In October 1983, John Watkins, an engineer with the Royal Air Force, helped the Thrust 2 team set a new land speed record. In the same month, he acquired a Citroën BX 16RS, the legendary sports utility vehicle from the French manufacturer. In 1988, he parked it in a barn in Lincolnshire, England. And it stayed there until this year. As you can imagine, it lacks a touch or two to bring it to life.
Background. Watkins was the engineer in charge of the Rolls-Royce Avon engine for the Thrust 2. According to his wife Veronica, who appeared in an episode of The Late Break Show, he was selected for the position because he had worked on a similar engine in the RAF Lightning Fighter. Thrust 2 was piloted by Richard Noble on October 4, 1983 through Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, reaching a top speed of 650.88 mph (about 1,047 km/h) in its fastest run.
the car Watkins’ personal car was a 1983 Citroen BX16RS, a basic 1.6-litre, 92hp model. It weighed about 940 kg and accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in about 13.5 seconds. Watkins’ daughter told Smith that her father bought another car and left the BX to fix a few small things. He planned to give it to his younger sister when she passed her driver’s license, but the car never left the barn.
Smith received evidence that he wanted to work on it with a wheel or new brake calipers. Watkins died in late 2024, so the family didn’t want to give away the property all at once.
What did the barn do to him. The car was last taxed in 1988, about 47,000 miles (75,600 km) behind it, and they do about 16,000 km a year, they say in the chapter. The program team intended to launch it, but encountered several problems, including thick dust, rust in unexpected places, and mouse damage inside and under the hood. Additionally, the air filter was missing and one of the front wheels was blocked.
His team created a spare tire and pulled the car out with an old power cord that Watkins had left lying around. Smith suspected that the rust could be caused by a leak from the garage roof.
what survived It has been closed for long periods of time and under conditions that were not ideal. This is the worst for a car, although it has to be said that it was quite complete for what the car could have been. The body was straight, the windows were intact and the dashboard was still in place with its original instruments. Furthermore, as the team points out, Citroen’s hydropneumatic suspension, which uses nitrogen spheres and hydraulic fluid instead of conventional springs, was still there.
They even found a sticker on the back window that read “BX loves to drive, it hates the garage”, a slogan from the car’s launch campaign that now sounds like a joke.
Why is it strange? Citroën built more than 2.3 million BXs between 1982 and 1994, but most are already dead. Smith estimates there are only 200 left on British roads. Such pre-facelift cars are harder to find, and Smith notes that the base 16RS is one of the rarer versions.
Trying to revive it. A specialist in the team checks the distribution, spark plugs, etc., revving the engine. However, the battery was dead and a bad connection at the terminal stopped the starter motor, so they couldn’t get it to start completely. However, the expert emphasized that this will not be a problem if the terminals are in good condition and with more time.
for sale. At the time of posting the video, the car was for sale to anyone willing to restore it Veronica wants to see it running again and her daughter hopes a new owner will bring it back to life.
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