Tow Trucks—The Unloved Ones
When things are moving at a snail’s pace—whether it’s the economy, peace negotiations, or a highway construction site—we’re right to be dissatisfied. And when some incorrigible macho brags today that he’s “picked up” another woman, we turn away, feeling embarrassed.
But when someone expertly tows my broken-down car, I have to be glad that someone is taking care of it.
Still, this is a taboo subject. Manufacturers don’t like it when one of their cars is photographed on a tow truck. Owners are reluctant to talk about it because they’ve always boasted about their car’s reliability at the regulars’ table—having to be towed is a setback.
But when the car breaks down, sometimes the only option left is the tow truck; the owner has to accept it, whether they like it or not. And in the hierarchy of car types, these vehicles are absolute pariahs; only garbage trucks have an even worse image, because they wake you up in the morning, they stink, and they slow down traffic in town.
Yet tow trucks are a completely underrated category. In truth, they represent an inexhaustible field of activity for resourceful small-scale designers. And it’s probably no coincidence that in France—a country particularly creative in technical matters, where the Citroën Traction, the Type H, the 2CV, and the DS were born—even the tow truck was not immune to innovation. Whether this is also due to the fact that French cars were supposedly more prone to breakdowns in the past than German ones—such as “Opel, the reliable one”—would require further investigation.
What is undisputed is that, with the launch of the revolutionary Traction and DS, Citroën gave first owners and dealerships the opportunity—thanks to numerous breakdowns involving the first new cars—to participate in the final development of its avant-garde designs. Innovation through “swarm intelligence,” so to speak. Today, this phenomenon has become established in the computer industry—where it is elegantly referred to as “beta versions.”
But back to the tow trucks. In France, smaller, end-of-life trucks were often adapted for this purpose. And then there were the corresponding variants of the infinitely versatile Type H—people had no qualms about turning these into tow trucks as well.
Today, they’ve become rare. I wonder if there’s ever a gathering for historic tow trucks somewhere?
In any case—zwischengas wishes you a breakdown-free vacation trip!
