Back in the ‘60s and for a couple of decades afterwards, French roads were downright dangerous. Full of potholes, lined by unyielding plane trees, half the drivers drunk on cheap red wine. But the most serious threat was that there were literally thousands of horribly disfigured Citro-monsters roaming about the place, rather slowly and very noisily. The horror… the horror…
To call the Ami 6 polarizing is an exercise in comical understatement. There is not a single angle that passes for decent, not a feature to be redeemed. It’s the oddest Citroën ever made in large numbers – and that’s saying something. Whatever possessed the carmaker to manufacture such a peculiar model, and how did it fare on the market?
Source: Wikicommons
Ever since the launch of the 2CV in 1948, Citroën had a bit of an issue. Their car range consisted in two extremes: the tiny 2-cyl. tin snail on the one hand, and a large 2-litre car (the Traction Avant, followed in 1956 by the DS) on the other, and a massive gap in between, probably big enough for two models. The initial thought was to develop something extremely light and aerodynamic around the 2CV’s 425cc flat-twin, known as the C10. A larger C60 prototype (below), developed a bit later, featured a 1.1 litre flat-4. It also sported very strange styling that previewed a car that was about to be launched to finally plug that gap.
Source: Wikicommons
That partial gap-plugger was not going to be the C10. Too radical. In any case, using the 2CV’s 12hp engine was a non-starter – something a bit bigger was necessary. Thus, a 602cc variant of the air-cooled twin was developed, providing a whopping 22hp (upped to 26hp in 1964 and 28hp in 1967).
Style-wise, Citroën’s veteran head designer Flaminio Bertoni, who had authored the Traction Avant and the DS, decided to completely change tack, opting for a squarer body with maximum headroom. Due to the company CEO’s aversion towards hatchbacks, a separate trunk was part of the brief. Bertoni figured that the best way to marry the trunk with the high roofline was to go for a reverse-canted backlight.
Said reverse-canted rear end was not a Citroën exclusive. Bertoni would have been aware of the Ford Anglia, the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser and the Lincoln Continental MkIII. But the Citroën design seemed even more extreme – the angle of the cant looks steeper, and it is echoed by the B-pillar and A-pillar, making the whole greenhouse look askew.
And then, there was the rest of the car, especially that strangely concave hood with its massive drooping lip hanging on either side from large rectangular headlights set within ovoid bezels. Early models had a sort of cheap mesh for a grille; our feature car has a later (1967-69), less flimsy-looking item, but the rest of the car is definitely a slightly earlier model year. And to think Bertoni claimed this was his favourite design…
When it was launched in April 1961, the Ami 6 certainly caught the public’s attention. Not all reactions were negative, though there were definitely some quirks that needed tending to. For instance, as we can see in this launch picture, the first cars’ rear windows were fixed in place – an unacceptable piece of penny-pinching. By the autumn of the same year, Citroën replaced those with sliding half-windows, like the front ones.
But other idiosyncrasies were beyond remedy. The flat-twin’s prodigious noise and vibration, for instance, was to remain an Ami 6 staple. Cramped legroom for rear passengers could not be addressed either. Still, if you could live with those and the styling, the new Citroën could be called an improvement over its 2CV ancestor. The seats were far more comfortable, the dash existed and performance was far superior (a top speed in excess of 100kph was now attainable). What caused a little more circumspection was the price.
The Ami 6 was a lot more car than the 2CV, but it was also a lot more expensive. And it’s not like the French market lacked competent domestic rivals, either. The Renault 4 was a direct competitor to the 2CV more than the Ami 6, which was really pitted against Renault’s rear-engined saloons. Simca was another very dangerous player, what with their excellent value for money and punchy engines. The lower-spec Panhard offered a similarly spirited performance and ample cabin space for a few francs more than the Citroën.
In spite of its controversial styling and high price, the Ami 6 did sell in decent numbers. Decent, but not incredible. And some export markets took to it (e.g. Benelux, Spain, Scandinavia), but others were completely unreceptive. In the UK, for instance, Citroën only managed to sell 823 cars in eight years – a shockingly awful performance. But then, in the summer of 1964, came the Ami’s salvation: the Break (wagon).
Finally, the Ami 6 made sense, both from a practical perspective and from a visual one. It even had better aerodynamics than the saloon. Few cars owe their success to a latecomer wagon variant, but the Ami 6 certainly would not have carried on to become the Ami 8 in 1969 had this long-roof not appeared. As soon as it was included in the range, sales of the saloon sank. And in 1966, the Ami 6 was the number one seller in France, with over 180,000 units – most of them (136k, to be precise) being Breaks.
There is an important asterisk to that “numéro un” claim. Renault built over 240k of their little R4 in 1966, so technically, that was the most produced French car of the year. But Renault also exported those in far larger numbers than Citroën did their Ami.
The Ami 6 was replaced by the facelifted Ami 8 in March 1969. Just over a million of these incredibly ugly little cars were made – a little under half of which were of the pointy-roofed variant like today’s example, haunting French city streets and country roads for years. Now that most of them rusted away, things are a little safer. Only the trees, potholes and alcoholics to contend with…
Related posts:
Cohort Classic: Citroen Ami 6 – The Greatest Ugly Car Ever?, by Roger Carr
Automotive History: Hello Darkness, Citroen’s Old Ami -The Surprisingly Complex History Of The Citroen Ami, by Spridget
Citroen Ami 6: Time For All You Hipsters To Trade In Your Falcons, by PN
Miniature Curbside Classic: 1964 Citroen Ami 6, by David Saunders
Quality Control: Is It Ugly Enough?, by PN
COAL #3: The Cars Of My Father, by Dion
I would love to have one. The saloon of course, not the Break. However they have become very expensive over here (Netherlands), nothing available under $8000 (and even then a rusty example).
