|
We
are in Africa in the late 1970s. Relative peace and a degree of
optimism prevails in the west of the continent, freshly independent.
The oil crisis is yet to come, and some are thinking of industrialising
the region.
In 1979, Citroën signs agreements for production of the FAF
with Sénégal, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau and the Central African
Republic. Soon afterwards, the Forges de l’Ebrié, a company in Abidjan
in the Côte d'Ivoire, started importing 2CV chassis and engines and
"dresses" them in a new robe made locally. These are the FAF sedan and a metal-bodied
Méhari, the Baby-Brousse.
In
Sénégal too, two manufacturers also started production. In Thies (70 Km
from Dakar), a VW-based semi truck called "Gaynde" (“lion" in the Wolof
language), was built by Institutions Marchand. Was this a wink at
Citroën’s main African competitor? No, the lion is the symbol of the
country, like the Gallic rooster in France.
On 22
September 1979 Citroën and Institutions Marchand signed an agreement
allowing the launch of a production line in Sénégal. It was
intended to build 500 vehicles per year. These agreements led to the
opening of a small "steel-bodied Méhari" production line in a suburb of
Dakar, between the capital and Rufisque. Nearby there are
slaughterhouses, for readers who know the country.
|
|
This
vehicle is quite different from its Côte d'Ivoirienne sister. In
fact, it resembles the fruit of a love affair between a Citroën Méhari
and a Jeep.
From the Jeep, it inherited the grille; from the 2CV, the
602 cc engine type AK2 (with drum brakes) and from the 2CV camionnette,
the chassis.
From the Méhari,
it acquired the general shape and the vehicle model name in the
logbook. Officially this car was a Méhari...
Other styling elements came from its Vietnamese cousin,
the Dalat, and the Greek Pony while from the Iranian Jiane Mehari, it inherited the
shape of the front wings – a rotated 'L'.
The
chassis numbers started with "AK" which suggests an affinity with the
vans of the same name. "AKSIEAN" to be exact, or "AKAN".
|
 |
|
Finally, a touch of modernity was added: the dash and
controls are from the Citroën LN, launched in 1976
and just like the European Méhari
built after September 1978, and the Pony
which went into production in 1972.
However, Baby Brousses built in other countries retained
the instrument panel of the mid sixties 2CV.
|
 |
 |
|
It
is said that the African ‘elites’, newly emerged from poverty, shunned
what could have been their first car: too simple, too unpretentious,
not enough "glitz" or chrome...
Many felt that they were being patronised when Citroën
offered this "not a proper car".
However some Sénégalese Méharis might have been
exported, it is believed, to Spain...
In
1983, the oil crisis brought a halt to the automotive industrialisation
of Africa. The post-colonial euphoria was replaced with harsh economic
realities.
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
