Citroën Cityrama Coach Restoration

In the 1960s and 70s, there were a few futuristic looking Citroën based buses that ferried tourists around Paris. They were double-decker vehicles manufactured by Currus located on rue Watteau in Paris. (We first wrote about them back in the Fall of 2009 and posted an update in the Winter of 2011.)

Groupe Cityrama launched in 1956 as a tourism company in Paris, France. Paris tourism is highly competitive, so the company decided to go far out to get attention and have a fleet of distinctive sightseeing buses.

Designer, Albert Lemaitre was inspired by the style of the Mouche boats that sailed on the Seine in Paris, the first Cityrama bus was delivered in 1956.

Two-thirds of the bodywork is glazed to give passengers a panoramic view. The center-portion of the roof consists of plexiglass roof panels that are retractable, sliding on rails. The curved plexiglass panels of the roof were shaped (after extensive testing) in wooden molds.

Under the massive glass greenhouses of these buses sat a Citroën Type 55 utility truck chassis. The Type 55 launched in 1953 and was produced all of the way to 1965. These trucks acted as platforms for fire engines, flatbeds and…five to ten of these Cityrama sightseeing buses. They featured either 4.6-liter gasoline 6-cylinder engines making 73 HP or 5.2-liter diesel sixes producing 86 HP.

The quirky Citroën U55 Cityrama Currus buses were a hit. They became so popular, and even being featured in French films. (The French movie Zazie dans le Métro is the best way to see what they looked like.)

Inside the bus, tourists got to wear an earpiece and a selector located on the armrest of each seat allowed commentary on the Parisian scenery to be chosen from eight languages. The passengers on the upper deck got to enjoy an open-air experience on good days as a large section of the glass roof could be removed.

However their longevity on the road would be challenged by potential design flaws as they had a knack for overheating, leading to the addition of second and third grilles, then eventually, an oil cooler. One actually caught on fire and burned up on a Paris street.

The buses operated throughout the 1960s and 70s with the last one reportedly retired from service in 1980.

An anecdote about the enormous size of the Cityrama is that is was necessary to dismantle a wall of the workshop to take out the first copy which had a height of 4.35 meters.

Now there is a campaign underway to restore the only surviving one, built in 1959. Resting outiside in a field in Fresney Le Puceux, France, the Fédération Française des Véhicules d’Époque (dedicated to preserving French heritage) and Motul France (a French company specializing in the design, development and distribution of lubricants for engines) are tackling the project and fundraising through this website. They are aiming to raise 50,000 €, which seems incredibly low given all the work that needs to be done. (As of this article’s date – July 3, 2002, they have raised 21% of their goal — 10,952 €.)

Here are photos of the only surviving Cityrama coach — just pulled out of storage for display at the Ruralies on weekend of June 26 and at Le Mans Classic. Amazingly, the bus actually made it to the vintage car meet under its own power!

As you can see, this Cityrama coach needs to be completely restored. The mechanics reportedly work but the body has suffered from corrosion, and the canopy has not stood the test of time. Its restoration is being co-ordinated by ANAU (Normandy Association of Old Utilitaires), an organization with a mandate to safeguard and restore French commercial vehicles over 30 years old. It brings together around thirty enthusiasts from all over Normandy.

Plans call for Normandy Classics, DG Carosserie, Normandy usinage (a machine shop), all in the Normandy village of Granville, to have the honour of bringing it back to life.

The restoration will focus in four stages:

• chassis and the mechanical components
• framework
• bodywork and the glazing
• interior fittings including upholstery

With that much plexiglass, we hope they equip it with modern air-conditioning!

Here are two videos. The first tells the story of the Citroën 55 based CityRama tour buses from Paris in the 1960s.

The second is a short video of the only remaining example. It also describes the fundraising effort to allow this piece of history to be restored.

Update — August 14, 2022: Owing to its unique construction (and advanced dilapidation), specialist Normandy Classic told newspaper L’Argus that it would take four years, 2000 hours of work, and 400,000 Euros (approximately £338,000) to return the bus to its former glory.

Update — January 11, 2024: This article about the Cityrama’s restoration progress appeared in the French magazine La Vie De L’Auto: