[HN Gopher] Hip to be square - 70 years of the Citroen H Van
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       Hip to be square - 70 years of the Citroen H Van
        
       Author : melenaboija
       Score  : 73 points
       Date   : 2024-02-19 16:43 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.adrianflux.co.uk)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.adrianflux.co.uk)
        
       | mytailorisrich wrote:
       | I believe that this is from 2017. The H Van launched in 1947.
       | 
       | So this is now 77 years and it's still hip.
        
       | drcongo wrote:
       | Over the years Citroen have designed some of the most beautiful
       | vehicles ever - the DS being the most obvious, but for me the SM
       | is the pinnacle of car design, just stunning.
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroen_SM
        
         | uniqueuid wrote:
         | Yes the SM is awesome, but to be fair, it is more of a Maserati
         | than a Citroen.
        
           | drcongo wrote:
           | Just the engine. All the rest of the mechanics are Citroen (a
           | lot brought over from the DS) and the styling was in-house
           | led by Robert Opron.
        
         | hristov wrote:
         | I always thought the XM was very pretty.
        
           | trgn wrote:
           | Loved that hiss.
        
         | fosk wrote:
         | > Over the years Citroen have designed some of the most
         | beautiful vehicles ever
         | 
         | Like the Romans say, de gustibus non disputandum est.
        
           | alamortsubite wrote:
           | When it comes to automobiles, sometimes it's hard to tell if
           | the French are joking or if they're serious.
        
         | Xenoamorphous wrote:
         | My uncle had a CX and as I kid it was like getting into a
         | spaceship, loved the steering wheel.
         | 
         | A different uncle recently got a second hand C6 and despite all
         | its reliability issues it's a pretty cool car.
        
           | UnserMannInK wrote:
           | I learned to drive in a CX Break, a 5m beast of a car. Two
           | and a half turns of the wheel from left to right, self-
           | centering. Brake pedal went from zero to fully engaged in one
           | cm. And the suspension was the absolute best. Never again
           | drove anything like it.
        
         | melenaboija wrote:
         | Agree, my first ever car was a Citroen Visa from my grandpa
         | (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Visa) and even back
         | then the design felt special to me.
         | 
         | I think these and the C15
         | (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_C15) will become
         | desirable at some point in the future.
        
           | timeon wrote:
           | > Citroen Visa
           | 
           | Reminds me Oltcit.
        
         | TacticalCoder wrote:
         | > but for me the SM is the pinnacle of car design
         | 
         | I raise your french with some italian, german and american
         | designs:
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maserati_3500_GT#/media/File:P...
         | 
         | https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_250_GT_Lusso#/media/Fi...
         | 
         | https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_288_GTO#/media/Fichier...
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_GT40#/media/File:1965_For...
         | 
         | https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Cobra#/media/Fichier:Shelby...
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Mustang#/media/File:Ford_...
         | 
         | https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_356#/media/Fichier:Por...
         | 
         | https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_911#/media/Fichier:196...
         | 
         | I find that Citroen SM just horrible. You see it and think it
         | cannot get worse but then you see its back...
         | 
         | But as the saying goes: to each his own bad tastes.
        
         | yread wrote:
         | From that period I would vote for Jaguar E-type
         | https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/768x768/pu...
        
         | dingaling wrote:
         | They were in the doldrums for 20 years but seen to be fighting
         | back to their old design-driven ethos. The new Ami is a cute
         | design that perhaps only Honda would have attempted:
         | 
         | https://www.citroen.co.uk/ami
        
       | dieselgate wrote:
       | I've seen one of these my entire life - parked around a
       | residential neighborhood in Seattle. It's certainly different and
       | exciting.
       | 
       | Citroens are very rare to see in the states but always fun to
       | spot. They're usually vintage models. One funny part of traveling
       | in Europe is seeing modern Citroen models.
       | 
       | Comedians in Cars getting Coffee had an episode with a Citroen.
        
