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The Citroën 2CV was designed to offer minimal-cost rural transportation. Designers were challenged to build a car that would carry two people and a 250 pound sack of potatoes at a speed of 37 mph. When the 2CV was unveiled at the Paris Salon in 1948, the press found it laughable. Production got under way […]

As far back as the early 1930s, Citroën teamed with Yacco, an oil company in France, for endurance testing on Citroën automobiles. These cars were tested at Montlhéry, a track outside Paris. The most famous car was a traction avant nicknamed “Petite Rosalie” which spent 134 days on the track in 1934 covering close to

Twenty-five years after production began, the 2CV has been through minor changes. Compare the similarities and differences of this later model 2CV with the older grey 1954 2CV. Although production exceeded 121,000 units in both 1970 and 1971, Citroën tried to phase out the 2CV. In 1982, they were still turning out 500 cars a

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

The Citroën Ami 6 was launched in 1961 as “the world’s most comfortable medium class car.” The arrival of the Ami 6 filled the demand for Citroën to produce a middle-price, mid-size car. While derived from the mechanical components of the 2CV, you can see the Ami has a very different design and appearance–the full-width,

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. The Ami

Citroën’s British subsidiary at Slough created the Bijou–giving it the distinction of being the only Citroën designed and built outside France. They used the same platform and mechanical elements as the 2CV. The body is made from fiberglass-reinforced plastic. A centrifugal clutch allows clutchless gear changes in first and second gears. The Bijou was a

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. In 1985, a special edition four-wheel drive rally car–the BX4TC–made its debut. The BX4TC was Citroën’s entry into Group B rallying, and

The fire and rescue service in Cogolin, France, were using a Citroën 15-6 Traction Avant as part of their fleet. One night while on patrol, Colonel Hourcastagné found the narrow mountain road blocked. Unable to turn the car around, he was forced to reverse down the road for several miles aided only by a fireman