The Citroën Prototype Y was a project to develop a replacement for the
Citroën Ami, conducted by
Citroën
Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...
in the early seventies. It built on the Citroën G-mini and EN101 projects. It was superseded by project Citroën VD (VD standing for ''Voiture Diminuée'').
From 1965
Robert Opron worked on the Citroën G-mini prototype and project EN101, a replacement for the 2CV, using the flat twin engine from the 2CV. It was supposed to launch in 1970. The advanced space efficient designs with very compact exterior dimensions and an aerodynamic drag co-efficient Cd of 0.32, were axed because of adverse feedback from potential clients.
The goal of Prototype Y was to give birth to a small, robust and modern car which would have fitted into the Citroën range between the
2CV and the
GS.
The first prototypes were based on the
Fiat 127 platform, since Citroën was pursuing at that time an alliance with
Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...
(the only result of this alliance in the end was the
Citroën C35 /
Fiat 242). Later models employed a torsion bar suspension set up.
In 1974,
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...
acquired Citroën, forming the
PSA Group
Peugeot S.A., trading as Groupe PSA () (formerly PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles and motorcycles unde ...
, and the project to replace the Ami was redefined as "Citroën VD", and then incorporated the floor pan of the
Peugeot 104, thereby permitting the use of the 104 engine and transmission. The 5-door 104-based
Citroën Visa
The Citroën Visa is a five-door, front-engine, front wheel drive supermini car, supermini manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1978 to 1988 in gasoline and diesel variants. 1,254,390 examples were ultimately manufactured over a single gene ...
thereby replaced the Prototype Y. There was also a
badge-engineered
In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. ...
Citroën version of the shorter wheelbase 3-door 104 with only minor changes from it — the
Citroën LN/LNA.
The original design from Project Y was sold to
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
where it became the
Oltcit Club, which has cosmetic similarities to the Visa, and was sold under the commercial name of
Citroën Axel
The Oltcit Club is a supermini car, supermini produced between 1981 and 1991 and developed in co-operation by Citroën of France and Oltcit, a joint venture company with the Romanian government.
They were powered by the air-cooled engines from t ...
in some
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
an markets.
See also
*
Citroën Axel
The Oltcit Club is a supermini car, supermini produced between 1981 and 1991 and developed in co-operation by Citroën of France and Oltcit, a joint venture company with the Romanian government.
They were powered by the air-cooled engines from t ...
*
Oltcit Club
*
Citroën LNA
*
Citroën Visa
The Citroën Visa is a five-door, front-engine, front wheel drive supermini car, supermini manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1978 to 1988 in gasoline and diesel variants. 1,254,390 examples were ultimately manufactured over a single gene ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Citroen Prototype Y
Visa
Cars powered by boxer engines
sv:Citroën Prototype Y