First UK XM

[Citroenesque]

Someone might know this: When exactly was the first XM (RHD) sold in the UK? Any idea of RP number.... in fact who has the earliest example here?

[robert_e_smart]

Good question Phil.

I was chatting to someone at the CX rally last year, and he claimed to have bought the first XM in the UK. He was an older gent, drives a P reg 2.0 TCT estate now. I don't know how much truth there was in that. I certainly took it with a pinch of salt.

But we had a contest a while ago who had the earliest Xm on here. I think it was Andrew who won.

[andmcit]

I believe so Robert.

And not just any old Xm - my platinum grey V6 manual!!

Andrew

[robert_e_smart]

What was the RP number again?

My G plate Si is 4777 December 7, 1989 Luckily it wasn't a Friday car. http://www.hf.rim.or.jp/~kaji/cal/cal.cgi?1989

[andmcit]

Not far off - mine's 4720 that'd be 11 October 1989 which was a Wednesday!

According to the listing on the XM-L database these are the early cars aswas
a few years back - a Mr Petford has a n older car by a thin margin!

There's no guarantee they'll all still exist now mind:

89____2.0 i hatch____manual____116955m____Wolverhampton____kev Petford____4714____bobbiesthere@blueyonder.co.uk
89____V6 Sei platinum grey____manual____96,000____Swansea____Andrew Morrison____4720
89____2.0sei hatch____manual____133333m____Wolverhampton____Bob Petford____4736____bobbiesthere@blueyonder.co.uk
89____2.0Si____manual____119,500m____Glasgow, Scotland____Gordon JC Pearce____4748
89 2.0 Si____manual____212 000 km____Slovenia____Borut Horvat____4767


and they all still ran when this listing was up to date because they were manual gearbox cars?

Andrew

[citroenxm]

A post simillar to this was put up on the old forum I think...

Was there any 46.. models???

2.o carb, i base, Si and SEi plus 3.o V6 Si and SEi were the forst models into the uk... followed by the other engine options...

Paul

[robert_e_smart]

There was a similar type of contest on Planete Citroen Forum; some French guy has RP 4536 - April 10, 1989 Made just before the launch in May.

[andmcit]

In AuGUST 1989 When I was working at Ford's Laindon Dunton Design & Research Centre
I saw my first ever Xm in the metal (there were x2 gold and grey IIRC driven over from France)
piling around the test track for evaluation by their Design Engineers where they would then
be painstakingly stripped right down to their very last grommets and grubscrews in a kind of
reverse engineering cost audit.

I must say was underwhelmed and sad for Citroen after being a tad 'spoiled' as I already had
3 Gs's and x2 Cx's.

Interestingly, a lot of the fellow designers were big carnut Citroen fans and the aesthetics
were slammed by all.

Andrew

[Citroenesque]

Interesting you should mention the aesthetics there as I thought the XM was one ugly ****** until probably about 2005, after owning mucho BX's, and then something 'clicked'. I don't know, maybe the XM was so far ahead in terms of design 'fluidity', that most were just not ready for it in 1989?

I now look at the car and think... bloody hell, that designer knew what he was up to...

[steelcityuk]

I loved the design from moment I first saw it but then I guess the design was of my era.

"RP 4536 - April 10, 1989 Made just before the launch in May" Now that's the car for me, made on my 20th Birthday!

Steve.