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77-453: The Méhari weighed approximately 535 kg (1,179 lb), and featured the fully independent suspension and chassis of all Citroën 'A-Series' vehicles, using the 602 cc (36.7 cu in) variant of the flat twin petrol engine shared with the 2CV6, Dyane , and Citroën Ami . The car also uses the Dyane's headlights and bezels, and 4WD units differ externally by having the spare wheel on the hood, in

154-578: A monocoque shell and more like a bowl. One thousand were produced. A key role in developing the unitary body was played by the American firm the Budd Company, now ThyssenKrupp Budd . Budd supplied pressed-steel bodywork, fitted to separate frames, to automakers Dodge , Ford , Buick , and the French company, Citroën . In 1930, Joseph Ledwinka , an engineer with Budd, designed an automobile prototype with

231-478: A "U" and may be either right-side-up or inverted, with the open area facing down. They are not commonly used due to weakness and a propensity to rust. However, they can be found on 1936–1954 Chevrolet cars and some Studebakers . Abandoned for a while, the hat frame regained popularity when companies started welding it to the bottom of unibody cars, effectively creating a boxed frame. Originally, boxed frames were made by welding two matching C-rails together to form

308-467: A US Model Méhari prominently in his 1973 broadcast Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite Revisions for the US market included: The Méhari was manufactured in two different periods: 1971 to 1980 by Citroën Argentina SA with 3,997 units produced. Citroën left Argentina following the collapse of the economy in the late 1970s. The IES company (Industrias Eduardo Sal-Lari) in 1984 resurrected the model, this time under

385-536: A detailed suspension description see Citroën 2CV . The Ami's seats were easily removable. Sales pitches of the Ami included photographs of the seats being used as picnic chairs. The Ami and the Ford Taunus P3 were the first cars with rectangular or lozenge-shaped (non-round) headlights . This technical innovation was developed by lighting manufacturers Hella (Taunus) and Cibie (Ami). Soon this innovation found its way to

462-530: A full unitary construction. Citroën purchased this fully unitary body design for the Citroën Traction Avant . This high-volume, mass-production car was introduced in 1934 and sold 760,000 units over the next 23 years of production. This application was the first iteration of the modern structural integration of body and chassis, using spot welded deeply stamped steel sheets into a structural cage, including sills, pillars, and roof beams. In addition to

539-470: A ladder frame, but the middle sections of the frame rails sit outboard of the front and rear rails, routed around the passenger footwells, inside the rocker and sill panels. This allowed the floor pan to be lowered, especially the passenger footwells, lowering the passengers' seating height and thereby reducing both the roof-line and overall vehicle height, as well as the center of gravity, thus improving handling and road-holding in passenger cars. This became

616-420: A ladder, the ladder frame is one of the oldest, simplest, and most frequently used under-body, separate chassis/frame designs. It consists of two symmetrical beams, rails, or channels, running the length of the vehicle, connected by several transverse cross-members. Initially seen on almost all vehicles, the ladder frame was gradually phased out on cars in favor of perimeter frames and unitized body construction. It

693-400: A larger engine than the 1950s 2CV), to compensate for the added weight. At launch all the cars were powered by an air cooled 602 cc two-cylinder flat engine which would also be offered at extra cost in the 2CV from 1970. The platform chassis and suspension is similar to the 2CV, being independent all round using leading and trailing arms and coil springs interconnected front to rear. For

770-547: A lightweight, multi-tubular, triangulated frame over which an aerodynamic aluminum body was crafted. In 1994, the Audi A8 was the first mass-market car with an aluminium chassis, made feasible by integrating an aluminium space-frame into the bodywork. Audi A8 models have since used this construction method co-developed with Alcoa , and marketed as the Audi Space Frame . The Italian term Superleggera (meaning 'super-light')

847-510: A molded recess. The car is named after the fast-running dromedary camel, the méhari, which can be used for racing or transport. Citroën manufactured 144,953 Méharis between the car's French launch in May 1968 and the end of production in 1988. The Méhari and variants were built in many additional variants (under license or not), in a host of other countries, including versions with a fiberglass instead of ABS body, and 2WD version with spare wheel on

