This has got to be one of the most bizarre hybrids we’ve seen in quite some time. How do you even explain the thinking behind doing a ‘cut and paste’ job on a Ferrari F355 and a Citroen 2CV?
Little is known about the Ferrari’s condition before it was butchered but hopefully it was a total write-off and in need of extensive transplanting. Far from a simple operation, this conversion looks to have taken some serious craftsmanship and man hours, as aside from the basics (four wheels, an engine, headlamps, etc.), there isn’t exactly a whole lot of natural compatibility between the two vehicles.
This is also likely the costliest 2CV ever built, having apparently costed 180,000 Euros to build. The big question is why a Citroen? It appears that the car is some type of personal amusement/promotional tool for the Nimik Rally Team, which runs (big surprise) Citroen race cars.
Check out the video below, the photos in the gallery and start planning your own F355 hybrid.
I have been fascinated by this car since its inception, so it was with great anticipation that I dived into the book. I wasn’t disappointed. Citroën enthusiasts will already know a great deal of the scene-setting that makes up a fair proportion of this volume, but many of the illustrations in that part of the book are new to me, so it maintained a high level of interest.
For someone who knows little about the Citroën marque, its models and history, the book is perfect, constructing a great picture of the build-up to the SM, what went on around it and the reasons behind its relatively short production run. It then goes on to note the cars that came afterwards that benefited from the SM experience, and concept cars Citroën has produced since which have a taste of the SM about them.
The mix of text and pictures is well balanced, and the complete press pack (in French) is, I feel, a worthwhile inclusion. While the book covers old ground I believe it is a must for a Citroën enthusiasts, and even better for the merely curious.
SM: Citroën’s Maserati ¨Engined Supercar by Brian Long and Philip Claverol Review books supplied by ¨Techbooks Review by Tim Nevinson
Citroen UK and the Arsenal football team have come together with the world famous cartoonist, Gerald Scarfe, to produce the ultimate sport fan’s car all in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Scarfe, probably best known for his animations for the classic Pink Floyd film ‘The Wall’, has decorated a new Citroen C4 with not just a design that captures the speed and passion of the game but also includes the logos of the famous London team and caricatures of Arsenal’s players and its manager, Arsène Wenger. The unique Citroen C4 is being used to raise awareness of the work of Teenage Cancer Trust which works with teenagers who have cancer.
“I was delighted when Teenage Cancer Trust asked me to be involved with this project,” says Gerald Scarfe. “I hope that fans — where ever they are in the world — will be queuing up to buy tickets to win this unique car, helping the Club to raise as much money as possible for Teenage Cancer Trust. The work that the charity is doing for young people with cancer is invaluable and so important in giving them the chance to fight this disease.”
Following its display at Arsenal’s home ground, the Emirates Stadium, the Citroen will be raffled to fans with tickets for sale at £2 available from arsenal@teenagecancertrust.org or http://www.arsenal.com/tctcitroenc4.
The cult favorite Citroen DS is set to make a big comeback next year. Citroen is launching a global rebranding campaign later today in conjunction with its 90th birthday, and along with upgrading its dealers and providing better post-sales support, Citroen will introduce a new segment of “near-premium” models that will revive the DS nameplate.
The first concept, a small car wearing a DS3 badge, will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this March and hit the European market in the first half of 2010. Citroen will expand the range to include a lower-midsize vehicle, dubbed the DS4, due to go on sale in 2011, while a third model, an upper-medium sized sedan wearing a DS5 nameplate, will arrive in showrooms in late 2011.
The new DS range of vehicles will be positioned higher than their corresponding C3, C4 and C5 kin, and will likely feature more striking designs and luxurious appointments. Check back for more details on the DS’ comeback shortly.
This series of small, softback guides offers helpful advice for those looking to buy any of the classic cars featured. The Fiat 500 and 600 guide includes information on the saloons, Multipla and Giardiniera, while the Citroën guide covers all DS and ID models. Packed with buying tips, areas to look out for and restoration information, the books within Veloce’s Buyer’s Guide series make a great first step in the purchase of a classic car.
Citroën DS and ID: 1966-’75 ; Fiat 500 and 600: 1955-’92 by Malcolm Bobbitt Review book supplied by Techbooks Review by James Black
The Ariel motorcycle brand is long gone, and many people never knew it existed at all. There was a time, though, when the British company was a pioneer in new and exciting technologies, innovating while others continued with conventional methods. In fact, its eventual failure was due in part to its futuristic designs. Ariel introduced the world to its Square Four motorcycle in 1931. Named for its oddly-shaped engine architecture that placed four cylinders in a box pattern, the Square Four was completely unlike anything else offered at the time and used two sets of pistons mated at the flywheel inside a single engine block that was capped by a single head casting. Different to anything else, but ultimately pretty successful for Ariel, which went on to sell over 15,000 of the bikes before production ceased in 1959.
An interesting home-built hotrod has just shown up on American auction website eBay that mates this classic engine to a custom wooden body designed by an American boat builder. The vehicle itself was inspired by a Modern Mechanix Magazine article from the ’50s and features suspension components from a Citroen and Cadillac bullet-shaped tail lights. Priced at around $30,000 ($55,000 NZ) the buyer is guaranteed of a totally individual vehicle.
Today we have the Citroen C4 Picasso, inspired by the greatest artist of the 20th Century, but what if Pablo Picasso had been working in Citroen’s own styling studios? That’s the question British car customizer Andy Saunders posed when he took a Citroen 2CV and turned it into “Picasso’s Citroen”.
“I decided to try and blur the line between car design and art by using Picasso as an inspiration,” explains Saunders, who was inspired by Picasso’s famous “Portrait of Dora Maar”. Every panel on the car has been altered, leaving no visible symmetry. The body shell has been widened by 152 mm on the right side only, the boot has been moved off centre and the bonnet is now made up of 12 separate parts. The headlights are now on one side and the off kilter grille and doors are striking by their very misfit. The rainbow palette of colours comes from the shades used in Picasso’s “The 3 Musicians” and “Still life on a table”.
Despite the conversion, which took more than 1200 hours, the unique Citroen 2CV is still drivable — and for sale. Like so many art works, it goes under the hammer, in this case at the RM Auctions’ Automobiles of London event on 29 October.
The Citroen 2CV, which celebrates its 60th birthday next week (7 October 2008), the anniversary of its launch at the 1948 Paris Motor Show, has been a favourite of generations of artists, both as transport and an inspiration.
The rise of the popular frontin France in the mid-1930s made the time ripe for a “vehicle for the people”.Designers in engineering offices were working on a light and economical model that would be cheaper than the other cars of the period. At Citroën, Pierre Boulanger was working on a project called TPV (for “Très Petite Voiture” or very small car). The Marque wanted to develop a car that was economical to manufacture, use and maintain — and sold at unrivalled low prices. The idea was to offer customers automotive essentials: four seats, a top speed of 50 km/h, 100 km on 5 litres of petrol, and low production and maintenance costs. Fiat had just launched its 500 Topolino, so Citroën had to work fast.
The vehicle was homologated by the French government vehicle testing service on 23 August 1939 under the 2CV A name. But the advent of World War II just several days later, on 3 September, put the car’s future on hold. The 2CV A was hidden away during the war, especially from the prying eyes of the Germans, who were developing their own “folks’ wagon”, the Beetle. The 2CV A was so well hidden, in fact, that it was only rediscovered by chance in 1968, when work was being done at Citroën’s La Ferte Vidame test track. The car they found was a real production model, not a prototype. Out of the 100 models that went into circulation, only four are left today. All of them are conserved in Citroën’s collection, one of which is on show at the exhibition.
