Citroen AX 14TZS

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Sat 22 Oct 2022 16:27
Citroen AX 14TZS - Xileno

Just seen the above car on my afternoon walk around the town. Not immaculate but certainly tidy on the panels. It was a G reg so 1989/90 and I thought it looked amazingly fresh in design for such as old car. I think they came out in 1987. I had a look on the 'how many left' website. Only one registered but seven SORNed. So I have just seen the only registered one in the country. Not sure what the odds on that are but maybe I will start doing the Lottery again...

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Sat 22 Oct 2022 16:31
Citroen AX 14TZS - groaver

Do I remember correctly that they had composite panels on the bodywork?

Very light if I recall with great fuel economy. Wouldn't like to be in an accident in one nowadays though!

I wonder how many of these it takes to weigh the same as an electric car of similar size?

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Sat 22 Oct 2022 16:55
Citroen AX 14TZS - Xileno

Wiki claims 640 to 850kg so yes very light. They were always considered fairly lightly-built cars even in the day, a Fiesta and particularly a Polo felt more solid but none of these cars are places to be during an accident.

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Sat 22 Oct 2022 17:58
Citroen AX 14TZS - badbusdriver

Brilliant minimalist little car, very much following the 'less is more' mantra. The figures I have suggest a 1.4 of this age would tip the scales at just under 700kg which, with 70bhp, would give it a power to weight ratio not dissimilar to the 190bhp Jeep Renegade PHEV Adampr tested the other day...........!

Re the styling, obviously beauty is in the eye of the beholder but, as a general rule, clean and unfussy styling (like the AX's) doesn't age anything like as quickly as the reverse.

None for sale on either Autotrader or Ebay, but there are a few on carandclassic.com, including this LHD 4X4 example imported from Italy,

C1481424

Couple of nice looking ones at Chevronics (including a 1.4 diesel), but this late 1.1 private sale looks a bit of a bargain and would make a fine retro runabout!

C1494412

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Sat 22 Oct 2022 23:04
Citroen AX 14TZS - Andrew-T

Wiki claims 640 to 850kg so yes very light. They were always considered fairly lightly-built cars even in the day, a Fiesta and particularly a Polo felt more solid but none of these cars are places to be during an accident.

Certainly true these days when many cars weigh about twice as much. Not so bad back then when they didn't.

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Sat 22 Oct 2022 18:23
Citroen AX 14TZS - Andrew-T

I had a look on the 'how many left' website. Only one registered but seven SORNed. So I have just seen the only registered one in the country. Not sure what the odds on that are but maybe I will start doing the Lottery again...

BBD (and maybe others) may be interested to know that my 1994 Pug 306 Garros has just moved to a new home close to Inverness airport. There remain 15 of those, but only 2 or 3 licensed. Similar odds to that AX I suppose, especially given its new location ?

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Sat 22 Oct 2022 19:44
Citroen AX 14TZS - craig-pd130

They were peppy little things because they were so light (under 750kg!). The 1.4s did 0 - 60 in 9 seconds flat. which was very respectable for the time.

Road test of the AX GT (with the same 1.4 engine) here: www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/sets/721576.../

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Sat 22 Oct 2022 20:17
Citroen AX 14TZS - badbusdriver

They were peppy little things because they were so light (under 750kg!). The 1.4s did 0 - 60 in 9 seconds flat. which was very respectable for the time.

That only applies to the (85bhp) GT. The engine in the other 1.4 models was in a lower state of tune and would have had either 70 or 75bhp. But the rare 1.3 Sport was the quickest of the lot with 95bhp(*) propelling just 715kg!.

Road test of the AX GT (with the same 1.4 engine) here: www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/sets/721576.../

Thanks for that, really enjoyed reading it!

*Actually the later (1.4) GTI also had 95bhp, but weight was up to just under 800kg so it accelerated no quicker than the first gen GT

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Sat 22 Oct 2022 23:38
Citroen AX 14TZS - Ethan Edwards

My wife owned an AX for a couple of years a one litre example, in a royal blue. From memory it didn't feel underpowered at all . A nice comfy car, and I'd not say no to one today.