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924-720: A number of fiberglass kit-cars. Their models 'Emmet' and 'Mungo' were based on the Citroën A-series platform and mechanicals, and were clearly inspired by the Méhari. The Méhari was never type approved for sale in Germany , because the ABS body is flammable at 400 degrees C. In 1975, German fiberglass kit car specialist Fiberfab developed the Sherpa, using Citroën delivered platforms, and sold 250 units. The Teilhol company , which had been building

1001-467: A platform frame. The frame of the Citroën 2CV used a minimal interpretation of a platform chassis under its body. In a (tubular) spaceframe chassis, the suspension, engine, and body panels are attached to a three-dimensional skeletal frame of tubes, and the body panels have limited or no structural function. To maximize rigidity and minimize weight, the design frequently makes maximum use of triangles, and all

1078-437: A rectangular tube. Modern techniques, however, use a process similar to making C-rails in that a piece of steel is bent into four sides and then welded where both ends meet. In the 1960s, the boxed frames of conventional American cars were spot-welded in multiple places down the seam; when turned into NASCAR "stock car" racers, the box was continuously welded from end to end for extra strength. While appearing at first glance as

1155-686: A simple form made of metal, frames encounter significant stress and are built accordingly. The first issue addressed is "beam height", or the height of the vertical side of a frame. The taller the frame, the better it can resist vertical flex when force is applied to the top of the frame. This is the reason semi-trucks have taller frame rails than other vehicles instead of just being thicker. As looks, ride quality, and handling became more important to consumers, new shapes were incorporated into frames. The most visible of these are arches and kick-ups. Instead of running straight over both axles , arched frames sit lower—roughly level with their axles—and curve up over

1232-528: A small car and as a result sales were low compared to the Ami 8. In the UK however where no such tax penalties existed the Ami Super attracted healthy sales although is now a rare sight due to poor corrosion resistance, a feature suffered by many vehicles of this era. The Ami Super production reached close to 42,000 in sedan and station wagon by February 1976. Production of the Ami 8 continued until early 1979 and reached in

1309-528: A specialist based in the South of France , has been rebuilding the cars for many years, and as of 2019 sells brand new Méhari cars with an electric powertrain. These qualify for exemption from French new car regulations (for the vintage 1968 design) as long as the car is not driven on the motorway (voitures sans permis). The factory began selling a new electric car, the Citroën E-Méhari in 2016. The car's colour

1386-453: A subframe). The unibody is now the preferred construction for mass-market automobiles. This design provides weight savings, improved space utilization, and ease of manufacture. Acceptance grew dramatically in the wake of the two energy crises of the 1970s and that of the 2000s in which compact SUVs using a truck platform (primarily the USA market) were subjected to CAFE standards after 2005 (by

1463-564: A unitary body with no separate frame, the Traction Avant also featured other innovations such as front-wheel drive . The result was a low-slung vehicle with an open, flat-floored interior. For the Chrysler Airflow (1934–1937), Budd supplied a variation – three main sections from the Airflow's body were welded into what Chrysler called a bridge-truss construction. Unfortunately, this method

1540-529: A weaker-than-usual frame and body framework welded to the chassis to provide stiffness, in 1960, Chrysler moved from body-on-frame construction to a unit-body design for most of its cars. Most of the American-manufactured unibody automobiles used torque boxes in their vehicle design to reduce vibrations and chassis flex, except for the Chevy II , which had a bolt-on front apron (erroneously referred to as

1617-467: Is distinguished by an unusual reverse-raked notchback rear window, similar in style to the 1959 Ford Anglia 105E in Great Britain . A similar design feature was used on the first generation three-door Citroën C4 . This design feature first appeared on the US 1953 Packard Balboa-X show car. It was first put into production on the 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser and 1958-1960 Lincoln Continentals . In

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1694-404: Is now "considered standard in the industry". By 1960, the unitized body design was used by Detroit's Big Three on their compact cars ( Ford Falcon , Plymouth Valiant , and Chevrolet Corvair ). After Nash merged with Hudson Motors to form American Motors Corporation , its Rambler-badged automobiles continued exclusively building variations of the unibody. Although the 1934 Chrysler Airflow had

