Cars

André Citroën introduced his first car to the public in 1919, and within two weeks received 16,000 orders for the Type a 10CV. The company steadily grew through the 1930s, and André Citroën became infatuated with front wheel drive automobiles and began developing a mental picture of the next car his factory would produce. 

The Citroën Ami 8 was presented to the public at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1969. The Ami 8 was far more conventional in appearance than the Ami 6 that it replaced. The reverse-rake rear window of the 6 was replaced by a fastback and the front end got a smoother look.

André Citroën, the founder of Citroën, was first and foremost a communicator. To promote the brand’s products and image, he decided to take Citroën vehicles to the furthest reaches of the globe–from the heart of Africa with its immense stretches of desert to the untamed tracks of Asia.

During the German occupation of France in World War II, gasoline was scarce, expensive, and often unavailable. Several companies offered systems for a vehicle to be powered by alternative fuels such as wood, coal, or charcoal. This car has been converted by Fap Elgazo Tarbes to run on coal. Adaptions were necessary to alter the vehicle from gas power to coal burner.

The Citroën BX was launched with much fanfare on September 23, 1982, at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. It became available to the public in 1983 with many different models being introduced. 

The Citroën CX was introduced in 1974 and voted “European Car of the Year” in 1975. It is considered by some enthusiasts to be the last “real” Citroën as it was designed before Peugeot took control of the company in 1974. The CX was a huge success in Europe although, unlike its competitors, it did not gain world-wide distribution. 

This car was purpose built by Dave Burnham who began his career in the world of Citroën by accepting a job as a mechanic in John Carmichael’s Citroën dealership and repair shop in New York.