Introduction October 1982 - Oltcit

The first step in the history of the Axel was in the period 1970-1973. Under the code name Y-2 Citroën designed, with designer Giret, a small 4 door car with an air cooled GS engine.
After the near bankruptcy of Citroën in 1974, as a result of a major costs and the oil crisis of 1973, Citroën had to turn to countries with lower labor costs. The Citroën line ended up in Romania and in 1980 a joint factory with a annual capacity of 130,000 cars was built in Craiova, South-West Romania. The car was named Oltcit - ‘Olt’ from the Romanian province of Oltenia and ‘Cit” from Citroën - and was mainly sold in the countries of the Warsaw Pact. The Oltcit was front wheel drive, had a length of 3.72 m, and a three door body. It can accommodate five adults. There was independent suspension around by torsion bars. This results in a very comfortable suspension and a high driving comfort. On all four wheels disc brakes were fitted, which was not at all usual for a car in this price range. Three engine versions became available: the two cylinder from the LNA and Visa (652cc) on the base version Spécial, and a GSA derived air-cooled flat four measuring 1129 ccm on the Club. The two cylinder engine of the Oltcit Spécial was produced in Romania. The Oltcit had some typical Citroën features, like the dashboard with satellites and a single spoke steering wheel, which was different from those seen in the Visa and the GSA.

July 1984 - Axel

By July 1, 1984, the Romanian built Citroën was introduced in some Western European countries under the name Axel. At the Axel, the oval "O" with a single chevron in the grille of the Oltcit was replaced by the familiar double chevron. Axel export models were always four cylinders. The Oltcit Club became known as the Axel 11 (R). Exclusively for the western customers the programme was expanded with a more upmarket version, the 12 TRS. This version was better equipped and powered by a more powerful 1299 ccm engine with a five speed gearbox.

The 12 TRS was equipped with alloy wheels, various additive instruments and a rear wiper. The cheaper Axel 11 was a price breaker. In France, it was cheaper than the 2CV Club. The 12 TRS was cheaper than the Visa 11 RE. In Western Europe around 20,000 Axels were sold. Not all Western European importers, however, had confidence in the chances for this strange Romanian ugly ducklin. In Western Germany, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Switzerland and Spain the car was not imported. However, the car sold in Iceland, and even in some South American countries.

The press wrote moderately positively about the Axel. But a serious threat was the poor build quality of the Axel. There were many body and technical problems. Many buyers disillusioned swapped the Axel after a short time for another model, or even worse, for another brand. In 1990 Citroën withdrew from the Romanian venture and the factory came under control of the Romanian government, but the four cylinder Oltcit models rolled off the production line until 1994. The two cylinder was discontinued..

1994 - Oltcit becomes Oltena

In 1994 the factory became privatised and the name of the cars changed into Oltena. Later that same year there was a merge with Daewoo. At this stage the car was restyled with a new front end treatment. Available were the 11 E and the 12 E, still with the familiar GS-engines. But the car was living on borrowed time. In 1995, only 500 examples were sold. Production soldiered on until 1996, when the unlucrative project finally was killed off.