Welcome Introduction News For Sale Rallye Sud Clubs Noticeboard Specialists What's On Hot Dollies Who's Who Put the Boot In

Slough C3, the first model manufactured in the factory at Slough (United Kingdom) between 1925 and 1926.

The Traction Avant produced in Slough benefits from a varnished wood dashboard that was made in the factory’s own joinery workshop.

On the Citroën stand at the exhibition in London in October 1953 the British version of the 2CV revealed its features.

2CV AZUL Week-end is presented in January 1956 on the Citroen stand reserved for utility vehicles at the Brussels Motor Show.

The production of the Traction Avant started in the Slough factory in September 1934, and the first examples were on show in London from October. The range of Traction Avants follows the same development as in France. Taxation is established uniquely on the basis of engine size and not on the cylinders. Thus, the English Traction bears the name: the ‘Super Modern Twelve’. A new model with a bigger body and 1911cc engine is launched and named ‘Big Fifteen’. This new engine could also be assembled in the smallest body, and becomes the ‘Light Fifteen’. As in France, all these models are also available in the convertible (roadster) and coupé. They benefit from a more luxurious finish: leather interior, dashboard made of varnished wood with instruments of English origin including round Smith dials, sliding roof, Lucas lighting and a twelve volt electrical system. In 1946, after the end of the hostilities, the production of the Traction Avant resumes in Slough.

Presented at the London Motor Show in October 1953, the Slough produced 2CV is adapted to left-hand drive. At the back the boot lid is made of metal and the small glass lights are replaced by larger ones made of transparent plastic. To brighten the car and to attract the British customer a choice of colour is offered in addition to the standard grey: white, cream, green, brown and black. In spite of these efforts in presentation, the 2CV’s English career will remain discrete. The car on show in the museum was registered for the first time in February 1954 and used by Citroën U.K. as a Press car.

The assembly of the 2CV A van (equipped with a 375cc engine) started at the end of 1952 in the factory at Forest in Belgium. If the first cars are similar to those manufactured in Levallois, at the beginning of 1954 the AL model appears more richly equipped. In the same way the 2CV AZ equipped with the 425cc engine will be created as a version AZL. These more luxurious versions are characterized by their more imposing bumpers made of polished aluminium and their boot lid reaching down to the back bumper. Aluminium rods underline the body and the wheels have decorated hub caps. The Belgian customers profit from a wider choice of body colour.

In March 1955 a version specific to the Belgian market appeared: 2CV AZUL Weekend. This version offers potential for varied use, both utility and family thanks to its back bench seat and its side window panels.

The elegance of the line of the Bijou makes it possible to forget the modest power of its engine and its high price.

ID Slough 1960

In 1959 Citroën in the U.K. tries to attract customers with a new vehicle based again on the 2CV, but equipped with a better-looking body: the Bijou. The production of the traditional truck is stopped. The Bijou is presented at the London Motor Show in October 1959. The English designer Peter Kirwan-Taylor designed the body of this small car. The Bijou thus replaced the 2CV in the Citroën range from 1960, but its high selling price (£695) limited its appeal when compared with the popular models from Ford and especially BMC, which has just launched the Mini at a price of £495. The Bijou’s career was be of short duration and only 211 specimens were sold until 1964.

Contrary to the French ID, the ID produced in England is not a cheaper version of the DS. It is as luxurious as the DS and differs from it only by the absence of hydraulics (manual gearbox and normal steering…)

The DS was produced from June 1956 in England; externally it is characterized by its vertical front licence plate which is required to satisfy the rules of British Ministry of Transport. The choice of colours available was also adapted to the taste of the British customers. It is inside that the difference is most important; the special leatherwork is carried out in the workshops at Slough using Connoly leather for the seats and the door panels. The ID19 in its English version appeared in March 1958. Much nearer in its presentation to the DS, the ID “made in Slough” has large hub caps of wheel and the painted pavilion. The leather interior and the wooden dashboard made by the craftsmen of the joinery workshop at the factory gave this version an undeniably “British touch”.

Both the Safari and the DS truck manufactured in Slough were adapted to the standards of the English highway code which requires that the number plate must be vertical. The English version of the station-wagon started production in 1960. Named the Safari it took again the finish of the truck and has assisted braking. In 1966 with the development of the Common Market, Citroën Cars Ltd decided to remove its assembly activities from Slough in favour of direct importation from the French factories. The car produced at Slough, a DS 21 Pallas, rolled off the line on April 18, 1966.

 

Entirely restored in every detail, this Baby Brousse reveals the simplicity of its construction

The Pony was built in Greece between 1975 and 1984

 

A 4x4; military evolution of the FAF did not succeed in being chosen to replace the Méharis in service in the French Army.

In spite of its similarity of line with the Visa, the Axel is a completely different vehicle, from the point of view of its chassis and suspension as well as its drive.

The year 1958 marked the establishment of Citroën in Chile. A factory of assembly was built in Arica in the extreme north of the country near the border with Peru. This location was determined by the requirements of the Chilean government that was aiming at developing employment in this underprivileged area of the North.

The factory manufactured the 13 HP, thus named according to the real power of the engine; it was a utility version of the 2CV; with the back doors removed and a reduction in loading volume to escape certain taxes, it will quickly be called Citroneta and will retain this name.

The small vehicle, the Baby Brousse, was developed under the direction of the owner of the Workshops and Forges of Ebrie and was presented in January 1970 to the leaders of the CICA, the concessionaire Citroën in Ivory Coast. With the agreement of Citroën, manufacture started during the year 1970 and the Baby Brousse quickly interests local industrial and artisan customers with its qualities of robustness and economy. The Baby Brousse offered four seats in a body with two doors; and a folding windscreen. The whole of the body was made out of flanged sheet and the various elements are bolted on. Entirely and accurately restored since its return in France, the vehicle on show is back to its original state.

