KM: 23 842 Kms
YEAR: 12/1982
COLOUR: Gris Perlé AC 073
MODEL:
The top of the BX range at the launch of the BX in September 1982.
5 variants have been offered, the 16 TRS as top model.
Engine 1,580 cc of 90bhp, double barrel carburettor, 5 speed gearbox.
4 brake discs. Hydraulic suspension.
The 16 TRS is recognisable from its exterior by it smoked quarter panels. It’s also distinguished by having central locking, front electric windows and a rev counter with a horizontal bar on the first model .
Options: Power steering, rear electric windows, Hifi upgrade and air conditioning.
Price at the time: 9,115 euros. Minimum monthly wage = 522 euros.
HISTORY:
Mr Pecheux is an active man. A teacher of industrial design at a college in Cannes, he was also deputy mayor of the town. His hobbies revolve around skiing, he was an instructor in the 1980s.
Owning a flat at the ski resort of La Foux d’Allos in region 04, he bought this BX mainly to go there with his family. Then he fell seriously ill and was unable to use it. Since its purchase, the car had always been stored in the garage of a house in the centre of Cannes. It remained immobilised there for ten years after the owner’s death.
In 2004, the widow made contact with the scrap yard in Cannes to remove it for destruction. The employee tasked with the job, aware of this being an old car, had a good response: he persuaded the owner to place an advert in La Vie Auto.
It is satisfying to think that the car has finally taken its place in a museum situated on the route for which it was intended by its owner. Passing by in 2022, one of Mr Pecheux’s grandsons told me that the family would stop each time in Castellane to buy the speciality of the town, fougasse (a flat bread rather like focaccia).