Watch out for this Ian! Get you order in now if I were you.
tinyurl.com/b7lb
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They wouldn't be the first to usew the name Africar, Growler.A guy called Anthony Howarth designed a plywood/epoxy resin vehicle of the same name back in 1979 in the UK.
It wasn't four-wheel drive, but coped with poor rutted roads by having a wide track, a flat bottom and a high ride height. Seem to think Channel 4 did a TV series about it back in the 1980s, but as far as I can remember the project petered out for financial reasons.
Wouldn't a Trabbie melt in the sun?
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I thought the original Africar was brilliant. It could go where Land-Rovers couldn't (no centre diff. to ground it) and had the lovely Citroen flat-four air-cooled engine from the GS. I've nothing against the revised Trabi version (good luck to them), but I think they should call it something else!
BTW, what happened to the GM car for China, based (IIRC) on the 2CV?
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I liked the comment: "they still make VW Beatles in Mexico" - interesting mental picture...
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Thanks to Morris Ox and JBJ, when I heard the news item yesterday I thought my mind was going as I was sure that there had been an earlier plywood Africar.
Now I know I'm not going mad! OK OK just a shade loopy its a fair cop guv.
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Have a look at this site owned by one of our Citroen Car Club bods...good description of the first Africar saga.
www.citroen.mb.ca/citroenet/html/a/africar.html
MM
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"a wide track, a flat bottom and a high ride height. "
So does a humvee !!!
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With her exception cros country ability, means that you can run but cannot hide !!!!!
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Interesting, MM. I could have sworn it used GS running gear though, rather than 2CV - I doubt the latter would allow it to climb 1:1 slopes without extraordinay gearing!
Ironic (and a shame) that someone should design a car to prevent the locals being ripped off by the West, and then proceed to rip them off himself...
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