Fantastic video Kitch & very heartfelt story of how RPO came into your life and ignited that spark. Allot of childhood parallels with how A522 STU (our 16 TRS) came into my life as a kid, and kicked off my love of cars. I promise I'll look after VEP. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
When you said that you're not a good at talking and driving I said to my cat - what's this man on about? He has a fantastic talk! I thought I will watch this video in two or three parts but here I am postponing my evening house errands, sitting and watching this in one go. Very touching story, thank you for sharing it with us!
Thanks for that story, I totally agree how about it shapes your life, the decisions your Parent makes with cars, I was 6 and we lived in Bognor Regis, he was a Physics Teacher and one morning on the way out the gearbox fell out of the Vauhall Victor estate he had, so he bodged a fix and part exed the car for an Ami 8 and the journey with Citroens began, a year later we moved close to the Eastern road in Pompey (Jenkins grove) and he had one GS and two GSA's and two diesel Bx's and finally a mk1 xantia hatch when moved to Kettering in 1998, I had an AX a 1.4 gutless petrol BX a 1.9 BX diesel a Xanitia estate diesel sx, I also with the help of Barry Annells restored a 1987 2cv6 and because my Father passed away, in 2019 I bought a Dacia duster which wasnt really a very nice car and for medical reasons I needed an automatic car, so I part exed the duster for a Citroen C5 Aircross Auto, once you start with Citroens you cant get away from them. He absolutely loved them esspecially the GSA's.
This video encapsulated everything that drew me to you in the first place. It was very honest and genuine. There's none of the usual RUclipsr shit where they adopt a persona or at the very least an exaggerated version of themselves. I get the impression you're the exact same off camera as you are on camera (within reason) I've never actually sold a car I built up an emotional connection to (granted that's only 2 cars) I don't think I could bring myself to let go of them, despite logically it probably making sense now. I've been struggling to get through a breakup lately, that part where you said its okay for memories to stay as memories hit me for some reason. But you're right. It okay to leave them as memories. Not everything needs to be revisited or chased. Even when you yearn for it.
I often get told I'm just being me on camera. If I wasn't, my wife would let me know pretty quick! Chin up, memories are good things. They give us foundations for new experiences.
@@UPnDOWN Thanks for this dedication video on the Citroën. But sorry to ask about your Opel - how did your family even have an Opel Kadett when I thought these were always badged Vauxhall Astras in the UK??
Crying is good mate. Let it out. Ten years after my mum died of cancer I had some talking therapy - three one hour sessions of crying in my 50's. I finally grieved for my mum and understood the benefits of emotions.
A story told, brilliantly, from the heart. Thank you for sharing much of your life that's personal in such a sensitive way. Cars do change lives. My chance purchase of an MGC GT in Oxford in 1973 led, via an Alfasud and an MGB, to meeting my wife-to-be in South Africa at an MG Car Club event. Had I not driven past that showroom slowly enough, whilst in traffic, to see the MGC through the plate glass window, the 50 years of my life that followed would have been totally different. Makes you ponder awhile...
I was engrossed and an hour went by so quickly. A poignant story of happy, sad and sometimes frustrating times told with emotion and humour. Cars do get under your skin.
You tell a great story. This was a very enjoyable and thoughtful account of your love of two similar cars. You also talked a fair bit about yourself in the process. Memorable stuff, thank you. 🙂
Thank you for such a brilliant trip down your memory lane and sharing your life with us all, so thanks to your Dad we have got the most down to earth, easy to relate to you tuber,who's channel deserves all the success it's getting, thank you Rich, ( and Dad) .
My Grandpa taught me how brakes worked on a Citroën Ami 6 when I was knee high to a grasshopper. He was instrumental in creating my love of all things automotive.
When my dad worked for the civil service, they had introduced official cars for attending meetings, travelling to different offices and going on courses. The first car was a Montego that no one liked, but one day my dad brought its replacement home from work as he was going to be starting early the following morning, when he pulled up in a Metallic Grey 93K Citroën BX 19TGD, I thought WOW that is a lovely car! The BX truly was an excellent car and they are worth preserving.
Great story; my father's car buying history is clear in where I am now... He had Fiats (500 then 127), I have an X1/9; I bought an A reg BX 16TRS... he then had two BX 19RDs and a Xantis 2.1TD; I then took over the Xantia and my daughter learned to drive in it. I now have a DS. I miss my Dad... he made me who I am now.
Your love of Citroën came from RPO your dad's car. My love of Peugeot came from MEJ, a Beige 1986 Talbot Solara Minx (owned by Peugeot at that time). That was replaced by a not quite a true Peugeot, the 309 which was so close to being the Talbot Arizona. Cars really do have a strong influence on you from an early age. It's good to see that VEP has found another good home.
This was really rather lovely. And yes, cars can have this impact, definitely. I remember when I was perhaps four years old, one of our neighbours had a white Mitsubishi sedan with a diesel engine. I don't remember their names, but I I remember their car. Another neighbour had a Fiat Ritmo, yet another neighbour was a die-hard Peugot man... The more I think about it, I realise I remember what cars various people around me owned. I grew up with a 1968 VW 1300 Beetle. It is definitely no coincidence that the first car I ever bought for myself, was a 1968 VW 1300 Beetle.
My parents had various fiat saloons then later on Citroen's. I used to be amused by the power delivery change at high revs on one of the 1.8 Fiat engines. As a young lad I thought it sounded brilliant when the engine came to life. The Vvt character change was noticeable. It's definitely had an impact on me and the things I enjoy about cars.
Big respect for telling this story. I think it's a story lots of people can relate to. Me for instance: In the late '60's my dad bought, together with his brother, his first car: an old VW Beetle. After a year or 2 he wanted a car for himself (I think because he started dating my mom😁) so he bought a 9 months old VW Beetle. Thinking: almost brand new and ready for many years of troublefree motoring. So he thought. The car turned out to be a disaster on wheels. After a short while my dad got fed up with it and took it to several nearby dealerships to trade it in for a brand new car. He went to Opel, Renault (or Peugeot, not sure about that) and last but not least Citroën. In the end the Citroën dealer offered the highest trade-in price for the Beetle. So in 1971 he bought his first Citroën, a new Dyane 4. After a second Dyane followed a Visa Club, an AX, a ZX and at the moment, 52 years later, he owns a C3. So for me, already interested in cars as a little boy, it wasn't difficult which brand I would choose as my first car. And now, 26 years and several cars later, still drive those crazy, weird French cars. Same goes for my brother. So because of my dad's choice back in '71 we (dad, brother and me) now have 6 Citroëns in our family and, in total, 103 years of experience. Glad he did, otherwise I would have been stuck with VW's (and probably a broken back😜).
I'm glad I got to see VEP at FOTU this year. I really want to get onto my 14RE because my story is a little similar to yours. My dad bought a black Mk2 when I was little for £200 & my brother & I were utterly fascinated by it. We didn't use it for very long, probably a year give or take, but it was the car that opened my Rail-centric brain to cars. I learned about front wheel drive cars when we were going on holiday to Wales in that car. To my memory it was the second most reliable car my dad had in my lifetime, only thing that went was the handbrake cable so we had to carry a brick in the boot to chock it. When it's MOT ran out it was left in our farmyard for years & my brother & I used to get in & pretend to drive it or I'd sit in the back & read my railway magazines. Don't know what happened to that car but I'm glad I've got a Mk1, just need to get it done
All sounds familiar. You definitely want to get that 14 going, be great to see it at a meet somewhere. Mk1 14s are the rarest of all BXs to see at shows IMO. And you'll likely see more of VEP at future shows than you would have if I still had it!
@@UPnDOWN Well I have the parts to get cracking. Bumper, doorcards (thanks again for those), mirrors, spheres, front strut gaiters & leakback pipes. It's also the only car I've ever owned where it's amongst the earliest of a run, as opposed to my Alpine & XJ40 which are final year cars. I also really want to compare the Mk1 BX to the Alpine Minx
That's some great story telling also its great how you described a fair bit about yourself in process and how that shaped you. I can draw many parallels in myself and I'm sure many other petrolheads. I remember when balling my eyes out as 6-7 year old when my dad sold his 3 door Range Rover which I also thought it would eventually become my first car. I then remember my dad talking how he wanted a Rover 75 fast forward 15 years and me cutting my teeth as a teen in an MG Rover specialist I've had 2 75s.
