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Details
1958 CITROEN 2CV SAHARA DESERT UTILITY
EU taxes paid
Chassis No. TBA
Engine No. TBA
Green with beige cloth trim
Engine; twin-engined, two-cylinders horizontally opposed, air-cooled overhead valves 425cc 12bhp; Gearbox: four-speed manual x2; Suspension: independent by interlinked coil-springs; Transmission; integral engine/gearbox units, four-wheel drive; Brakes: four-wheel hydraulic drum. Left-hand drive.
In 1949, following the cessation of hostilities in Europe, Citroën was able to introduce the first of a long production range of basic utility vehicles destined to become known world wide as the 'Deux-Chevaux' and shortened to the simple denomination '2CV'. The idea had its origins in designs similar to the German Volkswagen and were on the drawing board ten years previously, but were shelved during the war for the obvious reasons. The idea was a unitary construction, ultra-simplistic, rudimentary yet rugged design, aimed principally at the rural farmer and small urban business customer. The power-plant was a very basic twin cylinder horizontally opposed air-cooled unit initially of 325cc, later up-rated to 425cc. Suspension was independent and of a very flexible nature in order to enable the car with a full load to overcome the rough pave or country roads where it was expected to operate. Cheap to run, easy to maintain and pared down to the most basic of controls and instrumentation, it proved a most popular versatile and successful machine, equally at home on all terrain and in various versions, a car for everyone - so much in the mould of its famous forebear the Model T Ford, in its ultimate conception of a cheap utilitarian car for the people. Coming at this time it shared its birth as a prototype in both style and content with the Volkswagen 'Beetle' and has become equally seen as an iconic landmark in automotive design. One of the rarest variants was the 'Sahara' model, introduced in 1958, based on the idea of a specialized lightweight four-wheel drive vehicle for use in the desert for oil companies exploration and transport. In fact Citroën had a long association with trans-Saharan exploration with their Kegresse tracked vehicles of the 1920s, so this was nothing new in the way of dealing with the terrain, and rather than design a new complete four-wheel-drive system, Citroën decided the simplest way to provide the answer was to install two engines front and rear and solve the problem that way! The development was done by Panhard, (which had recently been taken over by the Citroen company)
The engines were so linked that the rear engine could also be detached from permanent drive, as a fuel saving measure on easy terrain, whilst the clutches were linked hydraulically, yet the engines had to be started separately with ignition and starter buttons being duplicated. The rear suspension effectively mirrored the front so the floor-pan was modified accordingly to accommodate it, whilst the spare wheel was re-mounted on the roof. The suspension was modified and strengthened using components from the larger 'Ami' model. The floor-pan also housed the twin fuel tanks under the seats, with simple filler caps protruding from cutaways in the doors. The basic body shell was utilised, although the old 'boot' area was much altered and strengthened in order to house the second power-plant, and modifications were made to the rear wings and panel details. After rigorous trials the new "Safari" was introduced to the press and subsequently put into limited production and in total just under 700 examples were produced, with the bulk of these numbers being built in Spain, but later seemed to have been acquired by either the Spanish Police or rescue units in the Swiss Alps, as their climbing capacity on icy roads was so effective. The car on offer here had been discovered in a very sound condition after use by an Israeli oil company, but minus its engines. The then owner fortunately managed to acquire another complete vehicle and has used the twin engines in this much better condition shell. Further spares were acquired from a standard 2CV, and the combination of two or three years hard work has resulted in the rebirth of this now very rare variant. It is believed that only some 25 examples now survive in running order. Recently this vehicle was singled out for an extensive test and featured in a full length article in Classic Cars magazine by Paul Walton in 2000, where he extolled the virtues of its capability still and the painstaking efforts by its owner to restore it to its original former glory. It is offered today in this ready to use guise and is clearly still capable of regular activity in all the most extreme conditions.
EU taxes paid
Chassis No. TBA
Engine No. TBA
Green with beige cloth trim
Engine; twin-engined, two-cylinders horizontally opposed, air-cooled overhead valves 425cc 12bhp; Gearbox: four-speed manual x2; Suspension: independent by interlinked coil-springs; Transmission; integral engine/gearbox units, four-wheel drive; Brakes: four-wheel hydraulic drum. Left-hand drive.
In 1949, following the cessation of hostilities in Europe, Citroën was able to introduce the first of a long production range of basic utility vehicles destined to become known world wide as the 'Deux-Chevaux' and shortened to the simple denomination '2CV'. The idea had its origins in designs similar to the German Volkswagen and were on the drawing board ten years previously, but were shelved during the war for the obvious reasons. The idea was a unitary construction, ultra-simplistic, rudimentary yet rugged design, aimed principally at the rural farmer and small urban business customer. The power-plant was a very basic twin cylinder horizontally opposed air-cooled unit initially of 325cc, later up-rated to 425cc. Suspension was independent and of a very flexible nature in order to enable the car with a full load to overcome the rough pave or country roads where it was expected to operate. Cheap to run, easy to maintain and pared down to the most basic of controls and instrumentation, it proved a most popular versatile and successful machine, equally at home on all terrain and in various versions, a car for everyone - so much in the mould of its famous forebear the Model T Ford, in its ultimate conception of a cheap utilitarian car for the people. Coming at this time it shared its birth as a prototype in both style and content with the Volkswagen 'Beetle' and has become equally seen as an iconic landmark in automotive design. One of the rarest variants was the 'Sahara' model, introduced in 1958, based on the idea of a specialized lightweight four-wheel drive vehicle for use in the desert for oil companies exploration and transport. In fact Citroën had a long association with trans-Saharan exploration with their Kegresse tracked vehicles of the 1920s, so this was nothing new in the way of dealing with the terrain, and rather than design a new complete four-wheel-drive system, Citroën decided the simplest way to provide the answer was to install two engines front and rear and solve the problem that way! The development was done by Panhard, (which had recently been taken over by the Citroen company)
The engines were so linked that the rear engine could also be detached from permanent drive, as a fuel saving measure on easy terrain, whilst the clutches were linked hydraulically, yet the engines had to be started separately with ignition and starter buttons being duplicated. The rear suspension effectively mirrored the front so the floor-pan was modified accordingly to accommodate it, whilst the spare wheel was re-mounted on the roof. The suspension was modified and strengthened using components from the larger 'Ami' model. The floor-pan also housed the twin fuel tanks under the seats, with simple filler caps protruding from cutaways in the doors. The basic body shell was utilised, although the old 'boot' area was much altered and strengthened in order to house the second power-plant, and modifications were made to the rear wings and panel details. After rigorous trials the new "Safari" was introduced to the press and subsequently put into limited production and in total just under 700 examples were produced, with the bulk of these numbers being built in Spain, but later seemed to have been acquired by either the Spanish Police or rescue units in the Swiss Alps, as their climbing capacity on icy roads was so effective. The car on offer here had been discovered in a very sound condition after use by an Israeli oil company, but minus its engines. The then owner fortunately managed to acquire another complete vehicle and has used the twin engines in this much better condition shell. Further spares were acquired from a standard 2CV, and the combination of two or three years hard work has resulted in the rebirth of this now very rare variant. It is believed that only some 25 examples now survive in running order. Recently this vehicle was singled out for an extensive test and featured in a full length article in Classic Cars magazine by Paul Walton in 2000, where he extolled the virtues of its capability still and the painstaking efforts by its owner to restore it to its original former glory. It is offered today in this ready to use guise and is clearly still capable of regular activity in all the most extreme conditions.
Special notice
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