The Citroen Mehari

From 1968 to 1988 the Méhari was produced by the French auto maker Citroën. During those years 144,000 of the vehicles were made. Weighing in at a mere 1257 pounds the Mehari was an extremely light vehicle.

When the Méhari was launched it was based on the Citroen Dyane 6 chassis and outfitted with a 28 HP version of the Citroën 2CV 602 cc flat twin gasoline engine. By the end of production this engine had been upped to 29HP based on the Citroen Dyane 6 chassis.

An interesting point about the Mehari was it's body which was made from: Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, or ABS, a fairly common thermoplastic today but when the Méhari was made it was quite innovative to use for the 13 individual body panels that made up the vehicle.

The Méhari was intended to be Citroën's replacement for the 2CV Sahara. Named after the dromedary breed of camel that was used by the nomads of northern Africa. Much of the advertising for the vehicle featured a camel.

The first protypes and production examples of the Mehari were produced in 1968 by the SEAB company. Here 13,461 were produced through the end of 1969 when production was moved to the Panhard factory in Invy. Here the rest of the production run through to 1988 were produced.

From 1980 to 1983 a 4X4 version of the Méhari was produced making for a very good light weight off road vehicle. Both The Irish and the French military purchased a few of the Mehari to use in the line of service. The French version being modified to have a 24 volt electrical system.

For the single year of 1970 Citroën brought the Méhari over to the U.S. Getting the Méhari classified as a truck brought the little vehicle under much less stringent laws enabling the 214 U.S. specked Méhari to be brought over with out many of the safety standards that applied to passenger cars, such as seat belts.

Some of the other changes that were made specifically for the U.S. market by Citroën for the Mehari were: Two speed wiper motor. An altered tail gate to accommodate a U.S. specked license plate along with illumination on each side of the plate. Back up lights. Straight rear bumper. Different front end to accommodate 7" sealed-beam headlights, along with special flat topped indicator/side-lamps. Hexagonal yellow "cats eyes" on front and rear sides.

Good examples are quite sought after today. Finding one that the body is in good shape can be a challenge for the ABS plastic did not hold up to Ultra Violet or sunlight. Therefore the best examples to be found are ones that had been painted early on in their life.

Citroën knew of this problem of not holding up very well to sun light and becoming brittle and cracking. Well written instructions on how to repair cracks and splits in the bodies were sent to the dealers. It is interesting to see the instructions that recommended solvents to be used that are no longer available on the market because of their toxic nature and threat to health.

The Méhari, with it's wheelbase of 106" front and rear track of 49.6" length of 106" and width of 60" was a very compact and versatile vehicle, and is sought after today for it's collectablity and cult popularity.