Honoured that you poured your heart out to me (just me, obvs;-) ... truly loved the story you told ... a fitting tribute to Rpo Sorry to take so long to watch this magical, heart wrenching story - I needed to find time to be undisturbed - to feel, to wallow in my own car stories, to grok that history is in the past, cathartic to relive yet impossible to recreate Rich, you are one heck of a person (for saving VEP, for being open, honest and dry, for your significant contribution to Sophie's Legacy). I know a neuro diverse brain can see negatives far clearer than they are Thank you for more than I can say ❤
My old car just failed its MOT on rust, seeing the work you and other RUclipsrs do to keep cars going means I'll try my best not to scrap mine 👍 thanks
I think that video was more a story about you than RPO, and one we all can relate to. I know from the pistonheads thread the amount of work you put into resurrecting VEP, especially all that welding! I think what we all can take from this, is that memories are fine as memories. Now I need to address that VW beetle I have back in Ireland that has been in my Dad's garage since 2000 when I moved to Australia! I was wondering if you would put the RPO plate on VEP for a nostalgic glimpse, and in the last few seconds... glorious.
I guess it covered all the bases! VEP would have made a good series on here if I was doing this earlier. Funnily, all the big jobs I've done on cars were done before the YT channel. Then I started it when I was between things, mostly, and haven't been able to start the biggest project of all yet!
One word: superb. Like you - but many years before, the eight year old me cried when our little blue Vauxhall Victor left home on the 31st August 1973 and a great big gold Ford Zodiac came home in its place.
The first car I remember my dad having was a Vauxhall Nova saloon in white, used to absolutely love that car. Named it “white car” appropriately, was pretty upset when that got scrapped. I still have my first car, admittedly I’ve only been driving 2 years, but I couldn’t part with it. It’s a 24 year old Daihatsu and is worthless to everyone else, and yes my other car (A Saab 9-3) is much better and running 2 cars is costly. But as you said, cars get under your skin and you begin to love them.
Cool back story and I can relate to being obsessed by the family car as a kid. I didn't go down the same road, although I've owned plenty of cars and have been the custodian of my daily driver for the past 11 years.
A long video Richard, and a long comment. I absolutely understand how it all started. For me, as a child in the 70s, I’ve fond memories of my Father taking me to the motor shows at the ‘old’ Bingley Hall in Birmingham and to the NEC. My father’s first car was a Hillman Imp. I had to watch that car be lifted on to the back of a scrapyard truck after it became economically unviable. I was gutted. I wished, like ‘Arpo’ that I could have saved it. That is the very reason I now own a red Hillman Imp; I assume that makes us both odd as you mention in text on the video! I agree that we don’t have to relive memories but nostalgia, for me, is something that I have to do. The cars I own all have a meaning. They are just the sum of their parts but to me, like you with RPO ‘Arpo’ and VEP, they bring more, not helped by naming them which only adds to the feeling of responsibility to maintain them and not want to sell. As you did in the video, I’m currently filming 3 videos that are definitely full on nostalgia trips; from taking my Imp and driving to and parking on the very spot at a former family member’s house (no longer alive). Driving my Fiesta Pop Plus, which was the first ever car I drove (school car) and parking up at the spot I first swapped seats and took control of the steering wheel. And finally, an MG Metro which in the early 90s I have the most happy memories of, parking it in the exact spot at my, sadly no longer with us, parents home. You said about that you had ‘ticked the box’ and I get that. The day will come when I have to sell the cars I feel fortunate to be able to own and I will miss them. But I will accept I was a good custodian to them and that I too have ticked the box. Oh and I too hated school… even if all my illnesses were genuine 🤔☺️ Excellent video Richard.
I knew a huge Unigate Dairy in a St John's Road that's now a block of flats. Tunbridge Wells though. Wonderful story. I had a similar emotional trauma as a youngster, watching our Austin Somerset being towed away in the early seventies. ....but always loved Renaults and Citroens.
Brilliant video! Got me right in the feels... I think most, if not all of us car nuts all have that one special car that we'll never forget and wish we could / should have kept forever.
Great Vlog to learn about your history… “would I be watching if your dad didn’t get a BX” I dunno, but if you hadn’t become the Aussie Ford expert I may never have discovered you. So it’s Hubnuts fault!
I remember when my Dad sent off our Hillman Hunter estate to be a banger racer. As it was wheeled away I cried my bloody eyes out. I felt that we were sending it to its death, daft I know but that's how I felt. Our old work van went to the scrapper today, (thanks ULEZ) and the boss posted a video of it being taken off to its doom on a forklift. 40 years since the Hillman was scrapped and it still makes me sad to see them go.
This is a story of real catharsis,, the story is ended and ended well and it makes a release from all the feelings of the parts of the story that you felt were incomplete, it's often a rather bittersweet feeling rather than the relaxed happy comfort you would expect, but that's the end of the story, it's where the final full stop lives, and should live. On a slightly different tack, you can tell a story and tell it well,I think the neuro diversity actually helps sometimes, I live there myself by the way. Lastly, anthrkpomorphosising cars is something I do too, I have a 53 plate Fiesta that just will not give up, it's scratched, dented, fought a full grown deer and won though it left scars, bought it unseen in lock down for £1000 and it's never been off the road more than 2 hours, she"s called Dusty and she is that little old lady who was never glamorous but still ploughs on through life, will slow down one day but not today, never today
Great stuff, thanks very much, nice shot of VEP and Betty at the end, two cars that make no sense but make all the sense in the world, if that makes sense.
Just watched the whole thing start to finish. Some strong similarities to me and my car history from my dads cars. Fantastic video, true and honest.. things are set in our minds from a young age...
My Grandfather had a Jaguar, my father a Daimler, many happt hours were spent as a kid, travelling, helping to clean, helping with repairs Etc. Yip I agree that what happens when you are a kid does affect you in later life. I am now 76 years old and most of my cars have been Jags and Daimler styled vehicles. It is the good memories that make you feel happy with your car. I have a 1965 3.5 Ltr Mk2 Jaguar S type which I take around car shows, it was owned by my Grandfather, been in the family for over 50 years (never get rid of it) And my daily driver is an 05 X type 2ltr diesel which I bought in 07. So I totally agree that your life is moulded at an early stage through the lifestyle you have been subjected to. I never would have been a Jaguar mechanic for over 30 years if it was not for my Granfather allowing me to help him maintain his car. Whether it is a Citroen, Ford, Vauxhall Etc. Never forget your precious memories.
I remember trying to buy bangers in the late 90s from the paper. And they were always sold by the time I rang the owners the evening of the paper being available.
My relationship with cars I think is much the same as yours, as a child my dad had a red 1998 Toyota Starlet 1.3, I loved that car, we went everywhere in it much the same as you with the BX, there's many many pics of me stood next to it, or her I should say, as she was named Hetty. Anyway long story short she was written off too when I was about 9/10 years old, and I was absolutely devastated, but that little Starlet I think is what made me love 90s cars. In fact I love 90s cars to the extent that my first car was a Citroen ZX Avantage estate (still on my driveway to this day, I've just given her a smile out of the window) and there's a story to how I acquired that too which is too long to type here, but I also own a Daewoo Lanos and Vauxhall Tigra A which although they're no little red Starlet, the smells and sounds remind me of Hetty, and one day I would love to own another one. Great and emotional video!
I normally never look through an entire video wich mostly contains talking like this, but man, this was something completely different, I'm touched by how much I can relate to here. Thank you for this story 🙌
…and this is exactly why you’re one of YooToob favourites. What a great video. Soooooo glad it’s gone to such a good home with Dave. VEP is in good hands 😊
Ah we had a red mk1 16trs back in the early 90s (A145SBH), same colour as the 2cv i had and still have afaik? Sticky struts and worn "knock kneed" rear suspension was easily forgotten. Loved the purity of the mk1, except the heavy steering and clutch 😅. A mint estate auto would be a treat
Rich what an amazing video one of the best I’ve ever listened to straight from the heart It’s clear the love you have for VEP and I totally get what you mean My dad also influenced my car choices quite a lot Vauxhalls Citroens and Peugeots I used to love to go with him to motor show and to look for his cars I still have all my brochures from then as well The BX was the one car he wanted to own and never could afford and the xantia after it but he had all three versions of the Picasso which he adored and now a c5 aircross I had two c3s my brothers c4s and we eventually had the Citroen which eluded him My dad also had a Astra which was written off too! Memories make you who you are rich I would love to get my golf back in which we got married and bought my son home in it’s a special car to me maybe on day.. keep up the amazing work and enjoy that beautiful 16v
I loved that. There is so much nonsense on RUclips, but that was a video worth watching. It was lovely to hear the story. And no, Chinese takeaways rarely work to get us out of trouble 🤣
Haha! There are quite a lot of pro-shots of it out there (which technically shouldn't be out there) so I if you want a BX 16V wallpaper, that's pretty much your only option!
