Francisco Carrion
As you can see in the photos, this time we bring you a very special car. So much so that they probably won't identify it, not even reading the headline in which the make and model appear. And is that this Citroën 5 CV is quite particular, to the point that there is no other like it ...
Many times in this world we hear classic vehicle owners who adorn their cars with bizarre stories, illustrious previous owners or with the very hackneyed expression of "unique car".
Sometimes due to the owner's own ignorance and many others trying to take advantage of the ignorance of the layman in these conflicts, but the fact is that there is more than what would be desirable this of the unrepeatable cars.
Or have we not all heard that "There is only this one left in Spain" or "Very few units were made" or "It is impossible to find another one like this"?
The problem is that most of the time these statements are neither true nor have any foundation, especially if we take into account the fleet of classic cars that circulate in our country, normally full of popular cars. However, on this occasion we can affirm, without any doubt, that this Citroën is unique.
Registered in Madrid in November 1924, this 5CV was born as one of the many Citroën that were in Spain at the beginning of the 20s, when this French brand was competing for second place in sales with Chevrolet and Fiat, but always behind Ford.
By those years Citroën was already the largest manufacturer in the neighboring country, despite the fact that it had started in 1919, after the First World War, while its competitors had been producing motorized vehicles since the beginning of the XNUMXth century.
Citroën 5 CV, at the forefront
The great advantage of its founder, André Citroën, it was that "premiered" serial production in France. After assembling military equipment in large quantities during the Great War thanks to series production, Citroën decided to redirect its business towards the flourishing automobile industry and, neither short nor lazy, it embarked for Detroit to visit the factory of the world leader of the automobile industry. moment, the Ford Motor Company.
There he observed the mass production methods applied to the automobile industry, and returned to France with the idea of putting them into practice.
But not only was mass production key to achieving large production figures, the skilled French engineer also realized that he needed a new car design, with specific features.
These were a medium size, robustness of the product and, above all, simplicity. With these premises - we suppose that they were also learned at Ford - the first model of the brand, the Type A, came on the market in 1919, with a fairly modern style for its time but typically French, so that success came soon.
Already in 1921 the model was renewed with the presentation of the B-10. These Citroën, as well as their successors the B-12, B-14 and C-4 were tremendously popular throughout Europe, and of course also in Spain.
the 20. All of them are Citroën model B-10 (Courtesy of David, SA)
Here they took over the position of "Official Taxi" in all large cities, and if we look at the old photos and postcards from the 20s and 30s, it will be strange that we do not see one or more of these Citroën circulating through our streets.
However, the true success of the double chevron brand was not only due to these mid-size saloons; Much of the triumph among the general public was deserved by the popular 5CV, a new model presented at the Paris Salon in 1921.
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The reason for the triumph of the Citroën 5 CV
This is the model to which the protagonist of the article corresponds, which used to occupy a lower segment until then, dominated by the small “cyclecars” that manufactured a great variety of different brands in low quantities.
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1- In the dashboard and the steering wheel, still original, we can see its true identity
2- Ancient medallions of saints protect us on the way
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The problem with these cyclecars was their low reliability, high price and little market for specific spare parts, since they were manufactured by hand. And this is where the Citroën 5CV swept and practically crushed the sector.
Credit for the design of the 5CV goes to engineers Jules Salomon and Edmond Moyet, who created a simple but robust little car endowed with a beautiful design that could almost be considered "chic", as corresponds to its French origin, and in which the characteristic rear part finished in the tip of a boat stood out.
Under that sympathetic appearance there was a set of rather simple solutions designed to be cheaper and last: To begin with, the engine was a small 4-cylinder in-line cast iron that with 865 cc delivered the minuscule figure of 11 CV -equivalent to 5 fiscal CV French, hence its name.
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The chassis was made of straight beams and the suspension was made up of two quarter-elliptical half leaf springs on the front axle and the same on the rear axle, the axle on which the small drum brakes were located that join their effort to another that acts on the transmission.
It should also be noted that Citroën was one of the first European brands to offer all of its standard cars with left-hand drive and center gearbox.In this case, three forward gears and one reverse.
For the rest, the 5 CV could be considered one of the many cyclecars that were manufactured in those years in France, with the difference that it was more robust, could be bought in installments and if a part broke, a new one could be found in any of the many official workshops that the brand soon had.
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In this way, the small Citroën swept the competition, was copied by all its competitors -especially Peugeot, Mathis and Renault-, and when production ceased in 1926 80.759 copies had left the assembly line.