         | lettergram wrote:
         | I've seen a lot of Citroen in the EU, particularly in the UK &
         | Ireland.
         | 
         | Never seen any in the US (where I live), which makes sense --
         | https://www.citroen.co.uk/about-citroen/citroen-in-a-few-fig...
        
           | Archelaos wrote:
           | It is perhaps noteworthy in this context that a lot of the
           | new world and old world car companies such as Citroen are now
           | part of Netherland based Stellantis.[1] So in a way a Jeep is
           | now a Dutch car.
           | 
           | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellantis#Brands
        
             | Someone wrote:
             | Dutch because of the tax regime. Other famous 'Dutch'
             | companies:
             | 
             | - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_IKEA_Holding: _"Inter
             | IKEA Holding B.V. (also known as Inter IKEA Group) is a
             | holding company registered in the Netherlands"_
             | 
             | - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus: _"Airbus '
             | headquarters are registered in Leiden, Netherlands, but
             | daily management is conducted from the company's main
             | office, located in Blagnac, near Toulouse, France."_
             | 
             | - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipton_Teas_and_Infusions:
             | _"Lipton Teas and Infusions is an American-British private
             | company based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, that produces tea
             | and other herbal drinks."_
        
             | sofixa wrote:
             | Eh, Jeep was an Italian car (FCA, the result of Fiat buying
             | Chrysler's remains) and is now a Franco-Italian car (FCA
             | and PSA(Citroen , Peugeot, Opel) merged to form Stellantis,
             | registered in the Netherlands, like Airbus, for the taxes
             | and neutrality) manufactured in the US for the American
             | market.
        
         | drooopy wrote:
         | That's the van that the monster from Jeepers Creepers drove,
         | right?
        
           | burningChrome wrote:
           | I thought the same thing, but apparently its a 1941 Chevy
           | COE, equipped with a cow catcher on the front:
           | 
           | https://jeeperscreepers.fandom.com/wiki/The_Creeper_truck
        
             | Cognitron wrote:
             | The other day I stumbled onto this IMDB for cars site. It
             | also says it's a 1941 Chevy COE:
             | 
             | https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_5326-Chevrolet-Heavy-Duty-
             | COE-...
        
         | FirmwareBurner wrote:
         | _> I've seen one of these my entire life _
         | 
         | In Europe these retro Citroen vans are used as mobile hipster
         | food and coffee shops.
         | 
         | I also saw one retro American School bus here (very rare in
         | Europe) selling overpriced American street food, mainly hotdogs
         | and burgers. The retro van plus the server having a top-knot
         | man-bun add an automatic 20% value to your burger.
         | 
         | Either way, it seems these old busses have found a second life
         | in the posh mobile catering industry.
        
           | alamortsubite wrote:
           | > In Europe these retro Citroen vans are used as mobile
           | hipster food and coffee shops.
           | 
           | There's one like this in the lobby of the Hubert Grand Place
           | hotel in Brussels. It's not immediately obvious how they got
           | it in there.
        
             | FirmwareBurner wrote:
             | The glass and door walls at the entry of many hotels are
             | collapsible/removable with a bit of elbow grease to get
             | oversized stuff in.
        
         | DerCommodore wrote:
         | Great episode!
        
       | upmind wrote:
       | Hip to be square just reminds me of American Psycho lol
        
       | nightfly wrote:
       | Morgana
        
       | quadcore wrote:
       | When I was a kid I've been taken in one of those - by the police.
       | All painted black with some white stripes. I wasnt alone in the
       | truck, they use to arrest people by the half-a-dozen back in the
       | day (drunks, wanderers, brawlers, etc). They'd also release
       | everybody after a while at a street corner with a big kick in the
       | but.
        
       | paulmd wrote:
       | it's always mildly funny how much engine power has increased over
       | the years. my bottom-of-the-line SUV gets 184 BHP, these shipped
       | with 35-50 BHP depending on model lol
        
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       (page generated 2024-02-19 23:00 UTC)