Citromuseum to Expand and House 30 More Gems

July 10, 2025

By Alejandro Beiroa….

For every classic car enthusiast, encountering a vehicle in its original state – just as it came out of the Factory – evokes a particular emotion; we could say that in a way it’s like turning back time and imagining, for instance, what its first kilometers would have been like when leaving the dealership. Now imagine that emotion but multiplied by 125!!!

And that’s how it feels when one enters Citromuseum, a private museum that currently houses 125 Citroën cars, in their purest state of preservation. To put this into real perspective, if we add up the odometers of all the displayed cars, the total sum of kilometers traveled would not exceed 23,000!!!

Henri Fradet is the architect of this wonderful place; he explains that he opened it in 2004 with a lot of sacrifice, without any financial support from the brand, driven only by his great passion, and since then he works tirelessly day by day to continue expanding it (he currently has plans to build a new area to accommodate another 30 cars, also in exceptional condition).

The museum has a surface area of 2500m2, where 3 zones stand out: Bicylindrical, Hydropneumatic, and ‘Youngtimer’; the museum’s collection is limited to the period from the end of World War II to the end of the 20th century.

All vehicles are in their original body condition and Henri tells me that he only does the mechanical maintenance on them, and any of them can start and hit the road at any moment.

The Museum is located in the beautiful town of Castellane about 80 km northwest of Cannes, with a perfect climate for Citroën preservation and curiously was an emblematic place in the history of Citroën, as Paul Mages and his laboratory team used to pass through there when testing some prototype vehicles on the roads of the Gorges du Verdon.

An amazing collection

In each model and in every exhibited specimen, there is a unique story that deserves to be told, and Henri is the ideal person for this task: he is a true historian of the brand, and when you listen to him, you begin to learn the secrets of each of the Citroëns displayed there, as well as those of the brand itself.

One of the highlights of the collection is a DS19 delivered to its owner in December 1955 and with chassis number 32!! This means that this vehicle was ordered at the 1955 Paris Motor Show in the first hour of the first day of its presentation.

Other models worth considering are the Visa Club No. 1 manufactured by Citroën, and the HY Van No. 2, which was in the hands of its first owner for 41 years, who sold it to Henri before opening the museum.

As a curiosity, there is a GS manufactured in Yugoslavia, which has only 32 km and still retains its original battery. (In 1959, the Yugoslav moped manufacturer Tomos (Tovarna Motorjev Sežana, or Sežana Motorcycle Company), based in Koper, Slovenia entered into a joint venture with Citroën to produce automobiles under license at their Koper plant, and sell them in the Yugoslav market. The import of cars was prohibited so this arrangement allowed Citroën to access the market. Vehicles were imported in ’knockdown kit form’, with assembly being performed in Yugoslavia. In 1972, Tomos, Citroën and Iskra, an automotive components manufacturer, formed a new company called Cimos to manufacture both sub-assemblies and complete cars.)

I could keep naming hundreds of details found on the cars displayed, but I will focus only on some exceptional examples; like the impeccable 2CV which still has the paper protector inside that was used to protect the upholstery of the doors; one of the few DS cabriolets manufactured by Henri Chapron in the late period (only 9 units); a 2CV6 CT manufactured in Spain; the CX used to test the hydropneumatic suspension; a “Radioen” radio receiver originally installed by the Citroën factory in a 2CV various badges for prototypes not marketed…

And I cannot fail to mention the plans made by the genius Flaminio Bertoni, displayed there, showing the designs of bodies and interiors.

For everyone who likes collectibles, the Museum has a boutique where you can find everything; souvenirs, scale cars, t-shirts, manuals, posters… everything desirable for fans of the double chevron brand.