1771-408: Is now seen mainly on large trucks. This design offers good beam resistance because of its continuous rails from front to rear, but poor resistance to torsion or warping if simple, perpendicular cross-members are used. The vehicle's overall height will be greater due to the floor pan sitting above the frame instead of inside it. A backbone chassis is a type of automotive construction with chassis that

1848-407: Is similar to the body-on-frame design. Instead of a relatively flat, ladder-like structure with two longitudinal, parallel frame rails, it consists of a central, strong tubular backbone (usually rectangular in cross-section) that carries the power-train and connects the front and rear suspension attachment structures. Although the backbone is frequently drawn upward into, and mostly above the floor of

1925-497: Is sometimes also referred to as a monocoque structure, because the car's outer skin and panels are made load-bearing, there are still ribs, bulkheads, and box sections to reinforce the body, making the description semi-monocoque more appropriate. The first attempt to develop such a design technique was on the 1922 Lancia Lambda to provide structural stiffness and a lower body height for its torpedo car body. The Lambda had an open layout with unstressed roof, which made it less of

2002-498: Is still used in modern-day sport utility vehicles such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Land Rover Defender . This design is also used in large vans such as Ford Transit , VW Crafter and Mercedes Sprinter . A subframe is a distinct structural frame component, to reinforce or complement a particular section of a vehicle's structure. Typically attached to a unibody or a monocoque, the rigid subframe can handle great forces from

2079-424: Is the French word for friend. With its 602 cc engine capacity fractionally above the limit for 2 CV designation, the Ami was nicknamed the 3CV, differentiating it from the long established Citroën 2CV . 3CV stands for Trois chevaux , or "three horses" — CV originally being the initials for "chevaux-vapeur" (horsepower – literally 'steam horses'), but used here for " chevaux fiscaux ". The "cheval fiscal"

2156-417: Is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car had a structural frame separate from its body. This construction design is known as body-on-frame . By the 1960s, unibody construction in passenger cars had become common, and the trend to unibody for passenger cars continued over

2233-532: The Citroën 2CV Sahara 4x4, this car had only one engine, rather than one engine per axle. The body is distinguished by its spare wheel mounted on the specially designed bonnet, its additional bumpers, front and rear, its flared wheel arches (for 1982), big optional tyres (for 1982) and tail lights similar to the Citroën Acadiane van. The 4x4 version has a gearbox with four normal speeds and a three-speed transfer gearbox for crossing slopes of up to 60 percent. At

2310-738: The Dyane and GS were manufactured. The Ami 6 & Ami 8 were also built by Citroën Hispania in Vigo (Spain) from 1967 to 1978, but they were never called "Ami" because of a legal problem with that name. The equivalences with French-built models are: Beside Spain, in Europe Ami was also built in Yugoslavia, in Slovenian factory Cimos where many other Citroën models were produced for the Yugoslav market. Out of Europe,

2387-536: The Hornets and all-wheel-drive Eagles for a new type of frame called the "Uniframe [...] a robust stamped steel frame welded to a strong unit-body structure, giving the strength of a conventional heavy frame with the weight advantages of Unibody construction." This design was also used with the XJC concept developed by American Motors before its absorption by Chrysler, which later became the Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ) . The design

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2464-404: The rails or beams . These are ordinarily made of steel channel sections by folding, rolling, or pressing steel plate. There are three main designs for these. If the material is folded twice, an open-ended cross-section, either C-shaped or hat-shaped (U-shaped), results. "Boxed" frames contain closed chassis rails, either by welding them up or by using premanufactured metal tubing . By far

2541-478: The 'Break' versions. These trim differences were fairly minor with Luxe models having bench front and rear seats and vinyl floor matting. Confort trim offered reclining front seats in place of the front bench. The Club models can be considered the Pallas of the Ami range featured sound proofing pads on the floor and bulkhead, carpet including boot lining, stainless steel trim on the window frames and side rubbing strips on

2618-576: The 1967–1981 GM F platform , the numerous years and models built on the GM X platform (1962) , GM's M/L platform vans (Chevrolet Astro/GMC Safari, which included an all-wheel drive variant), and the unibody AMC Pacer that incorporated a front subframe to isolate the passenger compartment from the engine, suspension, and steering loads. Citro%C3%ABn Ami The Citroën Ami is a four-door, front-wheel drive economy ( B-segment ) family car , manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1961 to 1978. The Ami

