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In 1997 Citroën and Peugeot came out with an electric car based on the compact 106 Series cars.  The car was powered by an electric DC motor and 20 6V NiCad batteries that were water-cooled.  Performance was adequate, with 0-30 mph in eight seconds, and 55 mph top speed.  The range was 40 – 60 […]

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

Citroën’s easily adaptable 2CV seemed to be a good starting point for French engineer Marc Voisin to create a true four-wheel drive offering. While the earlier 2CV Sahara had an engine in the front and an engine in the rear to create four-wheel drive, the Voisin 2CVs have just one engine with an additional transaxle

By the late 1960s, Citroën, General Motors, AMC and others viewed NSU’s new rotary, or Wankel, engine, as the wave of the automotive future. Compact but powerful, it allowed automakers much more flexibility in packaging elements of their new designs. Citroën believed strongly enough in rotaries to partner with NSU, creating the Comotor engine manufacturing

The peoples’ car of France, originally developed before WWII, the 2CV did not go into production until 1950 because of the war.  The press laughed at the car, claiming it would not sell but by the time production started there was a 6-year waiting list.  Well-designed and cheap, it filled the needs of post-war rural

The Citroën “Traction Avant” (translated as “front drive”) was introduced in 1934 as the 7A; this 15-Six model was introduced in 1938, and was a radically different concept from the cars Citroën had been producing.  Most cars were still built with a wooden structure covered with metal parts and fixed to a chassis, with the

Hans Berger was a gifted engineer who built small helicopters and various mechanical devices.  In 1948 he built the rocket-powered car you see here.  Hans Berger also built the rocket motor that powered the car.  His young daughter, Heidi, drove the car in local races.  (She was the first woman in Switzerland to become licensed

The Biscuter, or ‘Zapatilla’ (little shoe) as it was known in Spain, was actually built to the design of the French engineer Gabriel Voisin. ‘Biscooter’, the French name, was in itself a playful name for a car the size of two scooters.   In the early 1950s, Voisin designed a “minimal but capable everyman’s car”

In the mid 1960s, Austin decided to produce the Mini in South America. Knowing the production volumes would not be large, they could not afford to make another set of stamping dies for another factory. Austin contracted with Peel Engineering, who made the famous microcars, to make a prototype Mini out of fiberglass. Peel built