Genuinely one of your best vids; loved it. Custodians is the best way to describe our relationship with cars. Final unanswered question; did your dad drive VEP and did you sit in the back?
Thank you for this story. It unlocked something in my brain, a memory from my childhood that I had securely tucked away and haven’t touched for 20 years. This made me more emotional than I’d like to admit (pleasant emotions). My first car memories are from the back seat of my dads silver 2nd gen BX 19 (with the spoiler) going everywhere on backroads, to the beach and gently gliding through our fields while listening to the sounds of Nick Kershaw, Cher and Bloodhound Gang on the Blaupunkt stereo at quite some volume. I was always fascinated with the suspension, and it was a stable discussion point when having friends from the kindergarten over. It was the first car I got to very proudly drive around the farm yard, and it was without a doubt the car that made me fall in love with cars. Like you I probably could have adored some other car my dad could have had, and that would’ve changed my entire taste and goal in life. After the BX met it’s demise with a badly placed flagpole my dad had a V70 T5, Leon, 2cv6, Saxo, and for the last 10 years of all things a Smart Fortwo. None of these, although some were funky, ever scratched what the BX and it’s magic ride did for me. I want to dedicate my life to cars, and I’m currently working very hard to get into car design, but today after your video and seeing what it unexpectedly did to me, I can safely say that my obsession with cars and Citroen in particular is due to the BX and none of the others. I haven’t since I was 6 seen a BX in Denmark, but I’d for sure give what I could, to scratch that exact itch you are talking about, or just sit in one, and try to feel a bit of that happiness again, maybe draw a sketch or 100.
"Nick Kershaw, Cher and Bloodhound Gang"....and I thought I had diverse taste in music! There's a fella called Anders in Denmark with a couple of BX 16Vs. Plus our friend @SeasideGarage, though his are slightly more 'project' that road-going at the moment!
@@UPnDOWN Yeah, in the 90s German Radio Schleswig Holstein gave us some wild bangers on an hourly basis. Thanks for suggestion, I appreciate it. Anders is as common a name here as John in the UK, so he’ll probably be a bit hard to find, but I’ll for sure check out @SeasideGarage.
Best video I have seen on RUclips for ages, so so true. You encapsulate exactly how I feel cars have shaped my life and, unbeknownst to me until recently, my son's as well. I've had a Focus Ghia since 2006 and was talking about selling it to free up some space. He was shocked and upset and begged me not to sell it as it is a car that has been a constant in his life. He came home from hospital in it when he was born, we've been on family holidays in it and he said that one day he looks forward to taking it to classic car shows. So yes, we totally understand all that you said here.
I love story time; great story with emotion! I think that it's natural anthropomorphise cars, especially those that we spend significant portions of our lives with.
Well… in 1989 my dad hit something in his Opel Ascona, never looked right after the repair so he traded it in for a 1985 BX 16RS… I was a couple of years older than you were. I also used to have the ispy car books, cheated a bit by ticking a lot of my stuff off when we went to France on holiday.. everybody had Fords round our way.
Thanks for the video. I echo a previous commenter, who said that? Seeing as how the video did not go as planned. It's turned out really well, and also, this is why I was drawn to your channel. You tell it as it is; there are depths to them. That is rare on RUclips. That's why I can sit here for 1 hour and watch it and not get fed up. Because that's what normally happens. When I'm watching long RUclips videos. Anyway, enough of the clap trap. Thank you for the video. Really enjoyed the hour listening to your reminiscences and keep up the good work. Take care
What a great video. Thank you! I thought I was the only nerdy toddler who could name all the cars around him! My Dad didn’t have a car, so he got me lots of Matchbox ones to substitute. First car I remember being in was my Dad’s mates baby blue Cortina MkII. All my friends Dad’s had Escorts or Cortina Mk IIIs. My first car was going to be a Cortina, an Escort or a Fiesta. Of course it was a Peugeot 104. If you brought it to a mechanic he looked at you like you’d presented him with a plague victim with a soiled man nappy. Took me ages to find a brave soul daft enough to work on it. It’s still the car I miss the most, despite the swear words it caused me to utter on many a cold morning….
absolutely marvellous story,car and the way you told the story. The car in my life that meant the world was my dads peugeot 309 GTI driving around a disused airport as a 13 yr old. Memories should be cherished for life and that what cars do best. Its not just the car, its how it makes you feel !!
I feel your pain. I owned a 1988 SaaB 900S and really.enjoyed it. I sold it a few years ago and had the chance to see it for sale again. I was tempted, but I couldn't do it. Sometimes ya just gotta let your loved ones go.
What an interesting man you are, shame there are not a lot more like you. You tell a great story, are not afraid to express emotion, nor to admit the strange connections many of us have with what are basically lumps of metal on wheels. Bravo I say!
Thank you, that was wonderful. It brought back a lot of memories, not just of my own BXs and other cars, but also of my dad, who passed away earlier this year, and of the GS 1220 Club he bought, which was the car that got me into Citroëns when I was 10. I also noticed the date on your dashcam footage: 26 October, that would have been my mother's 77th birthday. I was afraid I was going to feel things watching this, and I did, but that's a good thing. Feelings make you realise you're still alive. By the way, I already suspected some neurodivergence in you and I happen to be sitting here in my "autistic" t-shirt from a fellow youtuber, Yo Samdy Sam. Takes one to know one, I guess. ;-) Nice to know VEP is going to a good home and looking forward to more SM content.
Aw man, you've left me feeling so sentimental right now! Can definitely identify with stuff you're talking about. I don't reckon I'd be a car nut if my Dad hadn't had a Dyane and my Mum a GS back in the 80s when I was small. Can definitely identify with the suspension thing. When I was a kid my friends and I always used to compare the bounce on our toy car's suspension. Even now I've been known to spend hours looking at suspension photos on Google image.....
Brings back memorys of my first car a e reg nissan sunny 1.3ls saloon had lots of fun and good memory's in that car but out of stupidity i got rid and got a mk1 fiesta that was a pile of crap. Never felt the same with all the other nissans i had after then i went french and now on to german cars. Still get the urge to get an old sunny or a bx but lack of space and costs these days stop me.
I never had this problem Kitch tbh - test passed in 1980 and I went through a series of cheapo cars £100-£200 bangers were normal and they never lasted long enough to grow attached to. When I could afford nearly new they lasted @18 months but the die was cast. Then 20 odd years of company cars on a 3 year renewal cycle meant miles racked up in white goods. Then I left work and went back into bangers though to be fair it was anything from £1k to £4k then ( £100 was the cost of a headlamp by then lol ) Anyway I only have a few memories I would repeat - various Uno's - they were good - a Marbella that took me to my g/f in Bournemouth from Manchester every week for a year ( we are now married ) and a Picasso 1.6 Petrol Desire that did @36k in 18 months getting my daughter to and from N Yorks where we live to Uni in Carlisle every weekend - I have literally driven 1 million miles in my lifetime so it takes something special for me to bond. Lovely story about your Dads BX - for some reason I remember my Dads first car - an Imp had reg GFR 208 D....... why do these things stick in there eh? Autumn gold was the colour.
Excellent video, and thanks for your sharing your story. I have owned 2 BXs in the past a red GTI, loved that car, and a white TRS I think. Both fab cars. My appreciation for Citroën started with my father who owned CX 2000, IN blue. Keep the videos comming, truly enjoy your content.
