The Baby-Brousse is a

Citroën 2CV The Citroën 2CV (french: link=no, deux chevaux(-vapeur), , lit. "two steam horse(power)s", meaning "two ''taxable'' horsepower") is an air-cooled front-engine, front-wheel-drive, economy family car, introduced at the 1948 Paris Mondial de l ...

-based

utility vehicle A utility vehicle is a vehicle, generally motorized, that is designed to carry out a specific task with more efficacy than a passenger vehicle. It sometimes refers to a small truck with low sides. Types of utility vehicles Military light u ...

, initially privately built, that later spawned the FAF series of vehicles. Similar to a metal-bodied

Citroën Méhari The Citroën Méhari is a lightweight recreational and utility vehicle, manufactured and marketed by French carmaker Citroën over 18 years in a single generation. Built in front-wheel (1968–1988) and four-wheel drive (1980–1983) var ...

, the Baby-Brousse was a success with more than 31,000 being built from 1963 to 1987. The entire body was made of folded sheet metal with the other parts being bolted together without welding.

Background

The Baby-Brousse was originally conceived in 1963 by two Frenchmen, Messrs. Letoquin and Lechanteurin, owners of ''Les Ateliers et Forges de l’Ebrié'', a company in Abidjan, the capital of the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Sales figures

Baby Brousse-type vehicles have been made and sold under different names in several places: *Baby Brousse in

(1963–1979), 1,320 built. * SAIPAC Jyane-Mehari in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

(1970–1979), 9,315 vehicles. *Citroën Yagán in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

(1973–1976), 651 examples (or 1,500 examples). *

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Baby Brousse 480 & FAF 600 *

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

Baby Brousse 180 & FAF 60 *

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

Pony in

Thessalonika Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

(1974–83), built with

Dyane 6 Dyane is a census town in Nashik district in the state of Maharashtra, India. Demographics As of the 2001 India census, Dyane had a population of 24,837. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Dyane has an average literacy r ...

components in a specifically built factory. These had better build quality and equipment than others. 30,000 examples were built (16,680 according to Marie & Étienne Christian). The Pony was the only Baby Brousse exported to the United States. *Mehari in

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

Guinea Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

(1979–1983), ± 500 vehicles. *

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Citroën La Dalat (1969–1975) was manufactured, with 3,850 examples produced. Its creator, Jacques Duchemin, proposed the FAF concept to Citroën when he came back to France after the fall of Saigon. Citroen Yagan 1974.jpg, Citroën Yagán in Santiago, Chile Namco Pony California1.jpg, Namco Pony - U.S. Model Namco Pony California2.jpg, Pony rear

FAF

The first FAFs were built in 1977, at the Citroën plant in

Mangualde Mangualde () is a municipality in the subregion of Dão-Lafões (historical Beira Interior), central region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 19,880, in an area of 219.26 km2. History The region of Mangualde has been a crossroads of ma ...

, Portugal.

Other

In Argentina: Savoiacar

has prepared some cars based on the Méhari, with improved platform and engine, and another with a body of their own design. Various kit car style bodies were also developed, inspired by the Méhari, such as

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

's VanClee.

References

Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers {{Modern-auto-stub