Jim’s second wander though the storage lot the other day brought us the double decker Chevy/Dodge A100 hybrid, which struck a note of familiarity within me. This still from the 60s French film ‘Zazie dans le Metro’ features the Citroen U55 Citirama bus and, bien sur, Paul has already shared this wonderful vehicle with us.
Can the ccognoscenti identify any other oddballs within this pic?
There is a Corvair near the lower right corner – probably never a common sight in Paris.
Not exactly common, but it was the unexpected hit of the 1959 Paris Auto Show, and made a huge impression. They did sell in some modest numbers in Europe, and show up in old photos.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-how-the-1960-corvair-started-a-global-design-revolution/
Since the movie Zazie dans le Metro came out in 1960, the Corvair captured during filming must have been pretty much brand new. I also see a 1950s Panhard Dyna a few cars right of the Citroen bus. The car behind the Panhard might be a 2CV.
And that picture really underscores just how different the Corvair looks compared to all of the other cars with their decidedly 1950s design language. It’s the herald of a new decade.
Agree Paul, if that Corvair had appeared in a similar picture taken five years later it would have been a lot harder to spot amongst the mid-sixties Simca 1000s, Renault R8s and Fiats.
I’m trying to visualize a Valiant in place of the Corvair; I think it would contrast but not in a futuristic way.
The structure for that 2nd deck sure looks lightweight. I wonder if it would be up for modern tourists, who often are heavier.
That Corvair looks like it fits right in this Paris street scene. Not many American cars would fit in so well.
I was going to comment on the Corvair myself. How many could there have been in France at the time? But, it does look like it’s right at home there…
See my comment above. They were not that uncommon there at the time.
Lot’s of Simcas and Dauphines.. feels like home rsrsrss…
Looks like a land bound cruise ship. Nobody did “unique” or “unusual” like Citroen.
The Corvair does fit in, doesn’t it? It appears to be a 1960 700 sedan. When this picture was likely taken, there were still significant numbers of American troops in France. NATO headquarters was just north of Paris, in Rocquencourt. The way the guys are hanging half out of the car suggests a bunch of GIs checking out the sights.
In front of the Corvair, what could be a Simca Aronde Océane?
Good call!
I missed the original article on this bus. Wow. The second storey looks like the cab of the Chariot rover from Lost In Space.
I’m wondering what that jeep-like vehicle to the left of the black bus is.
I think it is Renault, based on a pre-war light commercial.
But willing to be proved totally wrong
It has the look of a Dodge command car a civilian fronted weapons carrier.
If we are talking about the one behind the blue Dauphine, it looks like a Renault Juvaquatre van. I think they originally came out about 1938 and were made into the mid 1950s but stand to be corrected. The saloons bore a remarkable resemblance to the contemporary Opel Kadett.
I love the A-team paint scheme!!
That Citroen would make a heck of an RV!!
Truly a land yacht, it looks like something straight out of a Spongebob episode.
Simca Vedttte, as posted earlier this week is in evidence, as is the Citroen 2CV but only 1 DS.
A Panhard Dyna, 4 cars behind the Corvair, is worth running into traffic for as well.
The black bus is a traditional French city bus, built I think by Renault, and as iconic in Paris as the Routemaster was in London. Long gone now , sadly.
The black bus is probably dark green in fact, but the colour reproduction seems to be a bit out.
Blue Simca taxi is actually an Arianne another behind the Dauphine with a Vedette near the curb, multiple Peugeots, Renaults, some Panhards a Citroen or two and a Corvair, is it lost?
Yes, Arianne, not Vedette
Isn’t it interesting that of approximately twenty to twenty five cars that we’re able to identify, only one is not French? I imagine a similar situation in London around that time with the cars being predominantly British, in Rome with the cars Italian, but for some reason imagine Berlin being more cosmopolitan. Am I right, or wrong?
I believe the vast majority would be German made, including Borgwards, Gogomobiles and DKWs; on the other hand, very few BMWs and no Audis whatsoever. But up to the mid eighties it was a different “carscape” in every country in Europe, as much as there were different currencies, and I certainly miss the quintessencial Paris or London or Rome street look, it was part of the local culture.
Kurfürstendamm, 1960
So the MK8 Hillman Minx behind the 3rd Arianne taxi is really an Isuzu version built in Japan, wow I couldnt tell on my monitor.
That makes two then 🙂
More than anything else, the traffic pattern appears very disorderly. I pity that motorcyclist…did he survive the day? I love the Citirama bus though–not exactly dubdued styling!
Is that a GM “old look” bus in the top left corner?
Sure looks like one.
What’s perhaps more unusual is not the Corvair, etc that ARE visible, but what cars are NOT there. I see only one DS, and not a single 2CV or older Traction Avant Citroen. And I realize this is only about 15 years after La Liberation, but no Beetles?
This is France about 1960 why would anyone want to drive a 1930s designed German car if you didnt have to, there were so many better choices about.
Four 2 CV!
Well, duh. I looked closer and there’s a 2CV right up front and center. And one DS in the back. But I still can’t see the other 2CV’s! I was never good at “Where’s Waldo?” either. In any case, I would have expected that they’d be more visible, but maybe 2CV’s were more rural cars. I’m sure a picture taken in downtown Manhattan today might not show any F150’s. BTW, the Vedette with V8-60 was a car that fascinated me as a small child; pre-Internet it was harder to learn the history of such cars, but a Simca with a V8 just seemed exotic.
The Sponge Bob reference cracked me up! It surely would fit right in…