The ending go this video got me 😭 a brilliant video mate, and i can tell you certain cars your parents own do get under your skin. When i was growing and still to this day i am a Ford Enthusiast, my dad had Mark 5 and 6 Escorts, these got under my skin from a early age, going on holiday, playing with the roll out ashtray in the back, watching my dad in a mood reverse into the neighbours Fiat and crumpling its rear door to collecting the brocuhures and handbooks. Funnily enough my first foray into Ford Ownership was a Focus, a C -Max and another Focus, my dad put off a escort as first car back in 2001 thinking it would be too big for me. I've owned various car brands and love my Cactus, but just over a month ago a Mark 5 Escort came into my life via a review for my channel. Little did i know i would be watching this video while outside on my drive is the same Mark 5 Escort i reviewed for my channel that i ended up buying! I think these things happen for a reason. Thank you for sharing your story of RPO and VEP Rich, the video was fantastic and went ever so quick and i am a Neuro as well (found out 5 years ago at the age of 35)
I NEVER comment on YT videos but I have just watched this and have tears in my eyes. I can relate to so much that you’ve said (toy cars with suspension and turning the wheels when parked was me as well) and you did it with such depth and honesty. This is by far your best video (and they’re all great), in my view. Bravo!
Thank you so much for sharing your story, I literally teared up hearing you talk about how you don't have to relive memories, that they're fine in the past, and that it's alright that life has changed. Cars, and the connnections we form with them and through them, are truly something special.
The picture of RPO on Exmoor is parked next to a silver Previa, then on one of the pictures of VEP, with the Reliant in tow, you're parked next to a silver Previa. Funny little coincidence
What your saying about your dad and rpo makes perfect sense to me, I too route a love of certain cars (no matter how bad they are) to certain people who have had them when I was growing up. I love my rovers because my aunt had a 1.1s metros and I cried when she got rid of it. She’s to this day says it was awful but I was always in love with it. My other aunt had lots of serras and mondeos I have a soft spot for them. My dad had a fiat weekend, cavalier and I have a soft spot for them. But the car a remember best is my dads mk1 focus, and since then I’ve had two focuses and 4 fords, cars root them selfs into young petrol heads minds.
I did not know of your 16 valve. I heard it mentioned, but never looked into it. It's nice that you're still in the BX club hah. I also didn't know that both XPO and DKK were yours (well, your dad's in the case of DKK). DKK is probably one of my favorite BXs. I'd love to own a blue Mk1 like it some day. Anyway, the video was really touching. It mimics my feelings towards cars quite closely. We had a similar situation with a 406 (my childhood car). It was crashed only days after we sold it. Either way, back to the topic at hand. It's nice to see VEP will live on. The ending slideshow was beautiful. Thanks for the video Kitch! (EDIT: the part about school was on point - I was in the same camp of being ill or pretending to be ill, I hated that place)
Yeah, I'm one of the BX Club OG (as my kids would say). Before that BX16v.com (the original one, which predated BXC and died suddenly - now reincarnated into BX16v.co.uk. XPO was mine, yes. I bought it in 2013 originally for spares, but the shell is actually really good, so it seemed a shame to scrap it. It sat around for years until Vanny (fellow CCC BX columnist & guy behind BX Project) took it on to restore it. He's doing great work with it. DKK is currently sat behind me! I bought it in 2006, before giving it to my dad. I restored it over the course of a few years here and it's just had a deposit put on it...it's leaving too! Weirdly, I also owned C511 DKK; a Fox Grey 16RS.
@@UPnDOWN Ah yes, a BX Club OG, I like that (possibly because I'm closer to the target demographic of such phrases hah). You're definitely one of the forerunners in BX caretaking (especially when compared to me, I only joined two years ago). Also, thanks for the insight with regards to the story behind how BX Club came to be. Despite living in Croatia, BX Club UK is an invaluable resource and community for me as a BX owner. The good folk on that forum are in no small part responsible for my '89 16 TRS (lovingly named "Citrus") still being on the road. Also, I love reading up on progress with regards to XPO. It was definitely worth saving. It is interesting that you technically owned two DKKs hah. I always found the 16 RS fascinating. It is a 14 RE with the bigger 1.6l engine. It lacks the C pillar windows, rev counter and front power windows (I'm not 100% sure of the latter), so it's definitely a weird configuration. UK number plates have always fascinated me (probably because I'm weird and like to look at car number plates). The ones we have in Croatia (and Serbia) consist of two letters denoting the city, a coat of arms, followed by three or four numbers and finishing up with two letters. Citrus lovingly had a special plate picked out for it. It has been posted to BX Club before I think, but in short the last two letters of it are BX. Anyway, that's enough rambling from me. Have a good one! (also, wave "hi" to DKK for me)
Thank you so much for this video. I truly hope the process was cathartic for you, it’s certainly stirred many memories for me reference my father’s cars and their importance to my childhood. 👏👏👍
I had a similar story. We had a crash when I was a kid in a Vauxhall Victor in 1984. My dad replaced that with a black MK1 BX. It was our first new car!
@@UPnDOWN we had it a good few years. Sadly went to Citroen heaven many years ago though! After that my dad had the bug and went full on with a cx gti turbo. That was a crazy car!
Just got around to watching this farewell video. It was so lovely (not sure how you could have had something better in your head). Brought back many feelings about my dads Hillman Avenger - OSB 127K.
Great video. Enjoyed the story of how you got into cars, especially the BX. Vey emotional too, but the mk1 Astra/Kadet, what a shame. They were nice looking cars.
Fantastic story Kitch. I'd like to think that if your dad hadn't bought the BX, we would all be here watching you driving around in a Rover Sd1, or some kind of Mercedes. The car might be different, but you would still be you.
Possibly, though who knows! Everything I've done/learned/experienced/grown-up around to date has been Citroens, so that's shaped who I am, what I know and what I do (aside from a sprinkling of TVR).
I hate to brag, but my grandparent's house has textured tiles across the front of a raised platform thing around the fireplace. I have no idea what the aesthetic is called, but that single line of tiles perfectly resembled a rough narrow road for 1/43 scale cars. It wasn't a regular pattern, like they were trying to replicate a stone wall or something. A suspension demonstrating dream. :) I had, actually still have, a MG ZT that I ran across that 'road' so many times the suspension collapsed on 3 corners. :) Neurodivergence can be a massive blessing (with its curses). It enables a level of focus on specific topics neurotypicals can't even dream of, so if anyone enjoys niche topics, (like Citroens :) ), neurodivergent hyper-focus may be the only reason they're still around to be enjoyed, because no neurotypical would dedicate the amount of effort it would take to learn something so specialised and different from the norm. What do neurotypical minds give you? a sea of faux-by-fours you can't tell apart :)
Fantastic video Kitch & very heartfelt story of how RPO came into your life and ignited that spark. Allot of childhood parallels with how A522 STU (our 16 TRS) came into my life as a kid, and kicked off my love of cars. I promise I'll look after VEP. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I have a similar tale. My dad was looking for his next company car. I really wanted him to get a BX. He got a Montego. The end. See? Very similar.
The likeness is uncanny...
Congratulations on an absolutely mesmerising story telling video! The 54 minutes simply flew by.
When you said that you're not a good at talking and driving I said to my cat - what's this man on about? He has a fantastic talk!
I thought I will watch this video in two or three parts but here I am postponing my evening house errands, sitting and watching this in one go.
Very touching story, thank you for sharing it with us!
Editing was a bit of a nightmare, to be fair! Lots of pauses and going-off topic.
@@UPnDOWN came out fantastic, your work paid off
A proper personal telling of Man, Dad and ‘Voitures French’. Job done properly, Sir. Merci.
Thanks for that story, I totally agree how about it shapes your life, the decisions your Parent makes with cars, I was 6 and we lived in Bognor Regis, he was a Physics Teacher and one morning on the way out the gearbox fell out of the Vauhall Victor estate he had, so he bodged a fix and part exed the car for an Ami 8 and the journey with Citroens began, a year later we moved close to the Eastern road in Pompey (Jenkins grove) and he had one GS and two GSA's and two diesel Bx's and finally a mk1 xantia hatch when moved to Kettering in 1998, I had an AX a 1.4 gutless petrol BX a 1.9 BX diesel a Xanitia estate diesel sx, I also with the help of Barry Annells restored a 1987 2cv6 and because my Father passed away, in 2019 I bought a Dacia duster which wasnt really a very nice car and for medical reasons I needed an automatic car, so I part exed the duster for a Citroen C5 Aircross Auto, once you start with Citroens you cant get away from them. He absolutely loved them esspecially the GSA's.
This video encapsulated everything that drew me to you in the first place. It was very honest and genuine. There's none of the usual RUclipsr shit where they adopt a persona or at the very least an exaggerated version of themselves. I get the impression you're the exact same off camera as you are on camera (within reason)
I've never actually sold a car I built up an emotional connection to (granted that's only 2 cars)
I don't think I could bring myself to let go of them, despite logically it probably making sense now.
