Citroën AX Small car for Sale

The Citroën AX was designed and manufactured by French company Citroën from 1986 until it was discontinued in 1998. It was promoted as a 'supermini' and made its first appearance at the motor show in Paris in 1986. The company had produced the Citroën AX as a replacement for the successful Citroën Visa and LNA. The Citroën AX could be purchased as a three-door or five-door hatch. All of the models produced were front-wheel and front-engine drive. There was a choice in transmission between a four or five-speed manual gearbox, and the engine was available in several sizes either as a diesel or petrol.

The history of the Citroën AX

The development of the Citroën AX was inaugurated in 1983 as a sister model for Talbot. In the period of development to the launch, the Talbot diminished in popularity, and when the Citroën AX was eventually launched, the Talbot version was scrapped due to lack of demand. The AX came with a fully independent suspension, and a very long wheelbase, which was unusual for the class. One of the most attention-grabbing points about this car was the TV promotional campaign, which was produced in China and featured Janet Mas and a gentleman simply called Mr. Wong.

Part of the appeal of the Citroën AX five-door was that it was extremely economical on fuel. This was because it was highly aerodynamic for the period. It was also light because of the use of plastic on non-load bearing areas of the vehicle.

A naturally aspirated diesel Citroën AX managed to travel over 1000 miles on 10 gallons of fuel. This earned the car a place in the prestigious Guinness Book of Records, as the most economical production car of the time. A variant of the Citroën AX that was released at the time was the 4x4 version, which only had limited success when it was compared with its direct rival, the Fiat Panda. The 4x4 Citroën AX was not made available in the UK.

The performance version of the Citroën AX

There was a limited run performance version of the Citroën AX that went into the showrooms in 1987. This car came with a 1.3 engine and twin carburettors, which delivered 95 bhp. The Citroën AX Sport used Solex Carburettors until 1990 when the company replaced them with Weber DCOM 40s. In the later years of the Sport, there were some cosmetic alterations including the availability of other colours and GT wheels as an optional extra. From 1991, the vehicle was given fuel injection to coincide with a general revamping of the entire range and tougher EU emission regulations, which brought about the extensive use of catalytic converters