Emerging Classic
Small, fun, accessible and surprisingly refined, Citroën’s Saxo took the hot hatch market by storm in the late 1990s. Today it is a rare and much appreciated car.
The Citroën Saxo was once a common sight, but when did you last spot one?
Not long ago, I received an email from the editor asking me to write this piece. 'Crikey,' I replied, 'where on earth did all the Saxii go?' While I’m not completely certain that this really is the Latin plural for the small hatchback Citroën unleashed on the world in May 1996,
I do know that it used to be abundant on Britain’s roads. While my original suggestion to include it in our Emerging Classics section was prompted by seeing a very tidy VTR model in town one day, I’m certain that I haven’t spied a single example since.
I did a little work in the office, then loaded my longsuffering Mercedes and set off for the local tip. There, as I was heaving garden prunings into a skip, I noticed a quite remarkable car pull up. It was a 2000-model five- door Saxo diesel, finished in yellow- gold metallic. Equipped with a roof rack and tow bar and bedecked with battle scars, it obviously worked for a living. 'Crikey!' I said to myself – again.
When we think of Citroën, we tend to call to mind its more legendary fodder – the 2CV, the DS, the CX and the C6 that were iconoclastic, revolutionary, innovative and very, very French. By contrast, the Saxo was conservatively styled, nicely proportioned and brought no new technology to the table. But then again it was little more than Citroën’s take on its PSA stablemate, the Peugeot 106, which had been around since 1991.
Like the 106, the new
Citroën became available as a three and five- door hatch with a range of proven, relatively unremarkable petrol and diesel four-pot engines. In both cases, a couple of sporting variants were developed in the three- door shell. These should have been incredibly similar cars, but somehow they had very different characters – and developed distinct followings – of their own.
The Saxo used engines from PSA’s back catalogue. These had seen service in cars such as the Citroën AX and Peugeot 205 throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Initially, 1.1 and 1.4-litre units were available, followed by a 1.6 with an automatic gearbox. Most Saxos came with a five-speed manual. In 2000, an entry-level model was released with a 1.0-litre motor. The highlights of the Saxo range – and the models with which it really differentiated itself from the 106 – were the two sports models launched together in January 1997. The VTR and VTS both had 1.6-litre engines, but a 29bhp gap was opened up between them, thanks to the 16-valve head fitted to the latter.
Peugeot’s counterparts – the 106 Rallye and GTi – garnered plaudits. Due in part to the marque’s rallying heritage, and also to the Rallye’s strippeddown, frenetic and focussed
delivery, its fans tended to be part of the sport’s following. But the Saxo VTR and VTS swiftly created a cult, largely of young male drivers. This was partly because the Citroëns were pretty rapid, very engaging and felt very contemporary, but it was also because the UK Citroën dealer network came up with an offer many youthful hotshoes simply couldn’t refuse. In exchange for one fairly affordable monthly payment, they could drive away in a brand-new, fully insured Saxo. The cost of insurance has long been a barrier for young motorists. Removing this was a fast-track to sales success.
The Saxo swiftly became a staple on the car modification scene, which was still going strong back then. Performanceenhancing equipment was readily available, although the VTR and VTS were hugely entertaining as standard. The engines were willing, and deployed 97 and 118bhp respectively. As the car weighed around 900kg, this power went a long way. The VTR could hit 60mph in 10.0 seconds, while the VTS could get there in 7.8 seconds. More importantly, the engines were punchy in the mid-range, making for a very tractable little hot hatch. The Saxo was also refined enough to cope with long- distance driving. It proved well-built and reliable, which only added to its appeal.
The chassis was a combination of MacPherson struts at the front and a rear beam axle with twin torsion bars. The Saxo boasted wellbalanced handling, turning in nicely and understeering predictably. It was nimble and responsive, in the spirit of greats from the past such as the Peugeot 205 GTi. As a result it was justifiably praised. Set against more modern small cars, which seem to have swelled uncontrollably and which divorce the driver from the road surface, the Saxo is an absolute gem. It is possibly the last generation of small cars which provide a truly visceral driving experience.
Citroën also paid attention to the Saxo’s visual appeal. The sports models wore a body kit that was fairly simple, but added beef to the wheelarches, sills, front and rear valances, taking a car with good proportions and a pretty profile and turning it into a genuinely sporty looker. Like the Peugeot 205 before them, the VTR and VTS wore really good-looking alloy wheels, and Citroën set the ride height perfectly. This didn’t stop owners lowering their Saxos of course, but a standard Saxo was a very good-looking car all round.
Although it looks a little cheap and Spartan by modern standards, the Saxo’s cabin was at the time regarded as a very pleasant place to spend time. It featured a well laid- out dash, constructed of reasonably sturdy materials. The seats were faced in fabrics with what even then I personally regarded as questionable patterns, but they were very comfortable in a soft-yet-supportive way that the French have long mastered. In context, the Saxo scored highly. At the time, Japanese cars were only just pulling out of a trough they had occupied for some time, one built largely of shiny, nasty plastics. Ford and Vauxhall interiors were dull and badly made too – this was not a golden age for automotive cabin design.
The Saxo evolved lightly during its eight-year production life. Little of significance occurred, because there was little that needed to change: Citroën had created a perfectly excellent car in the first place. It did feel the urge to facelift the model twice, in 1998 and 1999. Obviously looks are subjective, but personally I don’t think these represented progress as the Saxo was a pretty car to start with. The two revisions consisted largely of changes to the front end that simply left it looking increasingly odd around the mouth and eyes.
Time, tide, scrappage schemes and – in the case of the VTR and VTS – early ownership by very young men took their toll on the Saxo. Where did all the Saxii go? Automotive recycling centres, that’s where, and this is now a very rare car. Because it is still a rather good car, values are climbing fast and the Saxo – especially the sporting models – is heading up the market in hot pursuit of the 205 GTi. The VTS commands the most money, but the 8-valve version has proved perfectly enjoyable, and possibly a better overall drive than the 16-valver thanks to its greater tractability. If you can find one, buy it. I’m not sure I can recommend using it for repeated trips to the tip, but as the French would say: à chacun son gout.