Citroën Méhari – the perfect Marbella beach car.

Gecko Towers

It’s getting really hot as we ease into July perhaps it would be cooler by the Mediterranean Sea. Yup, time to go to the beach?

I am fortunate to see the beach regularly and am often joined by those who have what they call a “beach car”. This is a vehicle with a particular attribute, namely you’d happily take it to the local shops, pack it out with provisions for a day in the sun but in truth you’d risk neither your nor your family’s safety on the open road or for any real distance.

I saw a lime green version in Marbella the other day returning from a shopping trip with what looked like a fridge or washing machine resting in its rear open section.

The most alluring and iconic of all these beach cars is the variant to the Citroen 2CV, the Citroën Méhari. Designed by the illustrious Count Roland de la Poype, the boss of one of Citroën’s plastics suppliers, named after a dessert dwelling but fast camel and the North African equivalent of a cavalryman.

The Citroën Méhari was built for twenty years with a production run starting in 1968 and numbering over 144,000 vehicles. A very good 4×4 drive version was made from 1979 to 1983 with a total of circa 1,300 vehicles were built.

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My guilty pleasure for years was a Citroën 2CV one of which we enjoyed as a family long before we became overly conscious of the weighty demands of Heath & Safety. We ran our Plums and Custard, “Dolly” around South London complete with large protective car seats for the kids. In truth, you wouldn’t stand little chance in a motorway pile-up but rattling over the sleeping policemen of Clapham, heading no further than Sainsbury’s in Sands End, you’d be ok.

Interestingly, in the late 1960’s in the USA the Méhari was described as a “truck” thus escaping many US safety features that bugged European car designers in the era.

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Based on the Citroën Dyane 6 (a later and less attractive incarnation of the 2CV with much the same technology including the 602cc engine), a body made of ABS plastic (which faded over time with extended exposure to sunlight) virtually the same polymer as used to make Lego bricks and a “rag” roof and sides. I have always been amused by the rubber toggles used to secure the bonnet.

An amateur car restorers dream, the Méhari like the 2 CV’s are mechanically very simple and spare parts are readily available either new or from the many Citroen specialist breakers yards to be found along the Mediterranean coasts.

In testament to the enduring character of these little and rather quirky cars that a car rental specialists have popped up offering Citroen 2Cvs and Meharis to visitors to the Costa del Sol. the details will follow below. Offering such a classic vehicle to the rental market carries it’s own worries. Not least the somewhat idiosyncratic umbrella style gear change that really does take some getting used to. Once mastered it barrels along and is a load of fun. In the interim “driving a stick” is a tad more complicated than a conventional “stick shift”.

In September 2016, Citroen announced that they were re-imagining the Méhari with the E-Mehari, a battery operated version with a passing resemblance to the original. It launched under several banners but one “More Than Just a Beach Car” really appeals to me. With a 200 km range and a top speed of only 100 kph, my suspicion is that the hefty €24,000 price point (that doesn’t include the battery leasing arrangement) is likely to deter even the most determined Méhari fanatics.

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Photo Credits – with grateful thanks from Citroen and Coy’s of Kensington

I have no connection to this business but I might try to do a rental with them at some point 2CV and Mehari rental in Andalucia

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