JOHN REYNOLDS
Contents and Illustrations
The book contains twelve chapters and is divided into three sections, dealing with the André Citroën Era (1909-1935), the Michelin Era (1935-1974) when the parent company Automobiles Citroën was owned by the French tyre manufacturers, and the PSA Peugeot-Citroën Era, covering the years from 1974 until the present day. It features 216 historic black and white press photos showing Citroën cars, buildings and advertising material, the majority previously unpublished, plus 170 colour photographs shot by leading automobile photographers such as Neill Bruce, Paul Debois and Andrew Morland
The Book
Now that Citroën cars are selling at the rate of over 100,000 vehicles per year in the United Kingdom and that there are presently more than 1 million examples currently registered as running on the British roads, it is clear that the Double Chevron marque has re-established itself as a mainstream motoring brand-name in the UK. Yet few of these recent converts to Citroën ownership will be aware that this current situation echoes the success enjoyed by the French company as long ago as the 1920s when its products were easily the most numerous and popular among imported Continental cars in Great Britain. So much so, in fact, that in 1926 its founder, André Citroën, established a factory at Slough to build his cars in right-hand-drive form for the British and Commonwealth market. Thus the company is actually one of the oldest names in the British motor industry, being the second longest-established of all foreign and imported makes in Great Britain.
This book the only officially authorised and endorsed history of Citroën in the United Kingdom traces the history of Citroën Cars Ltd (the predecessor of the present trading company Citroën UK Ltd) between 1923 and 2003 and catalogues the right-hand-drive vehicles built at the Slough Works between 1926 and 1966, together with all those models subsequently imported from France until 2003. Pre-war, post-war and wartime production is fully listed and lavishly illustrated by over 250 historic press and publicity pictures from the Citroën archives, together with numerous examples of contemporary advertising material, and also by a series of stunning full-colour photos showing some of the best surviving cars, either restored or in their original state.
Its informative but entertaining text of over 80,000 words reviews the complete span of right-hand-drive vehicles sold in the UK, including the conventional rear-wheel-drive cars of the André Citroën era 1919-1934, the Traction Avant of 1934-1956, the Kegresse, the 2CV of 1949-1990, the DS and ID series of 1955-1975 as well as the Citroën-Maserati SM of 1970-1975 and the later GS/GSA, CX and BX models. A final chapter discusses the familiar right-hand-drive Citroëns seen on the British roads today, from the XM, Xantia and Xsara right up to the latest C2, C3 and C5 models. It also features an appendix providing a full index of proper names together with extensive data covering production, sales and chassis numbers, never previously published
The Author
John Reynolds is a life-long Citroën enthusiast who, as a professional motoring author and journalist, has made a special study of the Double Chevron marque. He has contributed to numerous British, French, Dutch and Japanese motoring journals including Classic Cars, Classic & Sportscar, Automobilia, Retroviseur, 2CV Magazine, CitroExpert, CitroPassion, Super Car Graphic, Autocar and the Daily Telegraph Saturday Motoring Review. He has also published several other books on Citroën topics including a biography of André Citroën, an account of the life-story of the Citroën 2CV and a study of the genesis and technical evolution of the Citroën DS and ID models.
The Audience
The book will appeal to all Citroën owners and enthusiasts world wide, together with a more general readership interested in the development of popular motoring and the motor industry in the United Kingdom. A major part of its attractions will lie in the very high quality of design, reproduction and printing it offers for a relatively modest price, perhaps unequalled by any previous book on Citroën matters published in any language