I've been struggling to get through a breakup lately, that part where you said its okay for memories to stay as memories hit me for some reason. But you're right. It okay to leave them as memories. Not everything needs to be revisited or chased. Even when you yearn for it.
I often get told I'm just being me on camera. If I wasn't, my wife would let me know pretty quick!
Chin up, memories are good things. They give us foundations for new experiences.
@@UPnDOWN Thanks for this dedication video on the Citroën. But sorry to ask about your Opel - how did your family even have an Opel Kadett when I thought these were always badged Vauxhall Astras in the UK??
Crying is good mate. Let it out. Ten years after my mum died of cancer I had some talking therapy - three one hour sessions of crying in my 50's. I finally grieved for my mum and understood the benefits of emotions.
It's not bottling it up, I just struggle to do it. I subject myself to watching all kinds of horrible stuff and still can't!
A story told, brilliantly, from the heart. Thank you for sharing much of your life that's personal in such a sensitive way.
Cars do change lives. My chance purchase of an MGC GT in Oxford in 1973 led, via an Alfasud and an MGB, to meeting my wife-to-be in South Africa at an MG Car Club event. Had I not driven past that showroom slowly enough, whilst in traffic, to see the MGC through the plate glass window, the 50 years of my life that followed would have been totally different.
Makes you ponder awhile...
"THE SEATS GO UP!"😮
Great background story Richard on how a particular BX shaped your life with cars.
I was engrossed and an hour went by so quickly. A poignant story of happy, sad and sometimes frustrating times told with emotion and humour. Cars do get under your skin.
You tell a great story. This was a very enjoyable and thoughtful account of your love of two similar cars. You also talked a fair bit about yourself in the process. Memorable stuff, thank you. 🙂
Thank you for such a brilliant trip down your memory lane and sharing your life with us all, so thanks to your Dad we have got the most down to earth, easy to relate to you tuber,who's channel deserves all the success it's getting, thank you Rich, ( and Dad) .
For a video that didn't go the way you planned Rich, well lets just say the boy done good.
Thankyou for letting us into the story of VEP.
Cheers R.
What a wonderful story, and story teller.
Rich, I get you.
I SERIOUSLY get you.
My Grandpa taught me how brakes worked on a Citroën Ami 6 when I was knee high to a grasshopper. He was instrumental in creating my love of all things automotive.
When my dad worked for the civil service, they had introduced official cars for attending meetings, travelling to different offices and going on courses. The first car was a Montego that no one liked, but one day my dad brought its replacement home from work as he was going to be starting early the following morning, when he pulled up in a Metallic Grey 93K Citroën BX 19TGD, I thought WOW that is a lovely car!
The BX truly was an excellent car and they are worth preserving.
I’m not good at telling stories while driving. You just did and you did it very well.
Five nights of editing...
Ok fair enough 😂
Great story; my father's car buying history is clear in where I am now... He had Fiats (500 then 127), I have an X1/9; I bought an A reg BX 16TRS... he then had two BX 19RDs and a Xantis 2.1TD; I then took over the Xantia and my daughter learned to drive in it. I now have a DS. I miss my Dad... he made me who I am now.
Your love of Citroën came from RPO your dad's car.
My love of Peugeot came from MEJ, a Beige 1986 Talbot Solara Minx (owned by Peugeot at that time). That was replaced by a not quite a true Peugeot, the 309 which was so close to being the Talbot Arizona.
Cars really do have a strong influence on you from an early age.
It's good to see that VEP has found another good home.
Great vid mate. Choked up a bit here thinking about cars of my childhood, too
This was really rather lovely. And yes, cars can have this impact, definitely. I remember when I was perhaps four years old, one of our neighbours had a white Mitsubishi sedan with a diesel engine. I don't remember their names, but I I remember their car. Another neighbour had a Fiat Ritmo, yet another neighbour was a die-hard Peugot man... The more I think about it, I realise I remember what cars various people around me owned. I grew up with a 1968 VW 1300 Beetle. It is definitely no coincidence that the first car I ever bought for myself, was a 1968 VW 1300 Beetle.
My parents had various fiat saloons then later on Citroen's.
I used to be amused by the power delivery change at high revs on one of the 1.8 Fiat engines.
As a young lad I thought it sounded brilliant when the engine came to life. The Vvt character change was noticeable.
It's definitely had an impact on me and the things I enjoy about cars.
Big respect for telling this story.
I think it's a story lots of people can relate to. Me for instance:
In the late '60's my dad bought, together with his brother, his first car: an old VW Beetle. After a year or 2 he wanted a car for himself (I think because he started dating my mom😁) so he bought a 9 months old VW Beetle. Thinking: almost brand new and ready for many years of troublefree motoring. So he thought. The car turned out to be a disaster on wheels. After a short while my dad got fed up with it and took it to several nearby dealerships to trade it in for a brand new car. He went to Opel, Renault (or Peugeot, not sure about that) and last but not least Citroën. In the end the Citroën dealer offered the highest trade-in price for the Beetle. So in 1971 he bought his first Citroën, a new Dyane 4. After a second Dyane followed a Visa Club, an AX, a ZX and at the moment, 52 years later, he owns a C3.
So for me, already interested in cars as a little boy, it wasn't difficult which brand I would choose as my first car. And now, 26 years and several cars later, still drive those crazy, weird French cars. Same goes for my brother. So because of my dad's choice back in '71 we (dad, brother and me) now have 6 Citroëns in our family and, in total, 103 years of experience. Glad he did, otherwise I would have been stuck with VW's (and probably a broken back😜).
I'm glad I got to see VEP at FOTU this year. I really want to get onto my 14RE because my story is a little similar to yours. My dad bought a black Mk2 when I was little for £200 & my brother & I were utterly fascinated by it. We didn't use it for very long, probably a year give or take, but it was the car that opened my Rail-centric brain to cars. I learned about front wheel drive cars when we were going on holiday to Wales in that car. To my memory it was the second most reliable car my dad had in my lifetime, only thing that went was the handbrake cable so we had to carry a brick in the boot to chock it. When it's MOT ran out it was left in our farmyard for years & my brother & I used to get in & pretend to drive it or I'd sit in the back & read my railway magazines. Don't know what happened to that car but I'm glad I've got a Mk1, just need to get it done
All sounds familiar. You definitely want to get that 14 going, be great to see it at a meet somewhere. Mk1 14s are the rarest of all BXs to see at shows IMO. And you'll likely see more of VEP at future shows than you would have if I still had it!
@@UPnDOWN Well I have the parts to get cracking. Bumper, doorcards (thanks again for those), mirrors, spheres, front strut gaiters & leakback pipes. It's also the only car I've ever owned where it's amongst the earliest of a run, as opposed to my Alpine & XJ40 which are final year cars. I also really want to compare the Mk1 BX to the Alpine Minx
Shame you can only 'like' a video once, instead of 10 or maybe 100. A great glance back in time of your car history and tribute to a humble BX 👏👍
Be great for the algorithim if you could...
That was brilliant. I can identify with your dad owning a Citroen shaping your subsequent views on cars, the same happened to me. 👍
That's some great story telling also its great how you described a fair bit about yourself in process and how that shaped you. I can draw many parallels in myself and I'm sure many other petrolheads. I remember when balling my eyes out as 6-7 year old when my dad sold his 3 door Range Rover which I also thought it would eventually become my first car. I then remember my dad talking how he wanted a Rover 75 fast forward 15 years and me cutting my teeth as a teen in an MG Rover specialist I've had 2 75s.
Honoured that you poured your heart out to me (just me, obvs;-) ... truly loved the story you told ... a fitting tribute to Rpo
Sorry to take so long to watch this magical, heart wrenching story - I needed to find time to be undisturbed - to feel, to wallow in my own car stories, to grok that history is in the past, cathartic to relive yet impossible to recreate
Rich, you are one heck of a person (for saving VEP, for being open, honest and dry, for your significant contribution to Sophie's Legacy).
I know a neuro diverse brain can see negatives far clearer than they are
Thank you for more than I can say
❤
My old car just failed its MOT on rust, seeing the work you and other RUclipsrs do to keep cars going means I'll try my best not to scrap mine 👍 thanks
😂 Reminds me so much of my childhood obsession with cars, every detail mattered (yes, I am neuro diverse)
What an interesting story Rich.We all like different things. Its okay to be different......otherwise it gets boring.
