During the 2018 Rétromobile Classic Car Show, which will take place in Paris February 7 to 11, Citroën will be celebrating two iconic models: The 2CV, which debuted in 1948 and is turning 70, and the Méhari, launched in 1968 and turning 50 this year. The Brand is making the most of this rare opportunity by showing off the 2CV's ancestor, a prototype that came out of 1939's TPV (Toute Petite Voiture, or Very Small Car) project. These two anniversaries are also being marked with some original works of art: two large flat 'kits' of spare parts, just like those children use to make models. The only difference is the scale, since these are real 2CV and Méhari parts! The Brand is also beginning its preparations for another important anniversary: its own 100th birthday, which it will celebrate in 2019!
Citroën is happy to invite visitors to come see their display in Pavilion 1 at the 2018 Rétromobile Classic Car Show (held at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles), which will take place between Wednesday 7 February and Sunday 11 February (with a press evening on Tuesday 6 February at 7 p.m.). Come take a trip through time and return to memories of childhood…
THE 2CV AT 70, A PART OF THE POPULAR IMAGINATION
The 1948 Paris Motor Show. The Citroën 2CV was unveiled before French President Vincent Auriol, stunning the crowd that had gathered to see it. While some laughed at its unique silhouette, others saw in it the qualities that had been missing from so many other models: simplicity, lightness, agility, comfort, versatility, etc.
The large volume of orders that came flooding in, even in those first days, proved that the Brand and its visionary designers were on to something. André Lefebvre, head of the Citroën design office, provided the 2CV with a whole host of technologies that were novel at the time: front-wheel drive, a soft long-travel suspension, an air-cooled two cylinder engine, etc.
With its great popularity, the Citroën 2CV became a real social phenomenon: a car for farmers and vicars, for fathers and students. It had an exceptional 42-year run, with more than 5.1 million vehicles sold (including compact vans) by 1990. Today, the 2CV, affectionately called the 'Deuche' in French, remains an icon of automotive history, piquing the interest of collectors from around the world.
TPV, ancestor of the 2CV (1939)
The TPV (Toute Petite Voiture or Very Small Car) project, forerunner of the 2CV, was launched in 1936. Its goal was to make cars into a common commodity, something that would be useful in the agricultural sector and accessible to the working classes at a time when cars were still seen as luxury items. To achieve this, simplicity, frugality, and ingenuity had to come together in the pursuit of a single goal: "transporting four people and fifty kilos of potatoes or a small barrel at the top speed of 60 km/h". Result: the vehicle weighed 370 kg empty, and cost one third as much as the 11 CV. It even had only one headlamp, because the laws at the time didn't require 2!
In 1939, about 250 pre-production models were ready for the Paris Motor Show...which was unfortunately cancelled when war broke out. These vehicles were voluntarily destroyed or hidden. Only four have made it through to today, including the restored model on display at the Rétromobile Classic Car Show. The other three were found in 1994 in the inaccessible attic of a farm near Citroën's Testing Centre in Ferté-Vidame...
THE MÉHARI AT 50, STILL A NON-CONFORMIST
May 1968. Just as an entire generation were taking to the streets of Paris in search of greater freedom, Citroën unveiled a leisure vehicle ahead of its time: the Méhari. This unusual cabriolet, built on a Dyane 6 base, was almost like an unidentified driving object on the roads at that time. And with good reason: its surprising appearance – fresh, uninhibited, and unpretentious – overturned traditional thinking about cabriolets.
Versatile, practical, and economical, the Citroën Méhari was the ideal choice for seaside adventures thanks to its ingenious ABS plastic body, which made it light (525 kg), immune to corrosion, and able to be washed top to bottom with just a hose. Unusual, but also fun and optimistic with its considerable modularity and pop colouring, this little Citroën was an immediate popular success.
As a symbol of freedom and a simple, carefree life, the Citroën Méhari quickly became a social phenomenon. It also had a considerable film career (appearing notably in the popular Gendarme series starring Louis de Funès) and took to the road all around the world (Liège-Dakar-Liège rally in 1969, Paris-Kabul-Paris rally in 1970, etc.).
The Méhari remained in production for almost 20 years, up through 1987, selling 145,000 vehicles.
TWO ORIGINAL WORKS INSPIRED BY NOSTALGIA FOR THE 2CV AND MÉHARI!
Because the 2CV and Méhari are often associated with an entire generation's childhood memories, the anniversaries of these two automotive icons are also being celebrated artistically! Each model has been magnified, piece by piece, in two monumental works of art by Stéphane Gillot. Mr Gillot is an artist and television director who had a passion for model building as a child. Today, he engages with the popular imagination surrounding nostalgic industrial objects from the past by cutting them up and making them into kits with help from skilled metalworkers. When these objects are deconstructed and made into a flat kit, they look like they're a new scale model, fresh out of the box, full of possibility and new life. However, whereas traditional scale models are smaller than the real thing and made out of new pieces, Stéphane Gillot's works are on a 1:1 scale and they use real parts that are full of history. Mr Gillot exhibited work in this vein at the Madeleine Theatre in Paris last October, displaying 12 different products that had been broken up and arranged into flat kits, from a VéloSoleX moped to a Bonzini table football table.
At the Rétromobile Classic Car Show, Citroën is proud to display the artist's vision of the iconic Méhari, as well as his latest creation using the 2CV. This exploded and magnified view of these two models connects viewers with their childhood, acting just like Proust's madeleine!
TRAVEL THROUGH TIME WITH PLENTY OF OTHER MODELS!
Alongside the two models celebrating their anniversaries, the Brand is happy to show off its continuing creativity and vision of automotive freedom with its newest model: the Citroën C3 Aircross compact #SUV. Other iconic Brand models will also be on display, thanks to competitions held by Citroën collectors clubs. Visitors are truly able to travel through time, from the 30s to the 70s!
All of the models on display at a glance:
Citroën C4F Large | 1931 |
Citroën Traction Avant 11AL Cabriolet | 1935 |
Citroën Traction Avant 11BL Cabriolet | 1938 |
Citroën 2CV Type A (TPV) | 1939 |
Citroën 2CV Special Edition | 1976 |
Citroën Méhari | 1969 |
Citroën CX 2000 Super | 1979 |
Citroën C3 Aircross | 2018 |
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