The Dalat was produced between 1970 and 1975 in Saigon when more than 5000 examples were produced. After having assembled some 2CV vans that sold quickly, the director of the SAEO (the Vietnamese subsidiary of Citroën) decided in 1969 to build a vehicle equipped with a rolled steel body, using the 2CV chassis and engine.

The success of the car was fast, in 1970 1275 were produced. From 1971, to address the varied uses that the Vietnamese make of them, three new versions more specifically adapted to the various uses appeared. After April 30 1975, during the fall of Saigon, Citroën lost control of the manufacturing.

The Pony was built in Greece between 1975 and 1984. The company Namco (National Motor Company) Citroën concession in Greece has a factory in Thessalonika; attracted by the Baby Brousse then built in Ivory Coast, Mr. Kondogouris, the director, created a vehicle named the Pony. A new factory was built in 1974 and the first Pony was built in 1975. This vehicle had the chassis and the machine parts of Citroën Dyane 6. The Pony differs from the Ivory Coast model with pressed and welded elements of body; the finish is more luxurious and a more complete range was marketed.

The isolated attempts carried out in Ivory Coast and Iran with the Baby Brousse, in Vietnam with the Dalat and in Greece with the Pony, draw the attention of the persons in charge at Citroën. In 1973 they bring from Vietnam three Dalat bodies and analyze the design. From these studies they design a vehicle whose simple manufacture can be carried out without requiring heavy investments in pressing tools.

The vehicle was presented officially at the International Fair of Dakar between on November 28 and December 10 1978 in six different versions under the generic name of FAF; this name summarizes the philosophy of this project, FAF = Facile A Fabriquer and Facile A Finance. The FAF uses the platform and the mechanics of the Dyane 6. In order to replace the Méharis in service in the French Army, Citroën develops a new vehicle derived from the FAF in a 4x4 version. This military version of the FAF is named A 4 X 4. It is equipped with the more powerful 652cc engine from the Visa. The whole of the transmission comes from Méhari 4 X 4. In spite of a investigation by the army and the delivery of some vehicles for test, the army does not order A 4 X 4.

In spite of its similarity of line with the Visa, the Axel is a completely different vehicle, from the point of view of its chassis and suspension as well as its drive.

Following the repurchase in 1974 of Citroën by Peugeot, the project “Y” was abandoned to the profit of project “VD” which gave rise to the Visa. In 1975 Citroën got the invitation to tender launched by the Romanian government with its proposal of vehicle “MT” which is very close to “Y” whose prototypes were ready. On December 30, 1976 a cooperation agreement was signed with Romania for the construction and the exploitation of an industrial complex by a Franco-Romanian mixed company,

intended to produce exclusively this new vehicle popular for tourism. The signed agreement included the supply by Citroën of an operational factory in 1980. Finally a Franco-Rumanian mixed investment company called OLTCIT (OLTénie+CITroën) with a majority of Romanian capital 64%, Citroën held the remaining 36%. The first car called OLTCITwas shown in Bucharest in 1981 at the time of the International Fair, but it was only in 1983 that the production really started.

The car was marketed in two engines, 2 cylinders (652cc) and 4 cylinders (1129cc). In accordance with the initial agreements, Citroën marketed this vehicle in Western Europe in 1984 under the name of Axel; in these markets the twin-cylinder version was not available. The delay accumulated in the starting of the production made this new vehicle obsolete at launch and only an aggressive price policy made it possible to make it attractive. Moreover the level of quality of the vehicles was manifestly lower than the standards of the Western market. In 1990, considering that the commitments entered into were not respected since external components had been introduced into manufacture, Citroën ceased marketing the car and withdrew from the company OLTCIT.

 

C15 was manufactured in Taiwan between 1990 and 1996 as a light van and pick-up.

The Tiara Proton was distinguished from Citroen AX by its bonnet and its hatch back

Presented at Taipeh on December 12 1989, the C15 was assembled locally by the Chinese Automobile Trading Co. (CAC) until 1996; it was produced in three versions: light van, family van with back bench seat and a pick-up. A method of manufacture was set up, which made it possible to carry out some modifications, for example producing wider wings thus avoiding the addition of the plastic edges. Available from the start in a petrol 1.41 version, a diesel version appeared in June 1990.

Created in 1983 in Malaysia, the Proton company was born out of the desire of the Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir, to create a national car industry; the capital of this company was divided between the state company Hicom (Heavy Industries Corp.) which has a majority holding and Mitsubishi.

An agreement was signed on September 12, 1995 between the French manufacturer and Proton envisaging the assembly, under the Proton mark, of a car derived from Citroen AX. This vehicle could thus profit from the whole of the tax advantages attached to the status of national vehicle. Thus was born Tiara, version local of the AX equipped with the 1.1l engine; on November 2, 1995 the production line was inaugurated by Mr. Satinet representing Citroën and Dr. Mahathir.

For the assembly of this vehicle, Citroën provided collections CKD and its technical aid. The assembly of Tiara was carried out in Pékan within the framework of the company Usahasama Proton-DRB (USPD). It was also USPD which is in charge of the marketing of the Tiara Proton. The initial production target was 20,000 vehicles per annum; actually the production culminated in 1997 at 14,297 units to finish in 1999 with 118 units. In three years a little less than 30,000 Tiara were assembled.

	2CVTV.com Web compiled by Catalyst Systems © 2002 e-mail: 2cvtvwebmail@2cvtv.com	write to us
Welcome Introduction What's on News Who's who For sale Clubs Noticeboard Specialists