We’ll have to take it easy just before the start of winter, because the roads will probably get a lot more boring soon when the classic stuff is stored warm and dry again. This beautiful Citroën Ami 8 Break will probably no longer be available.
If you have a classic Citroën, it is generally wise to protect it somewhat against the elements, although that is of course advisable for the majority of the classics. There is therefore a good chance that this Ami 8 will soon be covered with a canvas, or that it will be allowed to spend a few months in a garage. Fortunately, it is not that far yet and look what wonderful pictures it produces, in the watery autumn sun. We thank AutoWeek reader Ate de Vries for the photos!
The Ami smiles at you with its cheerful blue color, which is beautiful on it. Here you will most likely see the result of a recent restoration. As far as it can be distinguished in the photos, it is an Ami in a condition as you would like it to be. Perhaps the restoration work was only recently carried out, because the Ami has only been in the Netherlands for just over a year. This is often a car from France that has been refurbished to perfection here.
Although the Ami with its more modern and, as a Break, especially more spacious carriage formed a higher-ranking alternative to the 2CV in the market, it secretly concealed very simple technology. The Ami was directly related to the 2CV and also had a very modest two-cylinder boxer engine in its nose. That was immediately a bit of an Achilles’ heel for the Ami: certainly the Breaks were purchased as a family car at bunches, but you didn’t have to expect that you would be transported very quickly or to your destination.
Anyway, it was nice and cheap and you drove in any case also striking. Because the Ami has always been a special thing to see. Certainly the primal Ami, the Ami 6, which, as a Berline, had the very striking slanted rear window hidden under a kind of ‘roof’. The later Ami 8 looked significantly more conventional at the back. Incidentally, the Ami would remain in production for another three years after the appearance of this blue one. The curtain only fell in 1978, after 17 years. There was still a clear reminder of the old origin of the model: just below the grille you see a recess for the crank handle. Incidentally, you could also just start this Ami from the inside with the key.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl