It didn't have to be. And it rhymes very emphatically with misbaked. But with that we embarrass this totally forgotten wallflower which is too emphatic and actually unjustified: the Citroën Shoulder.
The stepchild of Citroën certainly did not get a head start in life. That started in the late 1970s in Romania, more inspiring circumstances were conceivable ... As a result of a joint venture between Citroën and the Romanian government becomes the Citroën Axel more or less extracted as a byproduct of Project VD, which led to the successful Citroën Visa. It also looked very similar, but in practice almost no part was interchangeable. Maybe some annoyances. Or the owners.
A poor child
As a result of the cooperation with the Romanians mandatory Citroën turned to the purchase of a good number of Oltcits, as the neglected child was called in the home market. Several tens of thousands of copies of the Citroën Axel were brought to Western Europe and sold there to mainly stingy car bites. Because as a car enthusiast you had little to look for in one Citroën Axel. For a petrolhead, the poverty was dripping off. And regularly also the necessary parts. The thing was not very well put together and was already out of date when it left the factory. That was not uncommon at the time and generally accepted in those parts. Joie de vivre is not a Romanian phrase for nothing and that was clearly visible in this humorless Aldi interpretation of Citroën's sympathetic Visa. The mischievous French model received the same mundane appearance from the Romanians as from a blue dust coat with penetrating sprout air. It didn't cost anything and that looked like it turned into steel, plastic, glass and rubber. But appearances are deceptive.
Pepper duration
Behind the scenes, the Citroën Axel because it cost an excessive amount of money. Kickbacks, that is. Due to the massive corruption and crass, shameless bureaucracy, the whole project took a god's fortune and untold and precious time before the first Citroën Axel left the gate of the newly built factory in Craiova. The profit had already evaporated in advance, the figures could now be credited in the red. Citroën looked at it with dismay. The importers and dealers in some Western European countries as well. In addition to their own, trusted range, they were more or less forced by PSA from 1984 to also offer this somewhat sad stepchild to but-I-only-have-from-A-to-B customers or unsuspecting misers. They then built up a close relationship with them, because they often visited each other from then on. A lot broke. And if it didn't break, it was probably because it had already rusted away.
Much for little
Yet it was not only doom and gloom, the Romanian had a right to exist. Especially in his own country, its natural habitat. He was also adjusted to that. His ground clearance, for example, was much greater than that of his French counterpart. The technology used was certainly not wrong: the four-cylinder air-cooled engines of 1,1 or 1,3 liters were already sufficiently tested to be considered reliable. On the home market, the Axel could also be ordered with the well-known 650 cc two-cylinder engine that also catapulted the 2CV to the horizon with every green light. But the biggest plus was of course its price: the most luxurious version cost less than the scantiest Visa in the price list. You don't expect delicate taste sensations and a bold bill on your plate from goulash either.
The Axel is the last real design of Citroën (actually for Fiat which was owned by Citroën) before the brand was taken over by Peugeot in the early 70s.
In the meantime, the Axel is in Romania where he is known as oltcit (Olt is the province in which Craijova is located and Cit van Citroën) is sold as a real cult car with a growing fan base.
The employees of the factory had a real rally team, with many rallies in the Eastern Bloc in the late 80s being driven in groups A and N. The factory team cars were homologated by the FIA in 1986.
I myself own 2 Axel's, 1 of which is a replica of the rally team with which they drove the Danube rally in 1986
Well done!
Yes, the quality of the AXEL left something to be desired…certainly…but bad goes a long way.
The Netherlands is very German-minded when it comes to cars, and unfortunately the journal contributes to this…
Citroën came in heavy weather in the 70s, because the rotary engine story was tried just in the period in which the energy crisis also took place.
And so if you have invested heavily in 'new' technology that is not yet teething trouble-free…then you (even as a big boy) soon go up the beet bridge.
That has nothing to do with quality at all.
Those Axels with 1300 cc ran like a deer and stuck to the road. Commercially they were indeed a drama: the AX and Axel were even confused in the car trade years later.
The collaboration has Citroen no well done. In that respect, Renault had a happier partnership with Dacia that continues today.
There is very negative writing about the Axel here. I worked as an apprentice car salesman at a Citroën dealer when the Axel came on the market and I found the demo, 12 trs, with 5 gearbox very nice to drive..
Definately true. Only something positive can be said about the chassis. That was sublime.
And actually the Axel was the original design from the mid 70s, so not a spin off of the Visa.
And the 650cc did not come from the Duck, but from the LNA and Visa. A top piece by the way.
I had traded in such an Axel and had it for a while, then a female came and she was looking for an AX, they had not been on the market for long and were very popular and she only had Euro 1000, - I say, girl that is possible never for that money and yet I have one, so we walk to the AXEL, she likes it but says, that is not an AX, I say, yes, this is an AX Extra Luxe. She bought it and drove it for years. True happened!
nice story 😉
In 1986, during my internship at a Citroëndealer, made a few more copies ready for delivery. During this inspection, the difference in quality between the Axel and the rest of the range indeed became clear. The difference in fuel consumption (with the air-cooled 4-cylinder) and the other water-cooled models was also quite large.
A year later, the Visa was replaced by the AX, which was completely an economy miracle, but was clearly more expensive to purchase.
But still, if you were looking for an economically operating means of transport, the AX was still cheaper during daily use. Both in consumption and in maintenance, because the intervals were also longer than with the air-cooled Axel.
Unfortunately, there is hardly any reference to the GSA: the futuristic dashboard, which was already abandoned at the Visa, and the engines, much more powerful than the Visa, came from there if I'm not mistaken.
If you were looking for a cheap car to drive from A to B in the 80s, you were a lot better (and cheaper) with a Lada 1200 (2101)
You might have been better off with a Lada, but only if you went to the gym to get the Lada's steering wheel turned when maneuvering. That was one thing. Whether the Lada also had a lower consumption is also somewhat doubtful. As befits a Russian, they liked a solid sip. Cold starting, on the other hand, was no problem.