Doubtfully looking like the image above, a comeback for the Méhari, albeit modernized, will be shown on September 15 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Citroën will present a concept car developed around its C4 Cactus and inspired by the mythical Mehari. Citroën CEO Linda Jackson first alluded to this back in June when she stated to Automotive News Europe “Maybe there is a place for the Méhari. It’s something we are considering.”
Citroën CEO Linda Jackson
Billed as “a fresh and energetic variation of the C4 Cactus” concept “which shows the spirit of the mythical Mehari” Citroën’s press announcement this week confirms the concept C4 Cactus Méhari will be shown, but unveils no other information about it. ”
There is also a rumour that Peugeot will announce plans to produce and distribute the Bluesummer, an electric car designed by Bolloré that bills itself as a small leisure cabriolet. Though unlikely to be the same underpinnings and as Citröen uses for the C4 Cactus, it may also be in-part inspiration for its new Méhari. Capable of transporting four people, the Bluesummer reportedly uses the same technology as the successful Bluecar that is used for Autolib, Paris’s auto-share programme that operates on the same principle as several other cities’ bike-share schemes.
Peugeot Bluesummer
The original Méhari was an innovative and atypical light utility car that enjoyed great success in the 1970s.
Citroën presented the Méhari in the midst of the May 1968 upheavals, and its unique design, somewhere between utility and leisure vehicle, was an immediate sensation. The Méhari, a variant of the 2CV but built with more modern materials, had a windshield that could be pushed down onto the hood and featured no seatbelts. Between 1968 and 1988, Citröen produced 144 953 Méharis.
Since its launch, the Méhari featured in road rallies all around the world before becoming a part of the French army and national Gendarmerie’s equipment. The 4×4 version, released in 1979, had a gearbox with four normal speeds and a three-speed transfer gearbox for crossing slopes.
Two special editions were also released in 1983: the Méhari Plage and the Méhari Azur.
In 2013, Citröen celebrated the Méhari’s 45th anniversary by honouring it at the C42, its flagship store on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, and by organizing a historic gathering on the Linas-Montlhéry circuit in Essonne, France.
Also on display in Frankfurt will be the Aircross concept unveiled at the Shanghai Motor Show in April.
Mehari eh?
You can fool some of the people all of the time, but not all of the people some of the time;)
Yes, C4 Cactus in reality was nice to look at, a few months when I was in England, thought of other previous Citroens that it could look like, if modifications were carried out, just like the Mehari, it could well be, more modern way.