Citroen Visa dashboard - photo

[Altair]

Citroen Visa dashboard.

Fullsize image: https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...d_fullsize.jpg



Previously:

Aviation-inspired dashboard - photo
1982 Aston Martin Lagonda dashboard - photo
McLaren 720S folding instrument cluster - GIF

[marksbug]

Ill pass on that one.... but!!!about 3 years ago I rented a citron wagon ( big enough to hold 4 big ass americans&1 swiss guy.and piles of luggage)in bolona italy, for a week ,drove to thun in switzerland, drove all over then place to interlaken then to burn,and more then back to thun, then back to bologna italy..via the mountail pass.the gass gauge barley moved. turbo diesel of some sort, 6 speed manual. lots of power&tq.drove great!!even in the snow &mountains!!! awesome MPG!!!! I wish they were sold hear in the usa.!!!

[nova_robotics]

This from the company that made a car with a hand crank start up until 1990.

[Christophe Mineau]

Yes, the Visa was the ugliest thing that designers have ever created at Citroen's, but it's just a sign of the time, it was the early 80s.
I remember the commercials at the French TV at that time, selling the merits of the innovative "satellite" controls around the driving wheel....

But do not be mistaken, Citroen is a great brand and one of the inventors of lots of principles still in use all around the world in today's cars.

For instance they introduced the herring bone gears which became their logo through the ages :



André Citröen was at the time a french equivalent to Henri Ford, he introduced lots of innovations in the factories and work organisation.
He also was one of the first to invest in massive advertising :


Citroen has always been a source of innovation, and sometimes they failed, like with the Wankel rotative motor, they lost a lot of money on that route .

The brand has had some really famous models that last for a very long time (@nova_robotics the 2CV familly was able to be started by crank, which was a a great thing in some circumstances)

The "Traction" (one of the first mass product car with front-wheel drive, independent suspension and monocoque body)


The popular and long lasting "2 CV - Deux chevaux" (the one with the crank)


The DS (Charles De Gaulle's car)


The "Type H" utility van (very popular)


Less famous but remarkable the SM, this one reached 325km/h !



Nowadays, Citroën is still well alive and offers cars with innovative designs, in particular through its derivative brand 'DS automobiles'.

@marksbug , I have this one , was it the same you rented ?

[techcollect]

Christoph,

Thanks so much for the brief biography of Citroen.

For decades Citroen’s have been used periodically on American television productions because their appearance stands out as a ‘foreign car’.
I believe Citroens have been driven by Americans wanting to stand out from the crowd and also since American builders have gone increasingly to designs that look like every other brand.
A very popular television show in the 1960’s and 70’s was ‘Mission:Impossible’
(Before the movie franchise).
One of the most seen vehicles was a Citroen utility van. Almost any scene set in a Eastern, Central or Western European country, they used that van in a number of roles.
In recent times a tv show, ‘The Mentalist’ the lead character drove an early 70’s DS20.
Unfortunately not just tariffs but politics get in the way of competition and “pick and choose winners and losers before the game is ever started”

[marksbug]

no the one I rented had 4 swing doors no sliders....I think.... it wasent a mini van. more of a mid sized wagon. it was awesome.I was quite impressed, and thats not eazy to do,Ive been in the auto industry most of my life, racing ,building repairing,machining,tuning etc. Ive always liked the looks of most citrons. as for the gears...there are many of those under one of the Divinci museum's in the old machine shop.it's awesome!!!I wish I had more time in that one.
Ill have to say, citron is one manufacture that I havent worked on.... yet