I think that video was more a story about you than RPO, and one we all can relate to. I know from the pistonheads thread the amount of work you put into resurrecting VEP, especially all that welding! I think what we all can take from this, is that memories are fine as memories. Now I need to address that VW beetle I have back in Ireland that has been in my Dad's garage since 2000 when I moved to Australia! I was wondering if you would put the RPO plate on VEP for a nostalgic glimpse, and in the last few seconds... glorious.
I guess it covered all the bases! VEP would have made a good series on here if I was doing this earlier. Funnily, all the big jobs I've done on cars were done before the YT channel. Then I started it when I was between things, mostly, and haven't been able to start the biggest project of all yet!
One word: superb. Like you - but many years before, the eight year old me cried when our little blue Vauxhall Victor left home on the 31st August 1973 and a great big gold Ford Zodiac came home in its place.
You tell a very good story. Really enjoyed it. I’m a Ford man, but all of my uncle’s ran various bx’s 2cv’s Ami or two, and visa gti.
The first car I remember my dad having was a Vauxhall Nova saloon in white, used to absolutely love that car. Named it “white car” appropriately, was pretty upset when that got scrapped. I still have my first car, admittedly I’ve only been driving 2 years, but I couldn’t part with it. It’s a 24 year old Daihatsu and is worthless to everyone else, and yes my other car (A Saab 9-3) is much better and running 2 cars is costly. But as you said, cars get under your skin and you begin to love them.
Cool back story and I can relate to being obsessed by the family car as a kid. I didn't go down the same road, although I've owned plenty of cars and have been the custodian of my daily driver for the past 11 years.
A long video Richard, and a long comment. I absolutely understand how it all started. For me, as a child in the 70s, I’ve fond memories of my Father taking me to the motor shows at the ‘old’ Bingley Hall in Birmingham and to the NEC. My father’s first car was a Hillman Imp. I had to watch that car be lifted on to the back of a scrapyard truck after it became economically unviable. I was gutted. I wished, like ‘Arpo’ that I could have saved it. That is the very reason I now own a red Hillman Imp; I assume that makes us both odd as you mention in text on the video!
I agree that we don’t have to relive memories but nostalgia, for me, is something that I have to do. The cars I own all have a meaning. They are just the sum of their parts but to me, like you with RPO ‘Arpo’ and VEP, they bring more, not helped by naming them which only adds to the feeling of responsibility to maintain them and not want to sell.
As you did in the video, I’m currently filming 3 videos that are definitely full on nostalgia trips; from taking my Imp and driving to and parking on the very spot at a former family member’s house (no longer alive). Driving my Fiesta Pop Plus, which was the first ever car I drove (school car) and parking up at the spot I first swapped seats and took control of the steering wheel. And finally, an MG Metro which in the early 90s I have the most happy memories of, parking it in the exact spot at my, sadly no longer with us, parents home.
You said about that you had ‘ticked the box’ and I get that. The day will come when I have to sell the cars I feel fortunate to be able to own and I will miss them. But I will accept I was a good custodian to them and that I too have ticked the box.
Oh and I too hated school… even if all my illnesses were genuine 🤔☺️
Excellent video Richard.
Thanks. Sounds like some great ideas there re. driving them back to the important locations.
I knew a huge Unigate Dairy in a St John's Road that's now a block of flats.
Tunbridge Wells though.
Wonderful story.
I had a similar emotional trauma as a youngster, watching our Austin Somerset being towed away in the early seventies.
....but always loved Renaults and Citroens.
I do remember when my parents got a new xm my god i loved that car sitting in it playing with the suspension much fun
Brilliant video! Got me right in the feels... I think most, if not all of us car nuts all have that one special car that we'll never forget and wish we could / should have kept forever.
Great Vlog to learn about your history… “would I be watching if your dad didn’t get a BX” I dunno, but if you hadn’t become the Aussie Ford expert I may never have discovered you. So it’s Hubnuts fault!
If I didn't have a BX, I probably wouldn't know who Ian was...
I remember when my Dad sent off our Hillman Hunter estate to be a banger racer. As it was wheeled away I cried my bloody eyes out. I felt that we were sending it to its death, daft I know but that's how I felt. Our old work van went to the scrapper today, (thanks ULEZ) and the boss posted a video of it being taken off to its doom on a forklift. 40 years since the Hillman was scrapped and it still makes me sad to see them go.
This was perfect, a joy to watch. Thank you. 😊
Brilliant, what a great story. I really enjoyed that. Very poignant. Thanks
Who says you can't tell a story you damn well can, Thanks.
I do! haha
This is a story of real catharsis,, the story is ended and ended well and it makes a release from all the feelings of the parts of the story that you felt were incomplete, it's often a rather bittersweet feeling rather than the relaxed happy comfort you would expect, but that's the end of the story, it's where the final full stop lives, and should live.
On a slightly different tack, you can tell a story and tell it well,I think the neuro diversity actually helps sometimes, I live there myself by the way.
Lastly, anthrkpomorphosising cars is something I do too, I have a 53 plate Fiesta that just will not give up, it's scratched, dented, fought a full grown deer and won though it left scars, bought it unseen in lock down for £1000 and it's never been off the road more than 2 hours, she"s called Dusty and she is that little old lady who was never glamorous but still ploughs on through life, will slow down one day but not today, never today
Great stuff, thanks very much, nice shot of VEP and Betty at the end, two cars that make no sense but make all the sense in the world, if that makes sense.
Cheers, it was at Brooklands at HubNut's social meet thing.
Just watched the whole thing start to finish. Some strong similarities to me and my car history from my dads cars. Fantastic video, true and honest.. things are set in our minds from a young age...
Wonderful story brilliantly narrated far better than the majority of TV presenters who have a script in front of them and not driving. Excellent
I probably should script stuff, though I guess I couldn't read it and drive at the same time...
My Grandfather had a Jaguar, my father a Daimler, many happt hours were spent as a kid, travelling, helping to clean, helping with repairs Etc.
Yip I agree that what happens when you are a kid does affect you in later life.
I am now 76 years old and most of my cars have been Jags and Daimler styled vehicles.
It is the good memories that make you feel happy with your car.
I have a 1965 3.5 Ltr Mk2 Jaguar S type which I take around car shows, it was owned by my Grandfather, been in the family for over 50 years (never get rid of it)
And my daily driver is an 05 X type 2ltr diesel which I bought in 07.
So I totally agree that your life is moulded at an early stage through the lifestyle you have been subjected to.
I never would have been a Jaguar mechanic for over 30 years if it was not for my Granfather allowing me to help him maintain his car.
Whether it is a Citroen, Ford, Vauxhall Etc. Never forget your precious memories.
Auto trader the paper was cool,use to buy in the eights😮
I remember trying to buy bangers in the late 90s from the paper. And they were always sold by the time I rang the owners the evening of the paper being available.
what an absolutely brilliant heart felt video, thanks
My relationship with cars I think is much the same as yours, as a child my dad had a red 1998 Toyota Starlet 1.3, I loved that car, we went everywhere in it much the same as you with the BX, there's many many pics of me stood next to it, or her I should say, as she was named Hetty. Anyway long story short she was written off too when I was about 9/10 years old, and I was absolutely devastated, but that little Starlet I think is what made me love 90s cars. In fact I love 90s cars to the extent that my first car was a Citroen ZX Avantage estate (still on my driveway to this day, I've just given her a smile out of the window) and there's a story to how I acquired that too which is too long to type here, but I also own a Daewoo Lanos and Vauxhall Tigra A which although they're no little red Starlet, the smells and sounds remind me of Hetty, and one day I would love to own another one. Great and emotional video!
I normally never look through an entire video wich mostly contains talking like this, but man, this was something completely different, I'm touched by how much I can relate to here. Thank you for this story 🙌
I don't either! And yet I keep making them...
@@UPnDOWN keep doing them, it is, in your case, Intresting 👍😊
stellar. much much love, mate.
…and this is exactly why you’re one of YooToob favourites. What a great video. Soooooo glad it’s gone to such a good home with Dave. VEP is in good hands 😊
Ah we had a red mk1 16trs back in the early 90s (A145SBH), same colour as the 2cv i had and still have afaik? Sticky struts and worn "knock kneed" rear suspension was easily forgotten. Loved the purity of the mk1, except the heavy steering and clutch 😅. A mint estate auto would be a treat
Rich what an amazing video one of the best I’ve ever listened to straight from the heart
It’s clear the love you have for VEP and I totally get what you mean
My dad also influenced my car choices quite a lot Vauxhalls Citroens and Peugeots I used to love to go with him to motor show and to look for his cars I still have
all my brochures from then as well
The BX was the one car he wanted to own and never could afford and the xantia after it but he had all three versions of the Picasso which he adored and now a c5 aircross I had two c3s my brothers c4s and we eventually had the Citroen which eluded him
My dad also had a Astra which was written off too!
