The Citroën FAF is a small

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 ...

produced by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

manufacturer

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...

from 1973 until 1981. It was built using a combination of imported and locally sourced components in various

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

. The body was made of easy to produce, folded steel panels, giving an appearance resembling a metal-bodied version of the Méhari. The flat metal panels and simple components were meant to allow for easier production, mostly in developing countries.

Origin

The origin of this idea was the privately built 1963

Baby-Brousse The Baby-Brousse is a Citroën 2CV-based utility vehicle, initially privately built, that later spawned the FAF series of vehicles. Similar to a metal-bodied Citroën Méhari, the Baby-Brousse was a success with more than 31,000 being built from 19 ...

from

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 ...

, and its many derivatives. Notably these include ''La Dalat'' (Vietnam), ''Pony'' (Greece), ''Jyane-Mehari'' (Iran), and ''Yagan'' (Chile). The various

cars were quite successful, selling over 30,000 units. Both the FAF and

are derived from the 2CV. The concept predates the FAF name, so it is often erroneously reported that some of

vehicles were ''based on the FAF.''

Name and target market

FAF stood for the French ''Facile à Fabriquer'' and ''Facile à Financer'' (Easy to Manufacture, Easy to Finance). The primary target market for the FAF was Africa. However, the concept of a "second-class" car that was connected with the FAF seems to have affected its manufacture and sales remained low.

Pre-FAF cars

The FAF idea coincided with the widespread production of Baby Brousse 2CV-based vehicles in many countries, so the two often overlap. In 1969, Citroën's Vietnamese subsidiary began building La Dalat, the first automobile manufactured in

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 ...

. Production ended when Americans departed

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in 1975 at the end of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. In total, 3880 Dalats were built. In 1972, the Greek firm

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 ...

began production of the Pony. This was the most successful version of these 'simplified' 2CV utility vehicles, selling 30,000 units. The Pony was exported as well, including to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. Production of this "poor man’s jeep," that benefitted from special tax rules, ended in 1983, two years after

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 ...

joined the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. 67% of the parts were of Greek origin. An attempt to start production in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

by the

Ceylon Transport Board The Sri Lanka Transport Board (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගමනාගමන මණ්ඩලය ''Shri Lanka Gamanāgamana Mandalaya'')(formerly: Ceylon Transport Board, CTB) is a bus service provider in Sri Lanka. ...

in the early 1970s failed due to a dispute over royalties, but a prototype was displayed at the Republic Day celebrations in 1974. Various kit car style bodies inspired by the FAF and 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, were also developed.

Production history

References

External links

FAF Facile à Fabriquer, Facile à Financer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Citroen Faf FAF Cars powered by boxer engines Vehicles introduced in 1968