We’ve lately had some fun Citroën times here at Rare Rides, with the most recent entry being a custom-built and luxurious ID19 coupe. Today’s Rare Ride is not quite as luxurious, and there’s certainly nothing bespoke about it. But it is interesting, and it also looks like a corrugated shed on wheels.
Say hello to HY.
The HY was a successor to Citroën’s very first utility van, the TUB. Introduced in 1939, the TUB (Traction Utilitaire Basse) was derived from the front-drive, unibody Traction Avant sedan. Citroën’s co-manager, Pierre-Jules Boulanger, reached out to customers to see what they wanted in a utility van, then set strict requirements for the new offering. Load carrying capacity needed to be greater than other car-based vans. There also had to be more space for cargo, and the cargo area was to be tall enough to accommodate standing in it. As well, drivers needed access to the rear cargo area without exiting the van, and there was to be a door on the side for curbside loading.
The costs of the project were kept low by using the Traction Avant’s platform, and the front-drive layout allowed for a flat cargo area. While the van was a success upon its introduction in 1939, it was short-lived due to the start of World War II.
After the war, Citroën started on a new van design. The HY entered production in 1947, using the same front-drive unibody format as the TUB. Independent suspension meant the loading floor was closer to the ground, and an interior standing height of 6 feet was maintained in the new model. The composition and design of the HY’s body was inspired by German Junkers airplanes. Citroën fashioned a simple pressed-steel body made of ribbed metal to add strength without additional weight. There were structural supports on the inside of the cargo area, while the welded floor could hold the weight of a horse.
Mechanically the HY was related to Citroën’s passenger cars, borrowing de-tuned engines from the Traction Avant and the DS. The 1.9-liter four-cylinder engine was always mated to a three-speed manual transmission, and HY vans had a top speed under 60 miles an hour. The HY remained in production with few changes for decades, only making way for a new model after 1981. While Citroën sold them all over the world, the Chicken Tax removed new HYs from American roads after 1962. Sadly, the HY’s replacement in ’81 was a rebadged Fiat Ducato. Today it’s called the Citroën Relay, but you call it the Ram ProMaster.
The 1972 example presented here is for sale in Texas. In clean, original condition, it asks $29,900.
[Images: seller]
Pays to be a warbird buff; your description matched my deductions almost to the letter.
My thinking exactly…the HY looks like an outbuilding on wheels. So much of me wants to hate these things, but actually love them. Thanks for the details.
As an aside, my brother and I went to Cité de l’Automobile in Mulhouse, France a few years ago. I have been to many auto museums in the world, but this one is easily my favorite. I want to go back and spend 2-3 more days there…no joke. There is that much to see that you will never witness in the States. Seeing this museum, you realize that the French led automotive development in many ways prior to WWII.
Lol, I saw this on Classic Cars.com yesterday and was going to suggest it. Very cool :)
To hell with flame surfaces, which design team will have the courage to once again bring corrugation to the masses?
So, what are the odds that this won’t have an espresso machine mounted in it and end up in gentrifying neighbourhoods, slinging flat whites and such in a matter of months?
They’re still neat looking. I appreciate that someone made an appearance kit to make a ProMaster/Relay/Ducato/etc look like one of these, although it’s a bit contrived.
All classic vans shall one day serve avocado toast and artisanal coffee to millennials as a 2016 turntable plays a big band record in the background.
So cynical and accurate.
Sounds more hipster than millennial.
The difference is…?
Hmm … That sounds dangerously close to being a good time. Don’t tempt us. It would spoil our narrative.
Better than ending up in some collector’s storage unit covered in cloth and waiting for values to appreciate. Yup Put them to work and today’s work is a sandwich truck.
What part of the Traction Avant platform did they use? The Traction Avant was mid-engine. This is front engine. The Traction Avant was 14 inches narrower. It might have shared a number of mechanical components with the Traction Avant, but I don’t see how the platform was common.
Tbf he writes first about TUB (not HY) and then mentions that Format (not platform) of HY is similar to TUB.
That’s a distinction without a difference. The TUB also had a front engine location and 77 inch width.
Yeah but no-one hasn’t claimed that HY shared platform with Traction Avant.
Okay. The TUB had no more commonality with the Traction Avant than the HY did. He wrote that the TUB had a Traction Avant platform. In no way did it have one.
That front grille looks suspiciously like a certain 2020MY fullsize pickup…
A wonderful discovery!
Your next challenge is to find a Talbot-Matra Rancho in perfect condition.
Rancho availability is quit good in Europe. It is based Simca 1100 chassis and it was only front wheel drive. Simca didn’t have any exprience of 4×4 vehicles.
All true, but they are rather difficult to find. The body was made out of some kind of plastic if my memory has not let me down and therefore didn‘t rust. The underbody, however…
I saw this van for the first time in Fantomas Unleashed (French film) when I was 11 y.o. So it has for me that kind of coolness associated with charismatic criminal legend super-villain Fantomas. It was a super-blockbuster back then – the second film of Fantomas trilogy.
Amazing condition for original ! .
A friend of mine used to rent movie cars and had one of these in tatty shape, when he closed up his shop he offered it to me cheaply, I passed even though these look very nice and are very heavy duty .
-Nate
Saw one of these the other day – they are much smaller than you expect.
Citroen belongs same category as Renault Estafette. It was of course French and Renault made it a long time 1959-1980, about 500.000 Estafette’s were made. Almost same category belongs also Peugeot J7 and Morris J2.
That’s it: http://www.imcdb.org/v009223.html