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Sun 23 Oct 2022 08:31
Citroen AX 14TZS - elekie&a/c doctor
Light and fragile with zero safety kit . Wonder what it would get in today’s Ncap rating . Can they award it minus stars ?
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Sun 23 Oct 2022 09:25
Citroen AX 14TZS - Xileno

I think the Saxo had basically the same chassis as the AX so probably would behave in a similar way when crashed. Compared to other cars designed at that time maybe it was about average. Rover 100 did badly.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=orPCEKw1dGk

Edited by Xileno on 23/10/2022 at 09:25

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Sun 23 Oct 2022 09:39
Citroen AX 14TZS - craig-pd130

Thanks for that, really enjoyed reading it!

The same Flickr account has literally hundreds of period road tests and articles from Autocar, Motor, Car Mag and others. Excellent lunchtime / rainy day reading: www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/collections

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Sun 23 Oct 2022 11:17
Citroen AX 14TZS - edlithgow
Picked by James May as the best car he has ever driven, in his 100th Daily Telegraph motoring column, apparently.

“Pick any other car, and the AX GT will be better than it at something, while remaining plenty good enough at everything else”

And there’s only one left.? So much for the Rational Market
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Sun 23 Oct 2022 22:30
Citroen AX 14TZS - bathtub tom

I was tempted to buy one as an off-road competition car, mainly because or their weight. Found my six foot frame put my head too close to the roof and I suspect it would have given me a headache.

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Mon 24 Oct 2022 09:55
Citroen AX 14TZS - Tester

I had one of these new in 1987 -- it was an absolute hoot! Weighed about 6 ounces with lots of plastic panels so the normal (75 bhp?) 1.4 engine didn't have a lot to do, and being quite young then I took childish delight in leaving behind BMWs at traffic light grands prix. Handling on pretty narrow tyres was fun, too. As others have said, there wasn't much to it and it would probably have vaporized in a crash but I avoided the issue by not crashing it!

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Sat 29 Oct 2022 12:44
Citroen AX 14TZS - LongTimeNoBike

I had the 86-BHP AX GT, 1989 model from new, kept it for four years. Great little car, with lovely handling. They replaced my carb version with the slightly more powerful injected one, although the added weight made the performance no better.

Very light, with a plastic tailgate, and didn't exactly feel solid.

I still have the 3-way review (somewhere, so doing this from memory) from a car mag at the time, comparing the AX GT with the Fiat Uno Turbo and the equivalent Rover. Fiat was fastest but not very stable. Of the three, they preferred the AX for fun, and the Rover had the best interior.

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Thu 27 Oct 2022 10:34
Citroen AX 14TZS - Sulphur Man

My first car was an 11TRE - 1989 F-Reg. Still remember the registration - F593KMY

Even with rose-tinted spectacles, it was ok, nothing more. Considering it's lack of weight and minimalism, it was probably overpriced at the time. The engine was still carb with choke, when rivals were mostly SPI by then.

The car after the AX was a Punto 55SX, a far more convincing small car. Loved that - utterly reliable for over 75K miles.

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Thu 27 Oct 2022 11:07
Citroen AX 14TZS - skidpan

Remember when Clarkson struggled to do his under 10 minute Nürburgring lap in a Jaguar S type, well they should have sacked him (they eventually saw the light a did) and employed this chap in an AX diesel.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBFjHjm0O5M

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Thu 27 Oct 2022 11:43
Citroen AX 14TZS - Xileno

Huge respect for that AX driver. Just shows the skill of the driver is an important (or more) than the power under the bonnet. That poor little engine sounded like it was going to pop at any time!

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Thu 27 Oct 2022 15:10
Citroen AX 14TZS - badbusdriver

Huge respect for that AX driver. Just shows the skill of the driver is an important (or more) than the power under the bonnet. That poor little engine sounded like it was going to pop at any time!

Knowledge is a huge factor at the 'Ring too. Because it is so long and has so many corners, it would take a huge amount of practise in order to achieve the best possible lap.

But yes, much respect, I do love seeing things like this, the plucky little AX laying down a sub 10 minute time!. The 182 kmh (113mph) v max was surprising too for a 52bhp car, presumably this was downhill.

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Thu 27 Oct 2022 15:10
Citroen AX 14TZS - bathtub tom

That AX looks like it's been specially prepared. Note no radio, passenger seat, door trim, seat belt, door mirror glass, carpet and roof lining. Makes me wonder what other changes it's undergone.

Still an excellent drive.

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Thu 27 Oct 2022 15:42
Citroen AX 14TZS - skidpan

That AX looks like it's been specially prepared. Note no radio, passenger seat, door trim, seat belt, door mirror glass, carpet and roof lining. Makes me wonder what other changes it's undergone.

