Citroën Méhari

Citroën Méhari
Overview
Manufacturer	Citroën
Production	1968—1988
Body and chassis
Class	Off-roader
Body style	Cabriolet
Layout	Front engine, front-wheel drive / four-wheel drive
Related	Citroën 2CV Citroën Dyane Citroën FAF Citroën Ami Citroën Bijou
Powertrain
Engine	602 cc flat-2

The Citroën Méhari is a utility car and off-roader produced by the French automaker Citroën. 144,953 Méharis were built between the car's French launch in May 1968^[1] and 1988 when production ceased.^[2] A méhari is a type of fast-running dromedary camel, which can be used for racing or transport. A méhariste was a French Armée d'Afrique and Army of the Levant cavalryman that used these camels.

The Méhari was based on the Citroën Dyane 6, and had a body made of ABS plastic with a soft-top. It also employed the 602 cc flat twin gasoline engine shared with the 2CV6 and Citroën Ami. A four-wheel drive version of the Méhari was produced from 1980 to 1983 and had excellent off-road qualities, due to the lightness of the vehicle (the standard Méhari weighs just 570 kg (1,260 lb)) and the interconnected fully independent long-travel 2CV suspension used by all of the Citroën 'A-Series' vehicles. For a full description of the suspension, see Citroën 2CV. In 1987 after the decision to stop Mehari production a replacement by a third party company using bolt on pre-dyed GRP panels, using the same chassis and mechanicals called the Teilhol Tangara was launched. 2000 cars were built in 1987, 400 of which went to the French Army. Production of the 1988 launched Citroën AX version ceased in 1990.^[3]

Military use

France

The French Army used Méharis modified to have 24 V electric power.

Ireland

The Citroën Méhari also was in service with the Irish Defence Forces and had a total of 12 machines purchased in the late 1970s, most were sold at auction about 1985, but one is retained at the DFTC in the Curragh Camp, County Kildare, Ireland.

The Mehari 4x4

May 23, 1979, Citroën launched the "Mehari 4x4". The body is distinguished by its spare wheel mounted on the specially designed bonnet, its additional bumpers, front and rear, its flared wheel arches (for 1982), big optional tires (for 1982) and its tail lights similar to the Citroën Acadiane van. The 4x4 version has a gearbox with 4 normal speeds and a 3 speed transfer gearbox for crossing slopes up to 60%. At the time, the Mehari 4x4 is one of the few 4x4s with four-wheel independent suspension. The rear brakes are disc.

Mehari 4x4 production stopped in late June 1983.

With only about 1,300 vehicles produced, it is now highly sought after and transmission parts are virtually unobtainable.

US import

US Model

The Méhari was sold in the United States for one year, 1970, where the vehicle was classified as a truck. As trucks had far more lenient National Highway Traffic Safety Administration safety standards than passenger cars in the US, the Méhari did not have seat belts. Only 214 Méharis were sold in 1970. One was featured in a brief scene with Charlton Heston in the 1971 film The Omega Man.

Distinctions for the US-model included:

• Altered front with 7" sealed-beam headlamps and special indicator/side-lamps with flat tops.
• Special boot (trunk) lid with room for US registration plate and a lamp (Lucas) either side of it.
• Straight rear bumper.
• Two-speed wiper motor.
• Reversing lights.
• Hexagonal yellow "cats eyes" on front and rear sides.

South America

Méhari Ranger, Uruguay

The Mehari sold in Argentina had a fibreglass body and not ABS. The car was produced in Uruguay from 1971 to 1979. After Citroën left Argentina following the collapse of the economy in the late 1970s, the production of the Mehari, renamed the "Mehari Ranger" with flared wheel arches and big tires, continued for some time.

Body colours

The colour was integrated into the ABS plastic material in production, and as a utilitarian vehicle, the options chart was quite limited. Only the Vert Montana remained in the catalogue for all the 18 years of production. Except for Azur blue, the official names of colours all refer to desert regions.

New bodies for restorations are only supplied in white colour, and now require painting on top of a specialist primer.

• 
• 

  Vert Tibesti

• 

  Blanc et bleu (Azur)

• 
• 
• 

  Orange Kirghiz

• 

  Beige Hoggar

• 

  Jaune Atacama

• 

  Rouge Hopi

Production history

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Citroën Méhari.

• Méhari at Citroenet
• Méhari links at Citroën World
• Restored Mehari in France
• Méhari modelcars