk1, a Jaguar D-Type or a particularly rare Ferrari. As Will Hollands-Smith has discovered, his humble 1986 Citroën BX 19RD is more than enough to cause a minor sensation; not least because it is believed to be the sole Mk1 BX Estate still on the road in Britain.
Citroën intended the BX to eventually replace the GS family. The chief designer at Bertone, Marcello Gandini, created the distinctive “origami” bodywork. Later, he recalled “I had to work on this project on a very tight time scale”, after Citroën’s management rejected in-house designs. The BX debuted in June 1982, and British sales commenced on Sept 1 1983.
The new Citroën faced the challenges of being awkwardly sized between the Austin Maestro/Ford Escort Mk3 and the larger Ford Sierra/Vauxhall Cavalier Mk2 class, which represents 60 per cent of new car sales. Furthermore, too many fleet buyers were concerned about the French marque’s reputation for complexity, especially compared with the mechanical simplicity of most UK output.
Citroën attempted to quell such concerns with the slogan: “Loves Driving, Hates Garages.” The Telegraph praised its “essential Citroën ingredients of hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension, giving superb roadholding and ride comfort, power-operated disc brakes all-round and aerodynamic though not way-out styling”. The UK’s Guild of Motoring Writers voted the BX “Top Car 84.”
Some Citroën devotees complained that the 1,360cc and 1,580cc engines displayed the influence of parent company Peugeot. But the BX displayed the typical Citroën attributes of a single-spoke steering wheel, a non-self-cancelling indicator switch and an instrument binnacle that resembled a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. This newspaper’s motoring correspondent disliked the “revolving drum ‘magic lantern’ type speedometer”.
That year, Citroën introduced a 1,905cc diesel engine option and in July 1985 it unveiled the Break estate version, constructed by the coachbuilder Heuliez. By 1986, the 19RD Estate cost £7,740.36 compared with £8,355 for an Austin Montego 1.6 HL Estate, £7,565 for a Sierra 1.6L Estate or £7,909 for a Cavalier 1.6 LD Estate.
The 19RD had power-assisted steering and a manual height control for the suspension and could convey more than 63 cubic feet of luggage with the rear seat folded. Autocar found the BX wagon “remarkably refined” for a diesel-engined car and “an estate that fulfils nearly all of its promise”.
In 1986 Citroën facelifted the range as the Mk2. The Xantia replaced the BX hatchback in 1993, with the estate lasting until 1994. The total production figure for the BX was 2,315,739 but today, there are believed to be only seven 19RDs of any generation remaining on the road and, of them, this is the sole Estate.
Hollands-Smith revels in his BX’s comfort, road manners and the fact that it regularly causes startled reactions when he drives along the mean streets of Winchester. He explains: “I am a lover of all things unexceptional but have always had a weak spot for French stuff; my family all had French cars when I was growing up. Two years ago, I happened to be searching eBay at exactly the right moment when I stumbled across the dream example of my dream car – a Citroen BX, my favourite car of all time.”
Being a 19RD, the Hollands-Smith BX “is also effectively the most basic diesel model of the time, with a whopping 65 naturally-aspirated bhp under her plastic bonnet. When I collected her from Halifax, in true XUD [engine] fashion, she chugged into life immediately with the characteristic rooster tail of smoke as the back end made its trademark ascent. I knew she was to be taken on as something of a rolling restoration from day one.”
At the 2023 Silverstone Festival, a former owner of the BX approached Hollands-Smith. “He told me that when he saved her she was fresh in a scrapyard ready to be crushed, the interior mouldy from having been stored in a shipping container. Before he could mechanically recommission the BX, he had to convince the DVLA she was still alive, as although she had lived in the capital all that time she had, in fact, been off the road since 1995.”
The grey 19RD embodies the views of a Motor test of the time, stating the BX had a lot to offer “anyone shopping in the Sierra/Cavalier class” but warning that its combination of character and idiosyncrasies “could possibly deter as many buyers as it attracts”. But as any BX devotee will tell you, it is a car far above the madding crowd.
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