Still an excellent drive.

It certainly has been stripped out, will weigh the same as a wet paper bag.

According to the blurb the driver spent 7 years trying to get sub 10 minutes using a number of engines and gearboxes.

Forget what has been done to it, look at the speed other cars pass it and its easy to see its not a fast car in a strait line. The driver simply keeps his foot down. Admire the drive

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Thu 27 Oct 2022 16:29
Citroen AX 14TZS - Xileno

Something very satisfying about wringing the neck of an underpowered car. Years ago (early 90s) I had the fortune or misfortune depending on your view of driving a 2CV for a week. Feeble 602 cc engine and ridiculously roly-poly handling although it actually gripped the road very well despite skinny tyres. Not something to crash in of course but huge fun. For a while, as a second car maybe...

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Thu 27 Oct 2022 17:05
Citroen AX 14TZS - skidpan

Something very satisfying about wringing the neck of an underpowered car.

In 1996 out of necessity I need a totally reliable car that gave great mpg for a 3 year contract I had negotiated. Expected to do about 20,000 to 30,000 miles annually. Bought a Polo diesel. Only 65 bhp and weighed the same as a small moon. not fast, quite noisy but reliable and economical. My A-B times were little slower than using a quicker car but I had to ring its neck and never slow down, the front tyres did not last long.

After 3 years my allowance per mile had more than paid for the car and I still got a good price for it. I could not wait to get it sold, bought a new Puma, much better but only did about 7000 miles a year in that.

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Thu 27 Oct 2022 16:38
Citroen AX 14TZS - badbusdriver

Forget what has been done to it, look at the speed other cars pass it and its easy to see its not a fast car in a strait line. The driver simply keeps his foot down. Admire the drive

Absolutely, all about preserving momentum!.

Reminds me of something LJK Setright wrote many years ago in an article about the Fiat 126, "Circumventing the impossibility of going quickly by simply never going slowly"

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Thu 27 Oct 2022 17:29
Citroen AX 14TZS - Andrew-T

That AX looks like it's been specially prepared. Note no radio, passenger seat, door trim, seat belt, door mirror glass, carpet and roof lining. Makes me wonder what other changes it's undergone.

Probably an equivalent to the Pug 205 Rallye with 1276cc engine. Most of the frills had been removed from those too.

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Thu 27 Oct 2022 17:25
Citroen AX 14TZS - Andrew-T

The car after the AX was a Punto 55SX, a far more convincing small car. Loved that - utterly reliable for over 75K miles.

I had one of those for a year or two. Well designed, comfortable and economical (50mpg). Couldn't stop the open sunroof causing a petrol smell inside the car though.

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Thu 27 Oct 2022 22:48
Citroen AX 14TZS - bathtub tom

I had a Panda 750cc that I bought for daughters to use after I got fed up of ferrying them around (they had full licences). After I gave it a head job, it flew (for a 750). Great exhaust note and surprising torque for such a small engine (the crank wasn't under the centre line of the pistons). I was able to balance a pound coin on the engine at tickover. Many folk thought I'd transplanted a 1000cc or 1300cc, but it was original, I just used to love winding it up. Skinny tyres and terminal understeer, but it was hoot to drive at (and beyond) its limits.

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Fri 28 Oct 2022 09:32
Citroen AX 14TZS - skidpan

Probably an equivalent to the Pug 205 Rallye with 1276cc engine. Most of the frills had been removed from those too.

Mate had a 205 Rallye from new. Not been in contact with him for a few years now, he probably still has it. Great car, very revvy engine and twin Weber (or were they Solex) equivalents. Steel wheels which the rallyists preferred and sod all trim and kit. Built as an homologation special for rallying so I suspect they had little in the way of rust protection.

But the AX in my video link was a diesel so 100% not an equivalent of the Peugeot.

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Fri 28 Oct 2022 14:12
Citroen AX 14TZS - Andrew-T

Probably an equivalent to the Pug 205 Rallye with 1276cc engine. Most of the frills had been removed from those too.

Built as an homologation special for rallying so I suspect they had little in the way of rust protection.

I can see your reasoning, Skidpan, but I doubt that any special exclusions from the well-publicised 7-stage 205 rustproofing process would have been made (I still have the brochure) - even to save a few ounces in weight :-)

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