On October 6th it will be seventy years since Citroën shook the Grande Palais in Paris to its foundations. André Lefèbvre and Flaminio Bertoni developed a car in sixteen years that was far ahead of its time. Almost one and a half million units later and fifty years after the production stop at Quai de Javel, the Citroën still an institution. This year, we will pay attention to this classic in several companies and in the magazine, which was also released countless times in a smaller version. And the real D-model series has not been made for a long time. However, the scale model manufacturers continue to do so unabated. Such as NOREV, which released a beautiful series in the scale one to twelve.
The depicted and twelve times reduced Citroën is based on the car from the very first year of construction, 1955. The bodywork is purple, the roof is Champagne. The scale model is wonderfully executed. With models in this price category, it is certainly all about the details. And they are correct. The lines and proportions are perfectly fine, and a look inside the interior leaves little to the imagination. A lot of care has been given to the finishing of the interior, and the steering wheel is also specifically upholstered. In addition, the furniture has the right color, and the mirror on the dashboard is correct, also with the chrome finish. And speaking of ornamentation: the materials used in reality (stainless steel, aluminum) have been perfectly imitated.
Other things also catch the eye. The centrally placed exhaust with the correct trim piece, the reflectors on the rear mudguards (with the continuous trim piece), the recessed windshield wipers and… the lack of an outside mirror are things that clearly show that care has been given to the small, but oh so important points. Also note the small lights on the front mudguards. And the tires with white stripes and the round, red striping.
The exact same car is also available in a scale of 1:18. The same applies to that. Here too, NOREV has paid attention in a beautiful way to making the model, which was given the year 1956, appear lifelike. The smaller version gets a little bit more under the skin, the colours seem to have been given a little more attention. But in both cases: very worthwhile. In everything during production you will find the pride of the maker in one of the most illustrious car models in history.
Yes, there is a price tag. The recommended retail price for the twelve times smaller model used by NOREV is €146,20. For that amount, you will get one of the five hundred built copies. The 1:18 version is available for an amount of around €75,–, and is made in a limited edition of 400 copies. Real fans will get one of these two beautiful 1955 models. The asking prices are steep, but the money is well spent.
Photo credits: NOREV.
Please note: the bottom two photos are images of the 1:18 models
I lived in America for a while and they said that if you buy one you might as well buy a second one for the parts.
Drive fantastically but prone to failure and rust.
John Gers
That is partly true; the first years of construction had some teething problems, with the transition from LHS (red) to LHM (green) the biggest problems were over.
And rust-prone? Which brand was NOT rust-prone in the 50s, 60s and 70s..?
At that time, the lifespan of a car was a maximum of 10 years.
A D-series is at least 50 years old, I don't know of many other car brands/types that reach this age without rust...
I pumped her Citroën, a formidable car…
Beautiful, you are inclined to just step in…
My father said he got a fear of heights when the pneumatic suspension went up.