Description
1987 (E reg) CX 22RS estate with an LPG conversion. MOT to July 2018. It drives well, has been completely reliable in the couple of years that I have owned it, and is cheap to run on LPG. The LPG tank is fitted under the boot floor where the petrol tank used to be, which is a far better idea than a cylinder tank in the boot as it leaves the CX's vast boot unencumbered. It has a vestigial petrol tank which holds a couple of gallons, but it starts fine from cold on LPG so I very rarely use the petrol.
Condition wise it's a bit of an oddity for a CX in that it's a good usable workhorse but isn't (and probably will never be) a concours car. CXs these days seem to be either hideously expensive show cars or renovation projects that have recently emerged from the ubiquitous barn, with not much in between. The car has had a respray at some point in its life, in a metallic purple which is a Citroën colour and which I think quite suits it. However the paint on the nearside doors, especially the rear, has started to craze for some reason. The car has had welding to the sills in the past and the tailgate has a fair bit of rust in it, although obviously this is non-structural. There are various smaller areas of rust on some of the panels - nothing too unsightly though. It has a towbar fitted, although I've never used it to tow anything bigger than a sailing dinghy.
As far as the interior goes, the seats are in pretty good condition for the age; the carpets are intact but could do with a good clean. The trim in the boot is all there but showing signs of wear in places - this has been a working estate, and I've used it myself for carting bikes around and have even slept in the back of it at car shows (it makes a surprisingly good camper, a full-size airbed fits in with room to spare, and with the high roof there's even room to sit up in bed). As far as I'm aware the electrics all work, although in typical CX fashion the heating and demisting are mediocre at best. In case you're wondering, the brass thing on the dashboard shelf in the photo is an adaptor to enable the car to fill up at continental LPG pumps.
Mechanically it seems in pretty good shape. It's never failed to start and I did a 550-mile round trip to Somerset and back a couple of months ago with no issues. The brakes are as sharp as they should be, the self-centring steering works fine, the suspension seems in good order (rises and falls as it should and floats over speed bumps). It did develop a minor drip of LHM from one of the plastic low-pressure return pipes on the nearside strut gaiter, but this was sealed for the MOT and seems to be holding up OK. All the high-pressure pipework and the pump are fine as far as I can see. Only other thing to mention is that the front tyres will need replacing soon.
I think that about covers it. If you're after a car to polish and take to concours shows then this probably isn't it, but if you're looking for a CX that you can just jump in and use every day, then come and have a look and a test drive.