2695-521: The 3CV M-28 in 1978, the Méhari II was launched, distinguished by its widened rims and its orange color. This Uruguayan version of the Méhari was manufactured under license by the firm Nordex, and had a fiberglass body – instead of the French original ABS plastic (also used for refrigerator interiors). Equipment to heat ABS sheet material, and then cut with a refrigerated die, did not yet exist in Uruguay. It

2772-430: The American cars the rear window could be opened as an aid to ventilation before air conditioning became standardised, and in the American fashion was given a name, the "Breezeway Window". The later Ami 8 saloon has a fastback rear window. It was redesigned by the French car design and bodywork company, Heuliez . Most notable changes were the front part and bonnet and the sloping, rather than inverted, rear window on

2849-799: The Ami 8 was made until 1978 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Only in the estate version, with the "Club" & "Elysee" trims, was exported to Uruguay, Paraguay and in CKD kits to Arica, Chile from 1976 where it was assembled until it was shut down in favour of the production of the Citroën CX in early 1978. An Ami 6 tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1962 had a top speed of 65.3 mph (105.1 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-50 mph (80 km/h) in 30.3 seconds. A fuel consumption of 53 mpg ‑imp (5.3 L/100 km; 44 mpg ‑US )

2926-545: The Yagán was that the base chassis was that of the Citroën 2CV rather than the Méhari, and that the goal of 50% Chilean componentry was reached. Its failure was due to the high unit cost compared to higher quality models, in addition to the failed incorporation into the Chilean Army. The Méhari ended production in 1988 with no replacement. This left a gap in the market, that others have tried to address. The VanClee company made

3003-455: The addition of a chassis. The terms "unibody" and "unit-body" are short for "unitized body", "unitary construction", or alternatively (fully) integrated body and frame/chassis. It is defined as: A type of body/frame construction in which the body of the vehicle, its floor plan and chassis form a single structure. Such a design is generally lighter and more rigid than a vehicle having a separate body and frame. Vehicle structure has shifted from

3080-431: The axles and then back down on the other side for bumper placement. Kick-ups do the same thing without curving down on the other side and are more common on the front ends. Another feature are the tapered rails that narrow vertically or horizontally in front of a vehicle's cabin. This is done mainly on trucks to save weight and slightly increase room for the engine since the front of the vehicle does not bear as much load as

3157-479: The back. Design developments include frames that use multiple shapes in the same frame rail. For example, some pickup trucks have a boxed frame in front of the cab, shorter, narrower rails underneath the cab, and regular C-rails under the bed. On perimeter frames, the areas where the rails connect from front to center and center to rear are weak compared to regular frames, so that section is boxed in, creating what are called "torque boxes". Named for its resemblance to

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3234-639: The components needs to be stamped with ridges and hollows to give it strength. Platform chassis were used on several successful European cars, most notably the Volkswagen Beetle , where it was called "body-on-pan" construction. Another German example are the Mercedes-Benz "Ponton" cars of the 1950s and 1960s, where it was called a "frame floor" in English-language advertisements. The French Renault 4 , of which over eight million were made, also used

3311-446: The doors and rear wings. Club trim was only available up to the end of the 1973 model year, after that point Ami 8 and Ami super were only available in Luxe and Confort specification. From 1974 Ami super models were revamped to feature a double line graphic along the exterior of the body sides, either in black or silver depending on body colour, with slotted wheels and double line detailing on

3388-435: The engine and drive train. It can transfer them evenly to a wide area of relatively thin sheet metal of a unitized body shell. Subframes are often found at the front or rear end of cars and are used to attach the suspension to the vehicle. A subframe may also contain the engine and transmission . It normally has pressed or box steel construction but may be tubular and/or other material. Examples of passenger car use include

3465-437: The ensuing decades. Nearly all trucks , buses, and most pickups continue to use a separate frame as their chassis. The main functions of a frame in a motor vehicle are: Typically, the material used to construct vehicle chassis and frames include carbon steel for strength or aluminum alloys to achieve a more lightweight construction. In the case of a separate chassis, the frame is made up of structural elements called