Memories make you who you are rich I would love to get my golf back in which we got married and bought my son home in it’s a special car to me maybe on day.. keep up the amazing work and enjoy that beautiful 16v
Great video, done that car very proud glad it's new owner will keep it going and live there own memories ❤️
I loved that. There is so much nonsense on RUclips, but that was a video worth watching. It was lovely to hear the story. And no, Chinese takeaways rarely work to get us out of trouble 🤣
i had h14 bah as a wallpaper on my pc for a long time i own a 306 alpine great vid mate as usual
Haha! There are quite a lot of pro-shots of it out there (which technically shouldn't be out there) so I if you want a BX 16V wallpaper, that's pretty much your only option!
Genuinely one of your best vids; loved it. Custodians is the best way to describe our relationship with cars.
Final unanswered question; did your dad drive VEP and did you sit in the back?
No, I never thought of doing that! My seat was the left-rear.
@@UPnDOWN well, there’s a new video idea! I’m sure the new owner would happily oblige.
Thank you for this story. It unlocked something in my brain, a memory from my childhood that I had securely tucked away and haven’t touched for 20 years. This made me more emotional than I’d like to admit (pleasant emotions).
My first car memories are from the back seat of my dads silver 2nd gen BX 19 (with the spoiler) going everywhere on backroads, to the beach and gently gliding through our fields while listening to the sounds of Nick Kershaw, Cher and Bloodhound Gang on the Blaupunkt stereo at quite some volume. I was always fascinated with the suspension, and it was a stable discussion point when having friends from the kindergarten over. It was the first car I got to very proudly drive around the farm yard, and it was without a doubt the car that made me fall in love with cars.
Like you I probably could have adored some other car my dad could have had, and that would’ve changed my entire taste and goal in life.
After the BX met it’s demise with a badly placed flagpole my dad had a V70 T5, Leon, 2cv6, Saxo, and for the last 10 years of all things a Smart Fortwo. None of these, although some were funky, ever scratched what the BX and it’s magic ride did for me.
I want to dedicate my life to cars, and I’m currently working very hard to get into car design, but today after your video and seeing what it unexpectedly did to me, I can safely say that my obsession with cars and Citroen in particular is due to the BX and none of the others.
I haven’t since I was 6 seen a BX in Denmark, but I’d for sure give what I could, to scratch that exact itch you are talking about, or just sit in one, and try to feel a bit of that happiness again, maybe draw a sketch or 100.
"Nick Kershaw, Cher and Bloodhound Gang"....and I thought I had diverse taste in music!
There's a fella called Anders in Denmark with a couple of BX 16Vs. Plus our friend @SeasideGarage, though his are slightly more 'project' that road-going at the moment!
@@UPnDOWN Yeah, in the 90s German Radio Schleswig Holstein gave us some wild bangers on an hourly basis.
Thanks for suggestion, I appreciate it. Anders is as common a name here as John in the UK, so he’ll probably be a bit hard to find, but I’ll for sure check out @SeasideGarage.
Best video I have seen on RUclips for ages, so so true. You encapsulate exactly how I feel cars have shaped my life and, unbeknownst to me until recently, my son's as well.
I've had a Focus Ghia since 2006 and was talking about selling it to free up some space. He was shocked and upset and begged me not to sell it as it is a car that has been a constant in his life. He came home from hospital in it when he was born, we've been on family holidays in it and he said that one day he looks forward to taking it to classic car shows. So yes, we totally understand all that you said here.
I love story time; great story with emotion!
I think that it's natural anthropomorphise cars, especially those that we spend significant portions of our lives with.
Well… in 1989 my dad hit something in his Opel Ascona, never looked right after the repair so he traded it in for a 1985 BX 16RS… I was a couple of years older than you were. I also used to have the ispy car books, cheated a bit by ticking a lot of my stuff off when we went to France on holiday.. everybody had Fords round our way.
It's not cheating, it's tactics.
🎼...and I think to myself, what a wonderful World, ohhh - yes.🎵
Great story of how we all get sentimentally attached to these lumps of old metal and plastic (and LHM).
Thanks for the video.
I echo a previous commenter, who said that?
Seeing as how the video did not go as planned. It's turned out really well, and also, this is why I was drawn to your channel. You tell it as it is; there are depths to them. That is rare on RUclips. That's why I can sit here for 1 hour and watch it and not get fed up. Because that's what normally happens. When I'm watching long RUclips videos. Anyway, enough of the clap trap.
Thank you for the video. Really enjoyed the hour listening to your reminiscences and keep up the good work. Take care
Thanks
What a great video. Thank you! I thought I was the only nerdy toddler who could name all the cars around him!
My Dad didn’t have a car, so he got me lots of Matchbox ones to substitute. First car I remember being in was my Dad’s mates baby blue Cortina MkII. All my friends Dad’s had Escorts or Cortina Mk IIIs. My first car was going to be a Cortina, an Escort or a Fiesta. Of course it was a Peugeot 104. If you brought it to a mechanic he looked at you like you’d presented him with a plague victim with a soiled man nappy. Took me ages to find a brave soul daft enough to work on it. It’s still the car I miss the most, despite the swear words it caused me to utter on many a cold morning….
absolutely marvellous story,car and the way you told the story. The car in my life that meant the world was my dads peugeot 309 GTI driving around a disused airport as a 13 yr old. Memories should be cherished for life and that what cars do best. Its not just the car, its how it makes you feel !!
Ooh, a 309 GTi. Now that's a good one!
Thank you for the story and history. Such a heart felt video.
I feel your pain. I owned a 1988 SaaB 900S and really.enjoyed it. I sold it a few years ago and had the chance to see it for sale again. I was tempted, but I couldn't do it. Sometimes ya just gotta let your loved ones go.
What an interesting man you are, shame there are not a lot more like you.
You tell a great story, are not afraid to express emotion, nor to admit the strange connections many of us have with what are basically lumps of metal on wheels. Bravo I say!
Thank you, that was wonderful. It brought back a lot of memories, not just of my own BXs and other cars, but also of my dad, who passed away earlier this year, and of the GS 1220 Club he bought, which was the car that got me into Citroëns when I was 10. I also noticed the date on your dashcam footage: 26 October, that would have been my mother's 77th birthday. I was afraid I was going to feel things watching this, and I did, but that's a good thing. Feelings make you realise you're still alive. By the way, I already suspected some neurodivergence in you and I happen to be sitting here in my "autistic" t-shirt from a fellow youtuber, Yo Samdy Sam. Takes one to know one, I guess. ;-)
Nice to know VEP is going to a good home and looking forward to more SM content.
Aw man, you've left me feeling so sentimental right now! Can definitely identify with stuff you're talking about. I don't reckon I'd be a car nut if my Dad hadn't had a Dyane and my Mum a GS back in the 80s when I was small. Can definitely identify with the suspension thing. When I was a kid my friends and I always used to compare the bounce on our toy car's suspension. Even now I've been known to spend hours looking at suspension photos on Google image.....
Brings back memorys of my first car a e reg nissan sunny 1.3ls saloon had lots of fun and good memory's in that car but out of stupidity i got rid and got a mk1 fiesta that was a pile of crap. Never felt the same with all the other nissans i had after then i went french and now on to german cars. Still get the urge to get an old sunny or a bx but lack of space and costs these days stop me.
I never had this problem Kitch tbh - test passed in 1980 and I went through a series of cheapo cars £100-£200 bangers were normal and they never lasted long enough to grow attached to. When I could afford nearly new they lasted @18 months but the die was cast. Then 20 odd years of company cars on a 3 year renewal cycle meant miles racked up in white goods. Then I left work and went back into bangers though to be fair it was anything from £1k to £4k then ( £100 was the cost of a headlamp by then lol )
Anyway I only have a few memories I would repeat - various Uno's - they were good - a Marbella that took me to my g/f in Bournemouth from Manchester every week for a year ( we are now married ) and a Picasso 1.6 Petrol Desire that did @36k in 18 months getting my daughter to and from N Yorks where we live to Uni in Carlisle every weekend - I have literally driven 1 million miles in my lifetime so it takes something special for me to bond.
