Who's on the road (or could be), who is Not?

[Dave]

I cannot believe it is 7 years since I posted this. During that time I have been roadworthy once because I took it for an MOT which was passed pretty easily bar a couple of brake hoses. What prompted me to revive this today was seeing Performance Frenchcars magazine. There is an article on the 16v which is nice to see. What made me think more is it suggests there are only about 30 left The article has made me want to get mine sorted out, I have a slight leak under the thermostat, could be the hose, and a couple of minor things to address AFAIK. At this time I will view mine as one of the "30" left.

So I thought it would be good to ask the same question 7 years on.......

I will just add, I do look in on this site quite often but I think like many, due to not being too active with the car, posts are limited. It is a great forum, a bit special if that is the right word.

[Kitch]

What's the article like?

Mine's off the road again now. Will be for a while now while I sort out some other projects.

[Dave]

Quite a good read, there is a full pic across two pages and a further 5 pages of info with more pictures. Nothing we don't know but the writer does plug the car rather than put it down. The picture has the words "Extra Rare" above the car which boasts 297 bhp. It has had a lot of work done and looks nice.

[Kitch]

Oh ok, I knew about that one. I thought they might have done an article on a model as a whole. They did a few years back, when Keith Adams used to write for them a bit. Funny how every mag he's involved with is littered with old Citroens

[Toddman]

I will have a full and lengthy read of this full thread.

My main car the white one which was my daily driver until my troubles was on the road every year bar 1 I think up until the end of 2009 when things got very involved.

The plan was to have G764KEW on the road again this year but after a long hard look I decided to give up eating and drinking and put my pennies into getting her done right rather than an MOT fix up, so the aim is now to have her on the road spring 2016.

The green hornet has turned out to be actually the best valver I have in terms of rot, ironically I think the shocking paintwork has saved the car from any rust, it is in for MOT and my mate says no trouble underneath except a few pipes need cleaning up and the door shuts and pillars are clean as a whistle. Obviously there is rust tucked away but overall it is solid and if I am right we can tax it for a month at a time so might have a month on the road if all goes well.

Sounds like there are a few on the road owned by BX Club members who don'y say a lot here but then I am pretty quiet over there but when I first built bx16valve.co.uk I talked with Jon Wood a lot as it was early days for BX Club back then

Really hope we can get a handful of valvers together next year at a meet, I have missed a lot but get the feeling the CCC has warmed to the BX now and I did get a funny email from Citroen UK about the valver, they told me that if I contacted my local dealer they would be happy to assist me with nay help or advice i needed.

Actually going to check on the old girl today so might have news and a pic or 2 of erm rot LOL!

[hilarystone]

My red 16V G500WAN has been on the road continuously since I bought it in October 2011. Its just been MOT'd and last year I did 11,000 miles in it. Since 2011 though I've clocked up 49,000 miles in G500WAN. This year my 16V engined BX van has taken a bit of the miles off G500 – it was put on the road in April and including the Classic Challenge in France has notched up 8000 miles on its own…

[Dave]

Since 2011 though I've clocked up 49,000 miles in G500WAN.

That is quite impressive.

[pete crane]

Hi Guys,

I have enjoyed owning and driving my white 1990 16v G441AKX ever since I bought it in August 1995 for £ 3250. It was the family car for many happy years and shared the garage with my 65 Lotus Cortina. I bought a new VX220 in 2003 and sadly could not afford to keep the 16v on the road due to the cost of a new no claims bill with the insurance - but I could not bear to part with my 16v and it went into storage for a while. I very nearly sold it a few years ago - the guy never did give me the £300 I wanted so I ended up taking it back - this whole episode made me decide that I would keep this car for ever - so gradually I have had it properly restored by a Citroen BX trained mechanic who did a great job for very little money. I now have the car back in really good shape and it is back in constant use - at least a 100 miles a week - often up and down the M6 or M65 - it is a superb motorway car.

My last thought to share is that I contract hired a brand new Merc C180 for a couple of years - it was a great machine but both me and my lovely wife could not help but compare it to our beloved BX - and we both decided we preferred the BX !

Anyway - this post sounds like too much bragging but that's not where I am coming from - just trying to share that the BX is so interesting and fun to own and drive - and cheap compared to some of the other cars I have in terms of running costs.

I am old but still working - I also race slot cars most weekends all over the UK - I only made a couple of meetings with other 16v owners around 10 years ago but I would hope to meet up with some of you in the future - if only to keep in touch with spares availability and learn from your experiences with your cars.

Cheers

Pete Crane

[Dave]

Thanks for the update Pete, pleasing to know that even though there appears to be very few of these cars, some of them get a mention on here.

[Dave]

No updates on here for a while, probably covered in other threads but since old members have logged in and some appear to have sold up, who actually has a 16v now? I have, it worried me a little last week as per my post but I am really going to try and sort a few things in spring. Slight water leak by the stat and a good check over.

[hilarystone]

I have my red one G500WAN on the road and the green un G49BBL is also the road and lent to a friend in Bristol… And my van with 16V engine K251OYJ is also on the road…

[Dave]

I have my red one G500WAN on the road and the green un G49BBL is also the road and lent to a friend in Bristol… And my van with 16V engine K251OYJ is also on the road…

That is fantastic, nice to know there are a couple going around for sure.

I just had a look at your site, I have a Viscount Aerospace pro in my loft, not sure they are of much value yet though, bit like a, bx

[Timmo]

i have Finally got mine Home now from pops! had a prod about, pulled out the carpet from the front as was a smidge damp, but not a lot else, going to need a good amount of welding before it see's the road again, up until now its not been welded, that however, is about to change!

[Dave]

i have Finally got mine Home now from pops! had a prod about, pulled out the carpet from the front as was a smidge damp, but not a lot else, going to need a good amount of welding before it see's the road again, up until now its not been welded, that however, is about to change!

Hi Timmo, glad you had a look in too, also pleased you are going to sort her out, far nicer than the alternative

Keep us updated.

[frog]

That's cool things are looking up for it Timmo.

Mine is still my daily driver here in Queensland Australia.

Its paint work is looking pretty sad and I've had to have both bumpers repaired in about the last 4 years due to people hitting me in carparks.

I'm looking at getting a newer car this year coming so the Valver can come off the road and get some rehabilitation.

We don't have a yearly safety certificate or MOT equivalent here and I'm sure mine would fail if we did.. Long list of bits and bobs to sort, nothing too serious though. I would love to respray it but with a baby on the way in May I can't see that happening anytime soon!

I still pop in on the forum once or twice a month to see what's happing but mostly just use the BX club Faceballs group.

I'll update my project thread with any significant progress.

Cheers all!