The very first international Citroën meeting took place in
1973 at
Porec in Yugoslavia, with around 700 cars. In 1974, the 2nd
meeting
organised by the Austrian Clubs and based on Vienna was called the
ICCT
(International Citroën Club Treffen). An informal meeting of
delegates
from the different countries decided that there should be a 2CV
World
Meeting in Finland in 1975, and the 3rd ICCCR for all models of
Citroëns would be in England in 1976. This was how the series of
International Citroën Car Club Rallies started.
Later in 1974 a meeting of Citroën Club delegates from 17 clubs
and
countries was arranged at the Citroën headquarters in Paris. In
the
following years, meetings took place at each ICCCR to decide the
location of the next meeting. The 3rd ICCCR took place in 1976 at
the
Royal Agricultural Society Showground at Kenilworth in
Warwickshire,
England. To maintain the continuity, it was decided that the rally
being organised by the Traction Owners Club in Britain would
become the
6th ICCCR with support from the Citroën Car Club and 2CVGB. 1327
Cars
from 14 different countries were present at Knebworth in 1984.
In 1990 the Amicale Citroën Internationale (ACI) was established
to
supervise the ICCCRs and to maintain contact between clubs. Herman
Sluiter from Traction Avant Nederland was treasurer and David
Conway
who had kept the organisation going on his own for the previous
sixteen
years was President. For the next ten years David also acted as
Secretary, sending out regular newsletters to some ninety clubs
around
the world, and organising the annual meeting at the time of
Retromobile
in Paris.
In 2000, there was a change in outlook at Citroën. The Conservatoire
was established and there was a realisation within Citroën that
there
was a world-wide organisation of enthusiasts for the Citroën
marque,
old and new, which had been ignored. Over a series of meetings the
new
ACI was established which, whilst maintaining its independence,
would
have a close relationship with Citroën for mutual benefit.
In 2004, at the 13th ICCCR in Interlaken, the new ACI was
introduced at
a meeting attended by more than 80 delegates. It was agreed that
the
ICCCR would take place at four-year intervals and that Citroën
would
provide financial and logistical support on this basis. The 14th
ICCCR
in 2008 was located at the Vallelunga racing circuit north of Rome
in
Italy, where the ACI meeting supported the British proposal to
organise
the 15th ICCCR in 2012.
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