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The little goddess? Citroën Ami 6 in the (historic) test

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Created on December 6, 1961

Text:

Dr. Paul Simsa

Photos:

Archiv Radical Mag / Peter Ruch

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Archiv Radical Mag / Peter Ruch

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Archiv

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Citroën Ami 6 (1961) - unconventional and above all memorable design

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Citroën Ami 6 (1961) - with radiator curtain and open doors

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Citroën Ami 6 (1961) - plenty of space and a homely atmosphere in the interior

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Citroen Ami 6 (1962) - a test car in the sixties

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Citroën Ami 6 (1961) - The bold sheet metal modeling and its shape are not to everyone's taste.

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Citroën Ami 6 (1961) - A purely functional design?

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Citroën Ami 6 (1961) - Once the Citroën blends into the street scene, nobody will notice how unconventional the design is.

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Citroën Ami 6 - Citroën's four-door beacon of hope at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show

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Citroën Ami 6 (1961) - in the nightlife

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Citroën Ami 6 (1961) - plenty of space between the axles

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Citroën Ami 6 (1961) - The single-spoke steering wheel replaces the former simple sheet metal wheel.

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Citroën Ami 6 (1961) - The technical attributes clearly summarized

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Citroën Ami 6 (1961) - the basic suspension design of the 2CV was adopted, but made more elaborate and thus largely freed from its disadvantages - note the additional telescopic shock absorbers

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Citroën Ami 6 (1962) - Advertising campaign "why" - four doors

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Citroën Ami 6 (1962) - Advertising campaign "why" - 110 km/h

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Summary

When Citroën's latest coup - the Ami 6 - was presented in 1961, opinions were divided on the beauty of the design. But this (non-) existing beauty was quickly forgotten when one considered the series of improvements and innovations, which reached not inconsiderable proportions.

This article contains the following chapters

The goddess and the idea
Beautiful or ugly?
A purely functional design
Real French suspension
Numerous improvements with certain sacrifices
The egg of Columbus
Modernized all round and primitivities removed
Underpowered despite low weight
Horrendous price - but overall good performance for the money

Estimated reading time: 10min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The Citroën Ami 6 was a purely functional design without standing out from the crowd with its extraordinary beauty. At first, probably no potential buyer liked to hear that. For the Citroën Ami 6, however, these were the bare facts. However, the (non-existent) beauty was quickly forgotten when one considered the various improvements and innovations. It does make a difference when you tell people every day that their car is called "the goddess" or "the idea". This is what Citroën has done with the type designations of its large cars, where the DS19 is pronounced in French as "la deesse", "the goddess", and "ID" as "l'idee", "the idea". The number behind it (DS19 and ID19) still referred quite prosaically to the engine capacity, but in the new Ami 6 (6 = 600 cc) it was included in the linguistic trick. Ami is not an abbreviation, but the French word for friend, and the 6 gives it linguistic momentum in French; it is pronounced Ami-ßis, which is also an echo of the Latin plural of friend (amici), friendship (amicitia) in French pronunciation.

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