1973 Citroën Ami Super Break
No Reserve - Entered from the Dering Collection

Registration No: EUF 910L
Chassis No: 00JG7828
MOT: Exempt

• Entered from the Dering Collection, the property of a gentleman racing driver
• A rare 1015cc flat-four Ami Super 'Break' with many original fittings
• Subject to much expenditure in the present ownership

SALE ROOM NOTICE: Please note, this is incorrectly catalogued as having been fitted with a 5-speed gearbox, and is currently fitted with a 4-speed unit.

Introduced in April, 1961, the Ami was a revised, enlarged, and more streamlined version of Citroën's immortal 2CV, the latter ranking alongside the Volkswagen Beetle, Mini, and Land Rover as one of the classic mass-produced cars of the post-war era. The duo shared essentially the same platform chassis and all-independent suspension, though the Ami was initially only offered with Citroën’s 602cc flat-twin. Arriving on the scene four months ahead of its hotly anticipated Renault 4 rival, both the Renault and the Ami had been conceived to cater for a maturing market that required a vehicle slightly larger, better equipped and less basic than the Spartan 2CV. Highlighting the Ami's leisure potential, its advertisements featured photographs of the easily removable seats being used as picnic chairs.

The Ami Super was launched in 1973 and featured a flat-four 1,015cc engine from the GS. The Super had a power output of some 55bhp against the Ami 8's 32bhp, and its surprising performance figures and relatively quaint looks meant that Autocar magazine described it as a "Q-car par excellence." Ami Super production reached close to 42,000 units in saloon (berline) and estate (break) forms before production ended in February, 1976.

Perhaps the most unusual exhibit in the Dering Collection, this charming Citroën Ami Super was built in France on May 21st, 1973, as confirmed by a letter on file from Citroën UK. It was imported in August, 2000, by Mr. Daras Rich, a respected 2CV specialist and proprietor of RetroSpec Parts, who spent the six years of his ownership carrying out a number of sensitive modifications and upgrades while preserving the car’s highly original cosmetic condition.

Correspondence from Mr. Rich reveals that he installed a tuned engine from a 1980s Citroën GSA (fundamentally the same unit as used in the Ami Super and GS), plus a five-speed “long fourth” gearbox from a 1979 G Spécial. We note among the invoices the purchase of a GSA 1.3 clutch friction plate in 2005. The brakes were also upgraded to the discs from the Citroën Axel 1.3, with Mr. Rich having the callipers specially made by a local engineer.

After 2006, the Ami changed hands a few times before it was acquired in 2008 for the collection of the vendor, a well-known gentleman racing driver. Not having been on the road since 2009, it will require some light recommissioning, but the vendor advised he has invested much money in mechanical work during his ownership, and his local garage has described it as "a very solid machine showing no corrosion issues." It still presents in lovely order, with the sort of rustic patina which so becomes old French cars and an impressively original interior including well-preserved seats under the seat covers, plus rare and intact rubber floor mats. It was fitted with a set of new tyres in 2015, and is sold with the current V5C, correspondence from Citroën UK and Daras Rich, a selection of invoices and MOTs spanning 2000 to 2008.

For more information, please contact:
Lucas Gomersall
lucas.gomersall@handh.co.uk
07484 082430