Oltcit Club: Romania's undeservedly underrated car

Despite being heavily criticized (including by some Eastern European experts), the Oltcit Club is a very relevant and interesting car. It debuted in 1981, just three years after its French prototype, the Citroën Visa, and for its time had virtually no analogues among the limited range offered on Eastern European markets. If we exclude the relatively archaic engine concept, which corresponds to that of the Citroën 2CV, and the unsatisfactory build quality, the compact Romanian car attracts attention with its contemporary appearance and modernly designed interior disc frana ferodo pret fata si spate.

Oltcit Club: Romania's undeservedly underrated car

The new brand is a combination of the names of the Romanian region of Oltenia, where the factory is located, and Citroën. The design of the company logo follows the same principle and is a combination of the letter O and one of the chevrons in the Citroën logo.

The joint stock company with the participation of the Romanian state and Citroën (with a shareholding of 64% to 36%) for the production of compact passenger cars was established back in 1977. The production capacity of the enterprise is 100,000 units per year, some of which are intended for export to France and other Western European countries, under the trade name Citroën Axel.

Initially, the Oltcit was offered with 4-stroke air-cooled carburetor engines with horizontal, opposed cylinders made of aluminum alloys. The smallest was a two-cylinder with a working volume of 652 cc and 34 hp, which originated from the 2CV engine, but was subsequently completely modernized, being equipped with a new crankshaft, a more efficient cooling system and an electronic system for contactless ignition. Later, a larger 4-cylinder engine with a working volume of 1129 cc was also offered, with V-shaped valves (with 2 camshafts located in the cylinder heads and driven by 1 toothed belt), with a Solex two-barrel carburetor and a classic type ignition system with centrifugal and vacuum corrector. It developed a maximum power of 57.5 hp. at 6250/min, and the compression ratio is 9:1. The four-speed gearbox is taken from the Citroën GS.

At a later stage, a 1300 cc engine was also implemented, which used the piston group of the 2-cylinder and reached a power of between 64 and 70 hp.

Oltcit's production lines in Craiova are equipped with very modern equipment for their time, and some activities, such as the welding of the body, are fully robotic, and at high productivity can ensure strict compliance with the set technological regimes. After being painted and treated with anti-corrosion preparations, individual body elements, such as fenders and doors, are covered with transparent foil to protect them from possible scratching. The brake discs on the rear axle are protected from oiling and mechanical damage by technological guards, which are removed only upon final installation of the brake mechanism. The brake system is filled with fluid using a special installation.

The suspension is torsion beam front and rear, which guarantees traditional French comfort, combined with sufficient durability. Initially, the car was planned to be available with disc brakes on all wheels, but in the RM version (from RomaniaModificata) it has front disc brakes from Dacia, and in the RT configuration (from Romania Totale) the entire brake set is from Dacia (disc brakes at the front and drum brakes at the rear).

The windscreen is equipped with a centrally located wiper, which can operate at two different speeds and in pulse mode. The rear window is also equipped with a wiper and a water nozzle. The exterior mirror is adjustable from the passenger compartment.

Since the car has two doors, the front seats can be released and slid forward, and their return to the starting position is ensured by a mechanical "memory" device.

The luggage volume of about 310 cubic meters is very good for a car of this class, and the trunk lid is held in the open position by two gas shock absorbers.

Due to a number of unforeseen complications, mainly of a bureaucratic nature, the opening of the plant, which was scheduled for 1980, was postponed. The first finished car was presented in October 1981, the first serial copies rolled off the assembly line in October 1982, and mass production began only in 1984, with relatively small runs. In 1990, Oltcit became fully owned by the Romanian state and continued its activities for several more years.

Today, the Craiova plant is a Ford assembly subsidiary, where the Kuga and EcoSport models are assembled.

Car parts AutoPower
Car parts AutoPower

The new brand is a combination of the names of the Romanian region of Oltenia, where the factory is located, and Citroën

The joint stock company with the participation of the Romanian state and Citroën (with a shareholding of 64% to 36%) for the production of compact passenger cars was established back in 1977