3542-583: The exclusive coach built Maserati 5000 GT . The car went on sale in France in April 1961, though Citroën implemented some simple upgrades in time for the Paris Motor Show only six months later. The most visible change involved the replacement of the fixed windows on the rear doors with two-part horizontal sliding windows, similar to those already fitted on the front doors. Sales initially were not as good as those of

3619-562: The fiberglass, since there was no machinery to model plastics of this size. The body of the Argentine Méhari was manufactured in Uruguay by Dasur, and the chassis were sent from Argentina so that the Nordex company could make the assembly. In 1971 at the time of its presentation, the only color was red, although later some were made blue for the police of Tucumán . Coinciding with the launch of

3696-526: The forces in each strut are either tensile or compressive, never bending, so they can be kept as thin as possible. The first true spaceframe chassis were produced in the 1930s by Buckminster Fuller and William Bushnell Stout (the Dymaxion and the Stout Scarab ) who understood the theory of the true spaceframe from either architecture or aircraft design. The 1951 Jaguar C-Type racing sports car utilized

3773-418: The hood. The Méhari was designed by French World War II fighter ace Count Roland de la Poype , who headed the French company SEAB - Société d'Etudes et d'Applications des Brevets. He developed the idea of using a plastic, rather than fiberglass body. De la Poype evaluated the fashionable Mini Moke and was determined to improve on its low ground clearance, hard suspension, and rust-prone body. This company

3850-404: The hubcaps. The rear window also featured a graphic in white proclaiming "Ami Super 1015cm³" As the Ami Super looked very much like an Ami 8, and could surprise many by demonstrating its dramatic performance advantage compared to the Ami 8 (55 hp compared to 32 hp). Quoted by Autocar magazine in the UK as a "Q car par excellence" sadly in France its 5CV tax rating made little sense in

3927-603: The late 1970s; most were sold at auction about 1985, but one is retained at the Defence Forces Training Centre in the Curragh Camp , County Kildare , Ireland. The Méhari was produced at the Mangualde factory, where it built 17,500 copies. The Méhari was produced at the Vigo factory from late 1969 to 1980, of which 12,480 copies were produced. Imported models would continue to be marketed until 1987. The Méhari

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4004-553: The late 2000s truck-based compact SUVs were phased out and replaced with crossovers). An additional advantage of a strong-bodied car lies in the improved crash protection for its passengers. American Motors (with its partner Renault ) during the late 1970s incorporated unibody construction when designing the Jeep Cherokee (XJ) platform using the manufacturing principles (unisides, floorplan with integrated frame rails and crumple zones, and roof panel) used in its passenger cars, such as

4081-538: The main body. It was so successful that the Soviet post-war mass produced GAZ-M20 Pobeda of 1946 copied unibody structure from the Opel Kapitän. Later Soviet limousine GAZ-12 ZIM of 1950 introduced unibody design to automobiles with a wheelbase as long as 3.2 m (126 in). The streamlined 1936 Lincoln-Zephyr with conventional front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout utilized a unibody structure. By 1941, unit construction

4158-487: The most common, the C-channel rail has been used on nearly every type of vehicle at one time or another. It is made by taking a flat piece of steel (usually ranging in thickness from 1/8" to 3/16", but up to 1/2" or more in some heavy-duty trucks ) and rolling both sides over to form a C-shaped beam running the length of the vehicle. C-channel is typically more flexible than (fully) boxed of the same gauge. Hat frames resemble

4235-538: The name Safari or Gringa until 1986, maintaining practically all the technical characteristics of the original model, but with flared wheel arches and big tires. The spare wheel was mounted on the hood, thus gaining luggage space. Contrary to French units with the spare on the hood, these were only front -wheel drive. The Argentine Méhari used the "3CV" (Citroën Ami) platform, with all its mechanics. Consequently it had drum brakes , and not discs , like its French predecessor. The bodywork also had differences, due to

4312-722: The name of Naranja Mecanica ("Clockwork Orange"). Citroën built metal-bodied variants of the A-Series, in many ways steel-bodied Méharis, in many countries around the world, including the Baby Brousse and the Citroën FAF . Developed in Chile under the order of Salvador Allende in the year 1971 and produced between 1972 and 1974, the FAF Yagán version was inspired by the French Mèhari. At first,

