Gold...not quite done yet... Selected for being the best name in Citroen's gold paint empire
Now the effort required to watch a 30 minute video in French is likely to be a bridge too far. That said it is a feast of moving pictures and sound of a gorgeous example of the epitome of Frenchness in a car, and youtube does put the subtitles in your preferred language if desired.
So a couple of screenshots of Citroen's paint code AC302 in the French sunshine, adorning a Citroen Ami6.
In my opinion-forming days about cars, that current rarity, the "rust-bucket" (which you never see now on the roads and carparks of the United Kingdom), was commonplace. The Viva was one of the worst, but let's not get dewey eyed about Mini's and Cortina's they were the same.
Now of course the ones that survive to 2024 have been restored or are time warp survivors, and emerge on high days and holidays and don't do the daily workhorse roiutine, nor winters of salty roads.
That is a very nice example, and an unusual paint colour. Never had a Viva but a particular memory of them was when my Dad had a hire one for a week in pale blue, and the nightime glow of the lights on the dash was colourful and comforting, and may even have had a purple high-beam-on light on the dash display.
Very probably impossible to find a proper dashlights-on at night photo of the 1975 or roundabouts Viva, but it did make an impression.
The Viva was by far the very worst car I ever had the misfortune to own. I think, had I actually owned one, only the Marina would have beaten it to the title of biggest pile of crap of all time...
I learned to drive in a Marina... Hateful bloody thing...
Shame as both the Viva and Marina, in coupe form, not saloon, looked good but under the pretty frock.... Oh dear...
To be fair though, that applied to most British cars of the 60s and 70s... Only the Imp, Mini and its big sister, the ADO16, stood out above the crowd of British mediocrity...
My eyes were opened rather wide when I first had the pleasure of driving the R5 and R16... A revelation, as were the two R4s I ran for the remainder of the 70s before proceeding to an R5...
Jim
Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
To be fair though, that applied to most British cars of the 60s and 70s... Only the Imp, Mini and its big sister, the ADO16, stood out above the crowd of British mediocrity...
Back in the dark ages I was a school leaver attending umpteen job interviews.
One that sticks in my mind was at Pressed Steel in Oxford where I was given a factory tour & witnessed the Hillman Husky ( I think) body shells being given the treatment by guys wielding gas torches & huge sticks of solder which they prolifically wiped in to fill the body joint gaps.
To be fair though, that applied to most British cars of the 60s and 70s... Only the Imp, Mini and its big sister, the ADO16, stood out above the crowd of British mediocrity...
Back in the dark ages I was a school leaver attending umpteen job interviews.
One that sticks in my mind was at Pressed Steel in Oxford where I was given a factory tour & witnessed the Hillman Husky ( I think) body shells being given the treatment by guys wielding gas torches & huge sticks of solder which they prolifically wiped in to fill the body joint gaps.
So that's why they were so heavy....
Jim
Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
To be fair though, that applied to most British cars of the 60s and 70s... Only the Imp, Mini and its big sister, the ADO16, stood out above the crowd of British mediocrity...
Back in the dark ages I was a school leaver attending umpteen job interviews.
One that sticks in my mind was at Pressed Steel in Oxford where I was given a factory tour & witnessed the Hillman Husky ( I think) body shells being given the treatment by guys wielding gas torches & huge sticks of solder which they prolifically wiped in to fill the body joint gaps.
So that's why they were so heavy....
Common practice before the advent of Isopon and the likes, used one myself back in the fifties, a hot lead spray gun.
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. (Albert Einstein)
On a similar note when I joined the GPO as an apprentice and went out on Underground Maintenance, many of the larger cables in manholes were joined inside lead sleeves which had to be sealed to the cable sheath after the joint was made. The process was known as 'wiping the joint' and involved the blow lamp, huge sticks of lead solder applied to the hot join and 'wiped' into the position to seal the joint with an 'asbestos type' wiping cloth as used by plumbers to protect the surface behind pipe joints. Added to my regular replacement of brake shoes and pads with no protection and it is surprising that I am still here!
This will give you an idea:
And this is more like the actual conditions we had to work in:
I used to be indecisive, now I'm not so sure!
I used to ride on two wheels, but now I need all four!
My dad showed me how to do those wiped joints when I was about ten years old, our council house had lead pipes and one in the kitchen frequently burst on hard frosty days...............remember that before the advent of central heating and double glazing?
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. (Albert Einstein)
We've got two grey cars.
My old Pug is light grey Whilst Mme's C4 is dark grey, 'Shark' I think it's called.
Without a doubt Shark wins hands down as living in the countryside the vehicles are always muddy & this colour hides the local darkish mud best.
And I can confirm that, having owned 3 black and 4 white cars, black is by far the hardest to keep looking good!! On the same note my Orion Ghia, XM and Mondeo, which were all gunmetal like shades of grey, were the easiest!
I used to be indecisive, now I'm not so sure!
I used to ride on two wheels, but now I need all four!
You may recall Know Your Blue Ferraris from just the other day. What were the chances of another Blue Ferrari being spotted today. Yes practically Nil.
Know your Blue Ferraris 1
Know your Blue Ferraris 2
Ferrari F430 4.3 Spider 2dr 2001
Ferrari California 3.8 V8 T F1 DCT Euro 6 2dr 2015