My XM 2.1 TD Exclusive, in blue

[CitroJim]

Back on Topic , welcome to the XM forum 'Gallic oddity' nice looking Exclusive you bought !

Nice try XMX but all in vain I'm afraid. It's rapidly drifted back to Lancias again

And why not. Just like Citroens they're jolly interesting and desirable cars...

[Gallic oddity]

Crikey I should rename this thread Lancia Fanciers!

There is a good reason why a Citroen GS/CX/XM fancier will appreciate Beta/Gamma Berlinas... They all stem from the Fiat/Citroen merger that fell through. Is Leonardo Fioravanti an unsung hero of international car design? Sadly, Robert Opron plagarised his design studies.

Two of my ex-Lancia, photographed recently together, at a meet. Also a photo of how Berlinas Gamma and Beta compare.



The Maxi and the Wolseley, and what they could have looked like if BMC hadn't been so blinkered. Both sold-on to trusted owners.



The Alfa 6, where my big old luxobarge problem started? Sold-on, to the top UK collector of these.




Some of the above aren't my own photos, so thanks due.


Enough of this facebooking! Back to XM?

Took the XM out today. Went to a local breakers to sniff out an XM, not much left on that one, drove away. So, fiddled with the dash buttons. Oil pressure gauge is dead, will change switch. Aircon: will put on the tester. Sunroof, arghh it's leaking. Cruise: doesn't. Engine strong and gearbox changes up and down well. The alcantara/leather mix is perfect. Well then, just drive it!

[CitroJim]

Gosh, doesn't that yellow prototype next to the Wolseley look a lot like the CX... Now that as a BMC with hydrolastic suspension could have been a winner for BMC. Knowing them though they'd have cocked it up somehow

Wasn't the BX design offered to BMC and they turned it down? Choose foot, aim, fire!

Sounds like your XM has a lot of normal niggles but nothing serious. Will (Dieselman) has recently done an excellent article on how to stop sunroofs leaking and I can offer you lots of information on sorting the cruise. It'll be for the Xantia but it all applies... I'll dig it out in a minute and post a link or two..

The oil gauge is a level gauge and only works when the ignition is first switched on and then it reads sump level for about 30s ad then goes to sleep. It should initially light up and the needle flick up. Many are now dying and some don't like synthetic oil...

[CitroJim]

Here's a good guide on fixing the cruise control courtesy of the FCF.

It's Xantia-specific but very applicable to any XM as it's an identical system.

I'm in fact working through a faulty cruise right now on mine...

[Dieselman]

Gosh, doesn't that yellow prototype next to the Wolseley look a lot like the CX... Now that as a BMC with hydrolastic suspension could have been a winner for BMC. Knowing them though they'd have cocked it up somehow

Wasn't the BX design offered to BMC and they turned it down? Choose foot, aim, fire!

Sounds like your XM has a lot of normal niggles but nothing serious. Will (Dieselman) has recently done an excellent article on how to stop sunroofs leaking

Sunroof thread.
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4482

Those prototype cars are interesting. The Rover one looks to be a SD1 design, so came after the CX was already out, but the Lancia looks very like...



iirc, the BX design wasn't offered to BL, it was offered to Volvo.


It's a real shame about Lancia. The ship was lost for a pennath o' tar.

[CitroJim]

iirc, the BX design wasn't offered to BL, it was offered to Volvo.

Volvo Surely not their cup of tea at all.... Although as a DAF-built 340 successor I can see some logic...

I always had the idea the general BX design was looked at for the Maestro but was rejected in favour of what actually became the Maestro... I'm getting old; I get confused

I think this might have been what gave me the idea. BX styling cues are very evident here, especially around the back wheels...

[russ92xmsed]

I can see the BX wearing a Volvo badge. Glad Citroen got it though.

The BMC prototype which eventually became the CX, looks fantastic and would have been an excellent BL car. But would it have made sense with the SD1? But as Will has mentioned, that came just after the CX. And anyway, David Bach, ripped off the Ferrari Daytona.

Certainly a design theme of the era. Fastback styling.

[Dieselman]

The BL design didn't become a CX, they were separate. The CX prototype (project L above) looks rather like the Lancia designs, but is technically different. A flat engine in a CX would have been interesting.

There are clear references to the GS in that project L design.

[robert_e_smart]

Volvo Tundra indeed.

[russ92xmsed]

ah, yes sorry Will, what I really meant to say, it clearly influenced the CX. Not became the CX, as you say project L was the precursor to the CX project and is influenced by the GS. There are so many books and car mags that wrongly suggest the two are linked. The CX was also meant to have the Rotary Engine too. Now that would have been interesting.

This is probably rumour more than anything, Citroen possibly bought the rights to the design, so they could use it. But to be honest, I very much doubt this is correct, as Project L and the BMC concept are quite different.

You can really see how close the Tundra was to the BX. love the offset grill. What was it about asymmetry in that era...works though!