Miguel Sánchez
Like Porsche, Lotus is not just what it has made under its own label. As a brand accustomed to technology consulting, the trail of Colin Chapman's offshoots can be traced in various models devised for other companies. One of them is the fantastic Lotus omega. Product of the generational taste for sports sedans, it was able to present heart-stopping performance that even scared the police. Especially when, thanks to the lightness and power marked by Lotus, this model of low production and high price got to become the favorite of the robber gangs.
However, Lotus also worked with other brands to develop cars capable of complying with the civil code. Of course, always within the framework of the competition, since in the case of Citroën the relationship was signed with the aim of creating a racing car. Eager to enter the world of rallying through the front door, the French brand commissioned Lotus to design a vehicle with a body similar to that of the Citroën Visa. Something very typical in the time of Group B, whose cars only had a vague aesthetic relationship with the street model. All this with advertising and brand prestige as commercial tricks.
Introduced in 1982, the Visa Lotus had not a few design problems. Problems that started with having to fit the body of a Visa onto the chassis of a mid-engined Lotus Spirit. Something that only inaugurated the streak of unfortunate misfortunes that marked the development phase. A failure that took this project away from its possible debut in Group B, giving open door for Citroën to focus its efforts on the future 4 BX 1986TC. Of course, only three years before he presented a missing link in which he was already pointing out firm ways in competitions on gravel. We are talking about the Citroën Visa 1000 Pistes.
CITROËN VISA 1000 PISTES. FIRST 4X4 OF THE BRAND FOR COMPETITION
The history of Citroën with the propulsion in both axles was not new. After all, by the early 80s, it was more than three decades since the launch of the 2CV Sahara. Designed to face the dunes of the Algerian desert still colonized by France, this curious off-road vehicle solved the problem of all-wheel drive by putting a motor on each axle. Something for which, over the years, it has become a legend for collectors. However, the truth is that this model was never used for competition. For this reason, the presentation in 1984 of the Citroën Visa 1000 Pistes was a novelty, being the first 4 × 4 of the brand designed for competition.
With its only 850 kilos, it had a 1360cc engine capable of producing 112CV at 6800rpm. An ingenuity boosted up to 140CV thanks to the increase in displacement in some units, which reached up to 1440cc. So things, the tip of the Citroën Visa 1000 Pistes was around 190 kms / h. Not inconsiderable performance for a rally car without any signs of being measured against the Lancia or Toyota of those years. Although in fact it did get some victories, such as the one it obtained in the category of experimental cars in the 1000 Tracks. Reason for which the 200 units built, necessary for homologation within the World Rally Championship, were baptized like this.
Produced for just two years, the Citroën Visa 1000 Pistes was also characterized by its quadruple carburetion. An interesting solution to get all the claw possible to the model, which competed for some years together with its presence within the Visa commercial range. A range in which the sports versions followed one another since 1982, with the presence of the Trophée and Chrono. Models that served as clear inspiration for the 1984 GTI, with which Citroën entered the category of urban sports cars and then continued with the sports versions of the AX. A clearly divergent line to that marked by the 1000 Pistes, whose 4 × 4 scheme was aimed directly at rally competition.
CITROËN VISA 1000 PISTES. THE LOST LINK TOWARDS THE BX 4TC
As we said before, the failure of the Visa Lotus project was a jug of cold water for Citroën. However, far from giving up, they aimed far away with the idea of having their own Group B. The idea materialized when, in 1986, the BX 4TC. A strange car even for connoisseurs of the chevron brand, which only bears a slight and superficial resemblance to the saloon from which it starts. Large and with serious suspension problems, this front-engined rally car only appeared in three rounds of the World Championship.
A track record at least questionable, but that rendered Citroën just where she wanted it. And it is that, most of the time, the value of these cars is not in the end but in the middle. They are test benches where various brands, in fact those least interested in competition as part of their identity, develop technologies derived from street cars. Just what the Citroën Visa 1000 Pistes and the BX 4TC were used for. Two examples of the participation of the French brand in the World Rally Championship, which hosted real rarities during the powerful eighties.
Photographs: Citroën Origins