4389-428: The older 2CV; the Ami's first full year of production was 1962, during which only 85,358 of the cars were sold, while the thirteen-year-old 2CV managed 144,759 sales during the same period. Although the Ami had a modern body, it shared the aggressively minimalist underpinnings of the older car, and this made it hard to justify a starting price for the Ami which, at the end of 1961, was 35% higher. The 1961 Ami 6 sedan

4466-587: The overall height of the vehicles regardless of the increase in the size of the transmission and propeller shaft humps since each row had to cover frame rails as well. Several models had the differential located not by the customary bar between axle and frame, but by a ball joint atop the differential connected to a socket in a wishbone hinged onto a crossmember of the frame. The X-frame was claimed to improve on previous designs, but it lacked side rails and thus did not provide adequate side impact and collision protection. Perimeter frames replaced this design. Similar to

4543-561: The possibility of importing the Mehari bodywork from Uruguay was considered, but its high price discouraged those responsible for the project. Despite being an artisanal vehicle – the Yagán was made entirely by hand and no type of dies or molds were used – some 1,500 units were produced at its factory in Arica , where other Citroën vehicles were also assembled, such as the Ami 8 and the 2CV. Distinctive about

4620-498: The prevalent design for body-on-frame cars in the United States, but not in the rest of the world, until the unibody gained popularity. For example, Hudson introduced this construction on their 3rd generation Commodore models in 1948. This frame type allowed for annual model changes , and lower cars, introduced in the 1950s to increase sales – without costly structural changes. The Ford Panther platform , discontinued in 2011,

4697-458: The recently defunct Renault Rodeo , created the Tangara using 2CV mechanicals, with bolt-on pre-dyed GRP panels. It also created a Citroën AX -based model. The company ceased operations in 1990. Due to its mechanical simplicity, the Méhari can easily be restored to "as new" condition; all parts including the chassis are easily available, creating a thriving restoration market. Méhari Club Cassis ,

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4774-629: The region of 722,000 cars produced. A small series of prototype coupés , the M35 were produced as test vehicles for loyal customers — testing the single-rotor Comotor Wankel engine , as also seen in the NSU Spider . A twin-rotor version of this engine reached production form with the NSU Ro 80 and GS Birotor . The Ami 6 was the first model manufactured at the new Citroën plant in Rennes opened in 1961, where later

4851-506: The saloon. The estate version of the Ami 8 , the 'Break' had a similar general appearance to that of the Ami 6 although the later car's taillights were integrated into the rear wings. The Ami Super , sometimes also called Ami 10 , was a flat-4 variant powered by the engine of the GS and produced between 1973 and 1976. The Ami Super was offered in the same three trim levels as the Ami 8, Luxe, Confort and Club on Saloon and Luxe and Confort on

4928-485: The time, the Méhari 4x4 was one of the few 4x4s with four-wheel independent suspension. The car had all wheel disc brakes. Méhari 4x4 production stopped in 1983. It only sold in small numbers as it cost twice as much as the standard, two-wheel drive car. Two limited edition versions of the Méhari were sold: Citroën Méhari was also in service with the Irish Defence Forces , which bought a total of 12 vehicles in

5005-648: The traditional body-on-frame architecture to the lighter unitized/integrated body structure that is now used for most cars. Integral frame and body construction requires more than simply welding an unstressed body to a conventional frame. In a fully integrated body structure, the entire car is a load-carrying unit that handles all the loads experienced by the vehicle – forces from driving and cargo loads. Integral-type bodies for wheeled vehicles are typically manufactured by welding preformed metal panels and other components together, by forming or casting whole sections as one piece, or by combining these techniques. Although this

5082-453: The transition areas from front to center and center to rear reduce beam and torsional resistance and is used in combination with torque boxes and soft suspension settings. This is a modification of the perimeter frame, or of the backbone frame, in which the passenger compartment floor, and sometimes the luggage compartment floor, have been integrated into the frame as loadbearing parts for strength and rigidity. The sheet metal used to assemble

5159-433: The vehicle, the body is still placed on or over (sometimes straddling) this structure from above. This is the design used for the full-size American models of General Motors in the late 1950s and early 1960s in which the rails from alongside the engine seemed to cross in the passenger compartment, each continuing to the opposite end of the crossmember at the extreme rear of the vehicle. It was specifically chosen to decrease

