Au revoir mon ami H – Axon’s Automotive Anorak

I handed over the keys to my last Saab almost 15 years ago, with my last Alfa Romeo (my beloved Junior Zagato 1300, arguably the finest of all 105-Series Alfas) reluctantly moving on to an appreciative new owner almost a decade back. Now, partially due to the adverse impact of COVID-19, I have had to sell my latest and last of over a dozen Citroëns, my charismatic H-van (a.k.a. Type H, HY and HZ), a delightful and totally original low-mileage 1954 example of this most practical and iconic of light commercial panel vans.

The pain of the HY’s parting is immense, and now for the very first time since my late teens, I no longer own either a Citroën, Saab nor Alfa Romeo. It’s a very sorry state of affairs and one that I know I will need to remedy when finances, storage space and so on allow, as this is bound to prove to be an irritating itch that will need to be scratched quite often in the future.

Ever since my first trip to France as a young lad, with the excitement of seeing my very first H-van in a village market square, I have always been drawn to the inspired engineering and honest simplicity of this legendary commercial vehicle. In my view, one of the finest and most intelligent examples of motorised industrial design ever made, the corrugated Citroën van is a work of genius that has only begun to become more widely appreciated in recent years (and not just by barristers, vegan wrap and pizza makers!).

In my humble opinion, few other vehicle makers have created so many other important, landmark road vehicles as Citroën. DS, 2CV, SM, Traction Avant, GS, CX, etc. (and yes, before you ask, I am including Saab and Alfa in this, as well as Ferrari, Jaguar, Lancia and a small handful of others), Citroën dominated (note past tense) the world of intelligently engineered everyday family motoring for decades, with the cleverly conceived Type H arguably being the king of all light commercial delivery vans.

Slow and ugly (to some, shame on you; have you no taste?!) with strong but light corrugated metal panels (inspired by the weight-saving corrugation used in war-time Junkers aircraft), allied to an exceptionally low floor and step to ease loading and improve head room, the iconic Citroën H enjoyed a low centre of gravity and short overhangs, which despite its pedestrian performance, gave the pioneering front-wheel-drive van exceptional handling, like a go-kart or 1960s Mini Cooper S. And all of this… in a van!

The versatile HY also offered enormous, useable interior space for its compact cubed exterior size, with easy in-cab engine access, plus that distinctive love it/hate it bluff nose styling, usually painted in a pleasingly neutral metallic silver/grey colour.

As quintessentially French as a beret, baguette and shoulder shrugs, the HY has been an intrinsic part of France’s life style and rural life for decades. The first models were released in 1947, with production continuing, largely unchanged, for 34 years, right through until 1981 and 473,289 examples later.

Affectionately dubbed le tub (the tube) in its native France, the HY of 1947 replaced the TUB van of 1939, a short-lived (1,748 units) and badly-timed front-wheel-drive van, launched just weeks ahead of the outbreak of the Second World War. Rather than simply resuming production of its capable 1939 TUB van post-war unchanged (as most rival European vehicle makers did), Citroën ambitiously set about developing an entirely new light commercial vehicle for the optimistic post-war era with its HY, the corrugated van and pick-up chassis immediately finding an eager audience of willing tradesmen buyers, with a long waiting list soon building for the Citroën.

Engineered alongside the equally significant and original 2CV of 1948, Citroën’s far-sighted engineers created arguably the most versatile, practical and honest commercial vehicle range ever made, making shorter-lived rivals such as the Volkswagen ‘Type 1’ Transporter and Ford Transit, seem less versatile and crudely-conceived by comparison.

The fact that HY production continued largely unaltered for 34 years, with demand still strong right into the early 1980s, when the vehicle should have been easily outclassed by younger competitors, including Citroën’s own C35 van of 1974, is strong testimony to the skill and prowess of the van’s early post-war engineering team.

Using Citroën’s pre-war 1.9-litre 55PS petrol engine and three-speed transmission from its pioneering 1934 Traction Avant (possibly the HY’s weakest element), le Tub was sluggish, although it offered considerably more usable power than its 1.2-litre VW Transporter rival, for example. The van’s distinctive corrugated flat panel coachwork was cunningly braced by ‘top hat’ box sections, mounted at right angles to the ribs. Using a unitary body construction with no separate frame (unheard of for a 1940s van), the Citroën benefitted from an unusually flat floor for low loading, with a generous 6ft/2m headroom, plus a welded floor robust enough to take the weight of a fully-grown working horse.

Despite its long-held cult status in many Continental European countries (especially France, the Netherlands and Japan), the HY has remained largely unknown in the UK, USA, Australia and other far-flung markets until quite recently, where thanks to the growing popularity of ‘pop-up’ street food vending outlets, many have chosen the Citroën due to its clever use of space, plus attention-grabbing idiosyncratic Gallic styling.

This strong demand for second-hand H vans to sell and serve coffee, pizza, baguettes and so on has seen the supply of affordable used examples now becoming scarce in France, with values climbing to sometimes eye-watering levels accordingly.

To help overcome this situation, some entrepreneurs have now resorted to producing GRP-bodied replicas and engineless HY trailers to serve sustenance to hungry tourists and festival goers, these often being crudely moulded directly from the body of a tatty old Citroën van. In Japan a series of HY-inspired light commercial vehicles, based around tiny Daihatsu and Suzuki Kei vans, have been available for some years, with an enterprising Italian coachbuilder (Caselani Automobili) now selling an HY body kit to craftily fit over the existing bodywork of a new Citroën Relay/Jumper panel van to replicate the 1947 vehicle’s looks, but with modern amenities. 

In happier times, I probably would have kept my old HY for life, but a recent lack of use, storage constraints (it’s quite a large thing to house under cover), plus a depleting post-pandemic bank balance, have all led to the regrettable sale of mon ami, mon vieux camionette. Along with my Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato, early Saab 99 Turbo Combi Coupe and Citroën Mehari, I suspect I will rue the day that I agreed to sell my beloved, delightfully original H-van for many years to come. Alors!