What we have here is a very rare Citroen XM Estate. The XM was built from 1989 to 2000, with this car being an early Mk1. From what I can tell, there are around 160 Citroen XMs of any type currently on the road in the UK, however this particular car is marked on the V5 as an ‘XM 1’. According to the website ‘howmanyleft‘, that makes it 1 of just 3.
So this might just be the rarest Geoff car so far.
I bought it from Burnley, it was delivered to my mum’s house and I drove it back home, on the motorway. I’ve got to say, it surprised me… it’s lovely. Full YouTube review coming very soon.
This beautiful and unusual Citroen XM Estate has a fantastic story.
1992 Citroen XM Estate, 2.0 petrol, 5 speed manual
110,000 miles, MOT until November 2021
Mercury Grey with Cloth Interior, Sunroof, Roof Rails
First registered in the name of International Sugar Organisation, it resided in London and wore diplomatic numberplates from registration until it first changed hands in 1999. The MOT certificate from 1999 shows the K designation plate, allocated to the car from what looks like the first time, along with the note ‘previously diplomatic – re reg in UK’ and the original diplomatic numberplate.
On 14th June 1999 the car was transferred to the ownership of Mr H, however some detective work leads me to believe that Mr H was actually the first owner, with the car spending the first 7 years of it’s life as a diplomatic vehicle for his use. Less than a month later, on 17th July of the same year, Mr C of Great Yarmouth took over the stewardship of the XM, the gentleman who would look after this car for more than two decades.
In recent years Mr C has been driving the car from Great Yarmouth to Savoy Garage, Citroen Specialists in Burnley. Malcolm of Savoy Garage and Mr C clearly had a great relationship, as can be seen in the paperwork with notes like (suspension felt like a bronco) added to the service record! The notes in the service history are superb, and it’s easy to tell that Mr C trusted Malcolm to get the job done and care for this car the way it needed.
Malcolm who has looked after this car (owner of Savoy Garage) clearly knows his Citroens, the expertise is evident from the way the service records are documented.
Sadly Mr C passed away, leaving this wonderful car looking for a caring new owner. When Savoy Garage listed it for sale, I simply had to buy it.
Very little to no history exists from the years when this car was in diplomatic use, other than a few obscure entries in the service book. The impeccable care is documented from 2015 onwards, with more than £5,000 spent in maintenance between 2015 and 2020.
Most importantly the suspension has been kept in good order, and the cam belt and water pump were replaced in May 2019, just 3,000 miles ago. The clutch was replaced at the same time.
What we have here is a superbly rare car, with a brilliant story, in great all round condition showing some battle scars from a life of use but still ready to be shown. The only issues with paintwork appears to be the patina on the roof, which again leads me to believe this car spent time in a warm climate… Perhaps it was placed somewhere exotic for this secretive first seven years of it’s life? If I find out more, I shall update this post… *edit… I never did find out any more!*
You can read the history file here
What a beauty! Have always preferred the square edged dashboard of the original series 1 XM and those wheel trims are perfect.
The patchy paint/laquer – wasn’t a hot country I can assure you many many 90’s Citroens suffer the same fate no matter if they lived in Accrington or Abu-Dabi – I’ve had enough to know