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ICONOCLAST

The Visa/LN/LNA have to be the worst cars that Citroën ever built. Not because there was anything fundamentally wrong with the Peugeot 104 but because Citroën made no improvements. The LN was a 104 with an engine which should have been left in the 2CV (its extra 50cc notwithstanding, it was slow, noisy and thirsty) with a pair of chevrons on the grill - the sort of marketing best left to BMC. 

The LNA was even less of a Citroën and even more of a 104 since it employed the 104 engine. At least it had tolerable performance, hearses and milk floats no longer represented quite such a challenge.

The VISA had the PRN satellite from the GSA which made some sort of sense in LHD but in RHD, everything is done with the left hand leaving the right to play with the heater/ventilation system, pick one's nose, give hand signals, etc. The styling was straight out of the camel school.

To drive a Visa was to accept that driving is something that must be done rather than something one wants to do.

It achieved its ultimate manifestation in the form of a light van - hardly an enthusiast's choice.

It was, however, reliable.

This article was originally published in the Citroënian, the monthly magazine of the Citroën Car Club .