If we take into account the success of this model, unprecedented in its country of origin and other neighboring countries, we might think that it did not remain in production for too long, as it only was for 5 years.
It seems that the reason for the early cessation of its manufacture was due to the fact that the small stroller did not give too many benefits, since the cost of production was practically the same as that of its older brothers B-10 and B-12 while its price of sale to the public was much lower.
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Mysterious bodies of national invoice
Given the proven robustness of the Citroën of that time, it is not surprising that many years after its premiere they continued to be used for the most diverse tasks.
In both Spain and France, it was not at all uncommon to find many Citroëns from the 50s transformed into vans and with hundreds of thousands of kilometers behind them.
Especially in our country it happened that after the Civil War the political and economic situation prevented the majority of the population from acquiring a new car, so that the owners of an old car before the war could already consider themselves as very lucky. .
An advantage of these old pre-war cars is their independent chassis, which gave the possibility of shedding the old bodywork. and mount in its place a new one with a more modern appearance.
In this way many magnificent and old automobiles ended their days converted into curious copies of the American “haigas” of the 40s.
Without going any further, the famous Barcelona coachbuilder Pedro Serra had his beginnings modifying old cars from the 30s, with surprising and valuable results.
However, the sharpened ingenuity of the Spaniards in this refueling already came from before the Civil War, when aerodynamics began to influence the design of automobiles.
In the mid-30s a large number of workshops They lent themselves to modernizing the lines of the cars of the 10s, 20s and early 30sThe most typical and characteristic modification being that of the fenders.
These thus went from being simple flat and thin fins to enveloping rounded sheet metal pieces with modern lines, modifications that later have been more of a headache for restorers in their search for the original appearance of the cars.
1- The lines obtained after the transformation are quite successful, especially on the front
2- The passage of time lets us know that this 5CV was restored more than 40 years ago
A "modernized" Citröen
Well, the bodywork of our protagonist is the result of one of these rework, because as you will see from the outside it is difficult to identify it as a Citroën 5CV from the 20s.
A thorny issue is to date it correctly, since the absence of documents or identification plates means that we can only rely on assumptions, but, taking into account its design, we must place it between the mid-30s and the mid-40s.
Never before 1935, given the roundness of the fenders and the sloping, wraparound radiator shell, and of course not after 1945, as then it would have had a more modern and Americanized look, with a front where the fins would melt. with the radiator, integrated headlights and some extra chrome, as can be seen in the Eucort made in Barcelona since the mid-40s.
Normally, these lines do not suggest any specific model.
Apart from all this, the ingenuity with which this 5CV was modified cannot be denied, since undoubtedly in its time it had to pass without problems through a car manufactured at least a decade after its registration.
And, given the simplicity of the chassis, It should not be easy to create that front or that back. As we can see in the following photo of a unit in original condition, the chassis did not have “legs” that protruded from the front and rear axles, so the creators of this new bodywork had to hit the coconut well to invent something that looked like to a Fiat Balilla or similar ... and that had some rigidity.
The front is undoubtedly very successful and has very nice lines. The central part of the bodywork was preserved as it came from origin, although the windshield was tilted a few degrees -with the consequent "work" on the side windows and the hood-, and in the rear part the boat tip was eliminated. original and adapted one of more orthodox forms.
Of course, the benefits are still as scarce as in any usual Citroën 5CV. The little motor barely reaches 60 km / h at full capacity and on the flat, it lacks front brakes, the gearbox does not have any synchronization between the gears ...
And on top of that, the extra kilos that the new bodywork brings should accentuate the limitations. Of course, we must not forget that in its day this model was created as an eminently urban car, and as such it must be taken today.
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Few survivors ...
The truth is that we had been trying to write about these curious cars fruit of Hispanic ingenuity, but it had been impossible to do so until now given the practical impossibility of finding one in running condition.
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The problem with this type of car is that when this hobby began back in the 60's, as is logical, the most original units were sought to undergo restoration work, while many of those that presented important modifications were discarded as collectibles and their days ended in scraps.
However, from today's perspective they are very interesting vehicles for several reasons: their scarcity, their unique design and for being privileged witnesses of Spanish automotive history.
That is why we should be grateful that its current owner, a "lifelong" mechanic living in Madrid, rescued it from certain death and proceeded to its restoration more than 40 years ago, which allows us to see a truly picture today. hard to find. Something like a jump back in time to the Spain of the 40s or 50s.
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