Citroen XM Forum

MTXM wrote:I think part of the appeal of the Ro80 for me is that it is a little understated

Lovely cars, obviously used as a template for the later Audi's, but yet fresher and less austere. Like most big companies VW bought them, ripped the guts out of them, and then let the accountants run riot to build in blandness. The Saab pictured is a proper Saab, before GM got hold of them and did the same.

The Saab dashboard is the best I have ever seen, but not in wood. Plain black with minor chrome bits is simple and effective. It doesn't matter that the switches are all over the place, it just adds to the aura.

Eddie nuff wrote:

MTXM wrote:I think part of the appeal of the Ro80 for me is that it is a little understated

Lovely cars, obviously used as a template for the later Audi's, but yet fresher and less austere. Like most big companies VW bought them, ripped the guts out of them, and then let the accountants run riot to build in blandness. The Saab pictured is a proper Saab, before GM got hold of them and did the same.

Accountants make companies produce products that sell for a profit. Disorganised companies make irrational products that don't sell and lose money...hence the companies get bought out.

The RO80 and the SAAB 900 are both good cases of this.

The RO80 has no special features other than the disasterous rotary engine, the SAAB is completely outclassed by the competition in nearly every area. Due to having a wheelbase that gives it longer overhang than the distance between the wheels, it has a cramped cabin, the performance is low on all but Turbo versions, they always cost a fortune to keep on the road, even though most parts were from parts bins.

That's not to say that were a bad car, just horrendously expensive for what they were, due to poor management and cost control at SAAB. Once the exclusive car market dried up they were doomed.

The RO80 has no special features other than the disasterous rotary engine, the SAAB is completely outclassed by the competition in nearly every area.

I fear I must beg to differ on these two points Will, although to be fair both cars do appear to be a bit 'Marmite' from the widely differing comments offered! Regards, Matthew T.

Dieselman wrote:Accountants make companies produce products that sell for a profit. Disorganised companies make irrational products that don't sell and lose money.

Straight out of the British management book of finding someone else to blame.

Irrational succeeds where logic and format fail - any Citroenista can see that surely. The accountants then get involved to bring the innovation down to bland anonymity.

Quite agree there. Unfortunately the best ways are always dropped for the boring conventional ways.

The 900 might be flawed, but they were extremely strong cars, as Top Gear proved dropping a 900 on its roof. Impressive!

Nice post Matthew, certainly not many Ro80s about.

That said, about 10 years ago I saw two of them together at a hotel in Belfast. A red and a navy one.

They were LHD and owned by two German guys who were on kind of a random tour of Ireland at the time. Not a bad way to travel. Unfortunately the owner's English wasn't fantastic and my German practically non-existant so I wasn't able to get too much information, but definitely an interesting find and not something I ever expected to see in person, nevermind two of them at once! To my surprise I knew what it was the second I saw it, having only ever heard of them due to them being in a '100 years of Classic Cars' book my Dad bought for me some years earlier.

I wonder do I still have any pictures of them anywhere, will post if I can find them.

I do find them an interesting car, nowhere near as aesthetically pleasing as say the SM or CX, but as everyone has pointed out they were great for 1967, and the technological aspects of the rotary engine do make them worthy of note, even if reliability wasn't great.

Certainly much more interesting looking than any subsequent VAG offering anyway.

Ciarán

As a kid my mates and I used to spend most of our time in the many,many great scrapyards around the Manchester area and there was a massive one called autosave,that actually is still there albeit having changed owners several times since the 70's, that used to have well over a hundred RO80's. The owner was obsessed with American cars and RO80's. He used to buy them when the engines had expired and then break them and send the parts all over the world. It was a great yard with everything from Citroen DS's, Jensen interceptors,a Fiat 130 coupe, American cars and then the huge section with just the RO80's. As kids we spend hours climbing in all the cars and collecting badges. Most of the NSU's were in really good condition but had suffered failed rotor tip seals. There were also quite a few with different engines in, the Ford V4's and V6's were a popular conversion. In the end the guy sold the yard in the early 80's and moved to America to open a scrapyard there. All the RO's got crushed as there new owners were not interested in them. For quite a few after though there was a big wooden shed full of RO80 alloys. The good old days.