Idris wrote:Weren't the rights to that BMC concept car actually sold to Citroën, forming the basis for, I think, the BX range?
First, BMC - rather than BLMC as stated further above - is the correct designation, as the real concept car was introduced just before the merger which created BLMC (British Leyland). The production car on which it was based - BMC ADO 17 - was, however, never sold under the BMC brand, but instead as Austin, Morris and Wolseley.
Second, this Pininfarina design most probably had some influence on the design of the Citroën CX, but there was no purchase involved. One can only assume that Robert Opron had a good look at this car when he designed the CX, but the CX design is credited to M. Opron alone, with no involvement by Pininfarina. The Citroën CX commenced production in 1974, seven years after the presentation of the BMC Pininifarina concept car.
The later Citroën BX was a Bertone design which had its origins in an earlier Bertone proposal for Reliant, more specifically for a saloon car known by the name of Reliant FW 11, which was developed by Reliant in the mid 1970s. It was intended to be produced by Otosan of Turkey to replace its then current Anadol range. The Turkish project was not proceeded with though (the old Anadol continued for a few more years and was then replaced by the Ford Taunus originally from Germany), which resulted in the design being passed on to Citroën, which put it into production as the BX in 1981.