It is a strange car but I do not see it as ugly. It has flowing lines, the proportions are pretty good. Radical yes but what is wrong with that?
Love it. My father’s first car. That is me in the foreground.
OMG 😲 😱! Not even a Mother could love this POS. An early attempt by À I ? Definitely a star in a Sci Fi or HORROR movie! ÀTTACK of The Killer Rotten Spuds.
Alrighty then. Polarizing indeed. Trees, potholes and drunks. I think I’m going to now go watch a Godard film to remind myself that France may have just a few more charms than those conveyed here 😉
But I’m with you on your pole about the Ami 6 (and Citroens in general). And to make matters worse, this one in its primer gray? Oh lord….
Yeah. Give it a “pastel”, color. Would take a ‘fraction” of the gloom away..
There’s one of Toyota’s recent appliances whose front end has a passing resemblance to this automotive monstrosity.
I don’t find using the word ‘ugly’ very helpful in terms of automotive design. I view the Ami 6 a bit like a downsized late 50s american car, sure with less ornamentation and without the ridiculous proportions. But the treatment of graphics and surfaces is very much of its time. It does look like a car designed by a sculptor, which Bertoni was, and it fullfilled its brief of a 2cv sized spacious 4 seater. I think it looks quite charming and yet also fit for purpose, something few american cars of the time possess.
Even more so in upscale or US-market(!) spec with the square Cibie headlights replaced by quad round units. I’d love to know how it sold in the Land where the Giants Roamed, probably not much higher numbers than in Britain despite the much larger market. Part of that would be due to timing – the Big 3 compacts, especially the Corvair, ate the marginal imports’ lunch while VW sales grew and grew – but the application of so many overwrought styling cues to such a small canvas didn’t help.
John: Agreed, and well-said. The simple reality is that most people are philistines when it comes to anything outside of the safe, predictable and comfortable. And about things that are from an era before their time. The Ami is a period piece, and yes, it’s charming, fun, lively, stimulating and thankfully, not predictably “beautifully” boring.
What Europe needed in the early 1960s was a better 2CV, Citroen’s answer was the Ami, the solution for everyone else was the Renault 4.
Favourite trivia – The Ami and the Ford Taunus Badewanne were the first two cars with rectangular headlights.
Thanks for the essay on this FUGLI automobile. Your essay gives us more information on this vehicle. I have seen them on the roads, not here in The U.S., and wondered, “Who would buy this? Why?” Indeed, the wagon model is its redemption. As for the picture of Dion in front of the family Ami, you were an adorable little boy!
Cross breeding a Dodge and a Ford Consul Classic produced this, its bizarre, and Ive been driving Citroens for 16 years or so, I like em but not sure I’ want a Ami the potholes drunks and trees are bad here too but not that bad.
I remember this and the “For you, Madame” brochure.
I liked the quirkiness of the 2CV, which as you know found favor with normal eccentrics in the 80’s (once again I was in the wrong time).
I guess someone should preserve an Ami-6.
I remember an unsellable used peach 4 door Grand Torino strippo I fell in love with. It was so homeless, even though Honest Ed said “there’s an ass for every seat”
I never claimed to be normal
Every time I see a pic of one a these, I think the “quintessential, cartoon car”. The sliding, half, openable, windows are a “hoot”.
With regard to the Ami 6 (and the C10 no less), I wonder whether Mr. Bertoni was a regularly consumer of hallucinogenic substances.
There were plenty of Ami 6 in Uruguay, probably made locally or in Argentina. The whole car cracked at the A pillar so nobody wanted them. Blame it on local materials, questionable manufacture or bad design.
As ugly as hell,but that Lincoln-Mercury style reverse slant roof does give it a modicum of style. Now get that puss off it`s face.
These have always been a favourite of mine since I first saw one in Brittany in the early eighties. It’s been said often enough but these look a lot better in the metal and in reasonable condition. They’re just enough to transport four ninteen sixties sized people and their luggage efficiently to their destination with a stop for a good lunch on the way. I once did Biarritz to Roscoff in a Dyane more or less non stop. When you’re used to the sound and dynamics of two cylinder Citroens they’re better than fine and never miss a beat.
That’s right. The air-cooled Citroën flat-twin is arguably one of the best and most durable engines ever produced. They can take silly amounts of abuse.
Around the turn of the century an ex girlfriend of mine had a pre-series model (registered in april 1961). It was in desperate need of a restoration (something the next owner took proper care of) but even in the shape it was in, it still drove wonderfully. It had “frotteurs and batteurs”, friction dampers, instead of regular shocks and these provided a very cushy and smooth ride, albeit with tremendous amounts of body roll. I really liked this car. It’s something completely different from what you see on the road today and a real head turner. To my eyes, an original, well preserved Ami is a beautiful car from an era when car companies still had the guts to try something different.
An ultra-thin body, always wavy by wear and hanging. Very complex design that remains fascinating because it is unusual regardless of the angle of view. Very noisy. Suspension that tilts frighteningly in a curve, but the car remains hooked. Stripped interior, low-end finish. Seen from the side, it looks like the top of the car has bent because of a too strong front wind.
It’s an incredible, baroque, eccentric car that must be seen live on the street to appreciate His strong personality. It seems that the older ones very worn out by the years are haunted!