BBC’s History of Camera Cars
Citroënvie member Robert McLeod managed to find a fascinating video on YouTube by 427 Motorsports using footage sourced from the Broadcast Engineering Conservation Group in the UK about the BBC’s development and use of vehicles for outdoor broadcast events such as horse racing. In the 6 minute clip they go into detail about the BBC Roving Eye division and their use of DS, CX and XM Breaks for event coverage. They also show how the BBC modified a 2CV for coverage of the 1990 London Marathon.
Ultimately the BBC chose to forgo the Citroëns for Volvo V70 AWD and Land Rover Discovery camera vehicles, retiring the XM from the Roving Eye division, and assigning the CX to the production of Top Gear. All this in an era before in-lens stabilization, gimbals and other camera mount devices that eliminate shake in videos.
Today, smart phones with camera stabilization and of course AI deliver smooth motion video negating the need for the suspension of classic Citroëns.
We have published a few articles over the years about Citroëns being used as camera cars, but this video tells why the BBC chose them and how their use as camera cars evolved:
