Talk about odd, here’s one for you, a 1975 Citroen Ami station wagon. And if you think you’ve seen it before, you have. My colleague, Scotty Gilbertson covered this car back in 2018 and it has now surfaced for sale yet again. The current owner says that it has been in his possession for six years so the math adds up. Having moved from Oakland, California to McMinnville, Oregon this weird wagon is available, here on craigslist for $6,850 (it was $4,200 back in ’18). Thanks are due to Kendra for this tip!
The Ami (friend) was a four-door, front-wheel-drive compact that Citroen offered between 1961 and 1978. Body styles included sedans and station wagons. Somewhere north of 1.8 M copies rolled off of assembly lines in Europe and South America. Calculating a straight average, that would mean about 100K Amis were produced per year—a pretty respectable count.
Now, to address the elephant in the room – that front end! Yeah, I know styling is always subjective but this baby looks like someone’s been whacking on it with the ugly stick. And to add to this car’s challenged bearing, it looks as if one of its bizarro headlights has been knocked out. I’m not sure why the front fenders are a different color than the rest of the body, and match the roof, but perhaps it’s the two-tone arrangement that was common to the Ami. The body, the passenger side in particular, is fairly banged up, and primer abounds. Six years ago, there was one small listing image of the driver’s side front door that revealed a notable dent. Now, the entire left side, from stem to stern is displayed and it appears that the offending damage has been repaired though the photographer’s shadow is obscuring possible fender damage. The seller suggests, “realy all it could use is a paint.” I suppose the decals are to project some sort of a rally car vibe, and if that were the intention, and call me superstitious, I would have chosen a door display other than “13”.
Power, sort of, comes in the form of a 602 CC, 2-cylinder boxer engine good for 32 HP. This diminutive motor is attached to a manual shift FWD transaxle and the seller states, “Excilent mecanical engine 602cc, runs and drive as it should…” One of the upsides to this less-than-robust powerplant is its claimed 65 MPG.
The interior is said to be new which I guess means new upholstery though the fitment of the brownish-tan vinyl seating surfaces looks more like a seat cover application than an actual redo. Regardless, it presents pretty well despite it being an overall primitive environment. And of course, this Ami is equipped with one of the oddest-looking steering tillers that I’ve encountered.
If you like the unusual, and I do to a point, this Citroen certainly has that characteristic going for it. When I spy a car like this, I always wonder what the buying motivation was – I’d posit that it wasn’t one of those, “Why did I do that?” moments considering a six-year ownership span. And, what’s the reason for a sale now, and what, other than maybe the new interior and a dent repair, has this second time around Citroen experienced since 2018? Whatever the case, if you gravitate towards the off-beat, here you go!
Excellent work, Jim, much better than the other version!
Ahh, the other version was great! Thx Scotty.
JO
This is like a Ford Consul 315 – so ugly it’s cool!
A friend of mine near Fort Bragg has one of these that
I saw when I was there about three months ago.
After seeing Captain Slow(James May) rally one of these with a “starlet” i’ve liked these,so quirky and cool.
The kind of car I come to Barn Finds for…. though not to heat it’s appearance be disparaged. Citroens of all models always have gone their own way. That’s what makes them great!!!! Love the Amis!
Ugly stick? More like the whole tree. And it’s safe to say with that fit and finish, this car isn’t going to pass the “rolling ball bearing” test. I can see those bearings dropping completely out of sight. And I’m positive that motor does run “as it should”..get out and push it up the hill. Still, if you like a car that will stick out like the proverbial sore thumb, this is definitely the car for you, also me if I had the room for it.
Oregon is a suitable environment for such car….weird people buy weird cars….🤣🤣….joking aside, I owned a similar model while in France in the mid ‘70s, wife and 2 young kids, truly an amazing automobile…roomy, comfortable, economical, sufficient power, great road manners….ugly for sure!
I think that the number on the door refers to the number of people remaining in the continental United States that know how to work on this car, or the number of months typically required to wait for parts to arrive from France… 🙂
Parts are no problem and super easy to work on. Mechanical parts are all 2CV. I think even the chassis is the same.
It is the same chassis/running gear. Ami Super chassis is different, though.
Fantastic cars, a lesson in how to make a sophisticated inexpensive car like no other ..their only drawback I found was the 602cc engine accessibility seemed overly complex. I put 20K km on a carb that had over 200K km. It used no oil and the oil stayed clean. Inboard disc brakes and self adjusting headlights and a brochure which says to drive it ” pied a planché” foot to the floor!
The “missing headlight” has lost its silvering from the reflector and will need replacing/re-silvering.
Ask Roy at ECAS!
I owned an Ami 8 Berline -71 in 1996, and used as my daily driver. It was reliable and quite fun but at the end a somewhat pointless car. In what way was it to be better than a 2CV6? Heavier body made it slower, engine access wasn’t as good and you lost the convertible roof.
I had a 1964 Ami 6 sedan. In Pink! Very comfortable car. Ugly as a dog’s behind.