5236-607: Was a French fiscal unit based on engine size with the smaller CV designating economy cars. The Citroën Ami had its formal French launch on 25 April 1961, four months ahead of the August introduction of the widely anticipated Renault 4 . Both the Renault 4 and the Citroën Ami responded to a perceived market need for a vehicle slightly larger and less rustic than the 2CV. The Ami is a rebodied 2CV with certain mechanical upgrades (particularly

5313-416: Was already a supplier to Citroën, and SEAB developed a working concept of the car before presenting it to its client. In 1978 come some facelift , this year become the vehicle a new front and grille. The French Army purchased 7,064 Méharis – some of which were modified to have 24 V electric power to operate the two way radio. In 1979, Citroën launched the Méhari 4x4 with drive to all four wheels. Unlike

5390-536: Was decided to make the same vehicle using fiberglass reinforced polyester. Otherwise, it was mostly similar to its French sister, but the rear wheel arches have a different shape and are noticeably larger; it also featured a removable hardtop. 14,000 units were built. Of the 14,000 units, 5,000 remained in Uruguay and 9,000 went to Argentina within the CAUCE agreement. Some Méharis, built in Uruguay, were sold in Argentina under

5467-590: Was integrated into the ABS plastic during production, with limited colour choices. One colour, Vert Montana, remained a choice throughout the car's entire production span. Except for the limited edition Azur , the official names of colours all refer to desert regions. As ultraviolet sunlight degrades the colourfastness of ABS plastic, unrestored cars have sometimes faded. New bodies for restorations are available in various original colours. Website mehari-expo belgium Vehicle frame#Platform frame A vehicle frame , also historically known as its chassis ,

5544-685: Was never type approved for sale in the UK. The 2CV on which it was based also had a gap in UK sales, from 1961 to 1974. Citroën marketed the Méhari in the United States for model years 1969–1970, where the vehicle was classified as a truck . As trucks had far more lenient National Highway Traffic Safety Administration safety standards than passenger cars in the US, the Méhari could be sold without seat belts . Budget Rent-A-Car offered them as rentals in Hawaii . Hearst Castle , in San Simeon, California, used them as groundskeeper cars. Elvis Presley featured

5621-445: Was no longer a new idea for cars, "but it was unheard of in the [American] low-price field [and] Nash wanted a bigger share of that market." The single unit-body construction of the Nash 600 provided weight savings and Nash's Chairman and CEO, George W. Mason was convinced "that unibody was the wave of the future." Since then, more cars were redesigned to the unibody structure, which

5698-515: Was not ideal because the panel fits were poor. To convince a skeptical public of the strength of unibody, both Citroën and Chrysler created advertising films showing cars surviving after being pushed off a cliff. Opel was the second European and the first German car manufacturer to produce a car with a unibody structure – production of the compact Olympia started in 1935. A larger Kapitän went into production in 1938, although its front longitudinal beams were stamped separately and then attached to

5775-481: Was offered in saloon and estate/wagon/break body styles over two generations, the Ami 6 and the Ami 8. The later Ami 8 fastback saloon featured a steeply raked rear window, in contrast to the earlier reverse-raked rear window of the Ami 6 notchback . Over 1,840,396 units were manufactured over the entire production run. The Ami and Citroën Dyane were replaced by the Citroën Visa and Citroën Axel . Ami

5852-432: Was one of the last perimeter frame passenger car platforms in the United States. The fourth to seventh generation Chevrolet Corvette used a perimeter frame integrated with an internal skeleton that serves as a clamshell. In addition to a lowered roof, the perimeter frame allows lower seating positions when that is desirable, and offers better safety in the event of a side impact. However, the design lacks stiffness because

5929-508: Was trademarked by Carrozzeria Touring for lightweight sports-car body construction that only resembles a space-frame chassis. Using a three-dimensional frame that consists of a cage of narrow tubes that, besides being under the body, run up the fenders and over the radiator, cowl, and roof, and under the rear window, it resembles a geodesic structure . A skin is attached to the outside of the frame, often made of aluminum. This body construction is, however, not stress-bearing and still requires

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