Lovely story about your Dads BX - for some reason I remember my Dads first car - an Imp had reg GFR 208 D....... why do these things stick in there eh? Autumn gold was the colour.
An Imp? Hmmm...dodgy choice of car, that!
Excellent video, and thanks for your sharing your story. I have owned 2 BXs in the past a red GTI, loved that car, and a white TRS I think. Both fab cars. My appreciation for Citroën started with my father who owned CX 2000, IN blue. Keep the videos comming, truly enjoy your content.
The ending go this video got me 😭 a brilliant video mate, and i can tell you certain cars your parents own do get under your skin. When i was growing and still to this day i am a Ford Enthusiast, my dad had Mark 5 and 6 Escorts, these got under my skin from a early age, going on holiday, playing with the roll out ashtray in the back, watching my dad in a mood reverse into the neighbours Fiat and crumpling its rear door to collecting the brocuhures and handbooks. Funnily enough my first foray into Ford Ownership was a Focus, a C -Max and another Focus, my dad put off a escort as first car back in 2001 thinking it would be too big for me. I've owned various car brands and love my Cactus, but just over a month ago a Mark 5 Escort came into my life via a review for my channel.
Little did i know i would be watching this video while outside on my drive is the same Mark 5 Escort i reviewed for my channel that i ended up buying!
I think these things happen for a reason.
Thank you for sharing your story of RPO and VEP Rich, the video was fantastic and went ever so quick and i am a Neuro as well (found out 5 years ago at the age of 35)
Thanks mate, that's a lovely comment.
Brilliant, what a great story. You're a natural. 👍
..."ain't ya, Tyrone?"
@@UPnDOWN Your more of a natural than Tyrone ever was. 😂
Brilliant story! One of the best videos on RUclips.
I NEVER comment on YT videos but I have just watched this and have tears in my eyes. I can relate to so much that you’ve said (toy cars with suspension and turning the wheels when parked was me as well) and you did it with such depth and honesty. This is by far your best video (and they’re all great), in my view. Bravo!
Cheers for breaking your rule, Simon!
Thank you so much for sharing your story, I literally teared up hearing you talk about how you don't have to relive memories, that they're fine in the past, and that it's alright that life has changed. Cars, and the connnections we form with them and through them, are truly something special.
Lovely story, thanks for sharing... reminded me of my Father's CX from late 70's, which spawned a love of Citroens in me.
Thank you for sharing such a personal and poignant story so openly. Genuinely moving, and much food for thought.
The picture of RPO on Exmoor is parked next to a silver Previa, then on one of the pictures of VEP, with the Reliant in tow, you're parked next to a silver Previa. Funny little coincidence
I never noticed that!
What your saying about your dad and rpo makes perfect sense to me, I too route a love of certain cars (no matter how bad they are) to certain people who have had them when I was growing up. I love my rovers because my aunt had a 1.1s metros and I cried when she got rid of it. She’s to this day says it was awful but I was always in love with it. My other aunt had lots of serras and mondeos I have a soft spot for them. My dad had a fiat weekend, cavalier and I have a soft spot for them. But the car a remember best is my dads mk1 focus, and since then I’ve had two focuses and 4 fords, cars root them selfs into young petrol heads minds.
I did not know of your 16 valve. I heard it mentioned, but never looked into it. It's nice that you're still in the BX club hah. I also didn't know that both XPO and DKK were yours (well, your dad's in the case of DKK). DKK is probably one of my favorite BXs. I'd love to own a blue Mk1 like it some day.
Anyway, the video was really touching. It mimics my feelings towards cars quite closely. We had a similar situation with a 406 (my childhood car). It was crashed only days after we sold it.
Either way, back to the topic at hand. It's nice to see VEP will live on. The ending slideshow was beautiful. Thanks for the video Kitch!
(EDIT: the part about school was on point - I was in the same camp of being ill or pretending to be ill, I hated that place)
Yeah, I'm one of the BX Club OG (as my kids would say). Before that BX16v.com (the original one, which predated BXC and died suddenly - now reincarnated into BX16v.co.uk.
XPO was mine, yes. I bought it in 2013 originally for spares, but the shell is actually really good, so it seemed a shame to scrap it. It sat around for years until Vanny (fellow CCC BX columnist & guy behind BX Project) took it on to restore it. He's doing great work with it.
DKK is currently sat behind me! I bought it in 2006, before giving it to my dad. I restored it over the course of a few years here and it's just had a deposit put on it...it's leaving too! Weirdly, I also owned C511 DKK; a Fox Grey 16RS.
@@UPnDOWN Ah yes, a BX Club OG, I like that (possibly because I'm closer to the target demographic of such phrases hah). You're definitely one of the forerunners in BX caretaking (especially when compared to me, I only joined two years ago). Also, thanks for the insight with regards to the story behind how BX Club came to be.
Despite living in Croatia, BX Club UK is an invaluable resource and community for me as a BX owner. The good folk on that forum are in no small part responsible for my '89 16 TRS (lovingly named "Citrus") still being on the road.
Also, I love reading up on progress with regards to XPO. It was definitely worth saving.
It is interesting that you technically owned two DKKs hah. I always found the 16 RS fascinating. It is a 14 RE with the bigger 1.6l engine. It lacks the C pillar windows, rev counter and front power windows (I'm not 100% sure of the latter), so it's definitely a weird configuration.
UK number plates have always fascinated me (probably because I'm weird and like to look at car number plates). The ones we have in Croatia (and Serbia) consist of two letters denoting the city, a coat of arms, followed by three or four numbers and finishing up with two letters.
Citrus lovingly had a special plate picked out for it. It has been posted to BX Club before I think, but in short the last two letters of it are BX.
Anyway, that's enough rambling from me. Have a good one!
(also, wave "hi" to DKK for me)
Thank you so much for this video. I truly hope the process was cathartic for you, it’s certainly stirred many memories for me reference my father’s cars and their importance to my childhood. 👏👏👍
I had a similar story. We had a crash when I was a kid in a Vauxhall Victor in 1984. My dad replaced that with a black MK1 BX. It was our first new car!
Rare in black!
@@UPnDOWN we had it a good few years. Sadly went to Citroen heaven many years ago though! After that my dad had the bug and went full on with a cx gti turbo. That was a crazy car!
Great video, love the story and you did a brilliant job in putting it over and a fitting finale in your ownership - you should be very proud
Just got around to watching this farewell video. It was so lovely (not sure how you could have had something better in your head). Brought back many feelings about my dads Hillman Avenger - OSB 127K.
I had a tear at the end , I don’t think I could make a video for 55 mins on the wife , but my cars it would be easy 😂😂😂😂
This was a very nice video to watch! A very well rounded off farewell to the BX, enjoyed every minute of the rambling 😉👍👍
Great video. Enjoyed the story of how you got into cars, especially the BX. Vey emotional too, but the mk1 Astra/Kadet, what a shame. They were nice looking cars.
You certainly can tell stories. I enjoyed this video very much. Love the car...
Thank you!
Fantastic story Kitch. I'd like to think that if your dad hadn't bought the BX, we would all be here watching you driving around in a Rover Sd1, or some kind of Mercedes. The car might be different, but you would still be you.
Possibly, though who knows! Everything I've done/learned/experienced/grown-up around to date has been Citroens, so that's shaped who I am, what I know and what I do (aside from a sprinkling of TVR).
I sympathize with you Kitch, what a beautiful life story.
I hate to brag, but my grandparent's house has textured tiles across the front of a raised platform thing around the fireplace. I have no idea what the aesthetic is called, but that single line of tiles perfectly resembled a rough narrow road for 1/43 scale cars. It wasn't a regular pattern, like they were trying to replicate a stone wall or something. A suspension demonstrating dream. :)
I had, actually still have, a MG ZT that I ran across that 'road' so many times the suspension collapsed on 3 corners. :)
Neurodivergence can be a massive blessing (with its curses). It enables a level of focus on specific topics neurotypicals can't even dream of, so if anyone enjoys niche topics, (like Citroens :) ), neurodivergent hyper-focus may be the only reason they're still around to be enjoyed, because no neurotypical would dedicate the amount of effort it would take to learn something so specialised and different from the norm.
What do neurotypical minds give you? a sea of faux-by-fours you can't tell apart :)