{"id":4633,"date":"2013-05-13T15:51:06","date_gmt":"2013-05-13T15:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/?p=4633"},"modified":"2013-05-13T15:51:06","modified_gmt":"2013-05-13T15:51:06","slug":"citroen-remembers-the-mehari-a-true-classic-turns-45","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/archives\/4633","title":{"rendered":"Citro\u00ebn Remembers The M\u00e9hari: A True Classic Turns 45"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_4634\" style=\"width: 330px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4634\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4634\" alt=\"Citro\u00ebn M\u00e9hari\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/citroen-mehari-1-sm.jpg\" width=\"320\" height=\"211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/citroen-mehari-1-sm.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/citroen-mehari-1-sm-300x197.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-4634\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Citro\u00ebn Diane 6 M\u00e9hari was made from 1968 until 1987. Almost 150,000 were produced and the vehicle took part in several major rallies.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Younger readers may wonder if the vehicle in the pictures was specially produced for a film &#8212; given the levels of refinement and safety engineering that are present in almost all modern cars and vans, it is indeed hard to imagine that this was a regular production model up until 26 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Citro\u00ebn Diane 6 M\u00e9hari, to give it its full name, was in production from 1968 until 1987, during which almost 150,000 examples were made.<\/p>\n<p>It was intended to be an all-purpose vehicle of the kind that rural dwellers often take to their hearts &#8212; as they did in this case.<\/p>\n<p>The roof was fully removable and the windscreen folded flat, meaning that the\u00a0M\u00e9hari could be used for all sorts of pick-up and van-like loads, as well as passengers.<\/p>\n<p>Although it looks flimsy to modern eyes, like the legendary\u00a0Citro\u00ebn 2CV, the\u00a0M\u00e9hari was tough, reliable and able to absorb surprising amounts of abuse.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4635\" style=\"width: 330px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4635\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4635\" alt=\"Citro\u00ebn M\u00e9hari\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/citroen-mehari-2-sm.jpg\" width=\"320\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/citroen-mehari-2-sm.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/citroen-mehari-2-sm-300x198.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-4635\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The M\u00e9hari&#8217;s ABS (plastic) bodywork meant that it could easily be produced in bright colours! The roof was removable and the windscreen could be folded flat, making it a surprisingly versatile load lugger.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It didn&#8217;t go rusty, either &#8212; at least, the bodywork didn&#8217;t &#8212; since it was made from ABS plastic.<\/p>\n<p>Citro\u00ebn M\u00e9hari models took part in the Li\u00e9ge-Dakar-Li\u00e8ge rally in 1969, the Paris-Kabul-Paris rally in 1970, the Paris-Persepolis-Paris rally in 1971 and provided medical assistance in the 1980 Paris-Dakar.<\/p>\n<p>The M\u00e9hari was even used by the French army as its lightweight design made it easy to parachute drop the car behind enemy lines.<\/p>\n<p>The model\u2019s name &#8211; M\u00e9hari &#8211; comes from a word used in North Africa and the Sahara for dromedary camels whose speed and endurance makes them ideal for the tough conditions in the area, enabling them to transport people and goods.<\/p>\n<p>Citro\u00ebn is marking the 45<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary of the\u00a0M\u00e9hari with a special exhibition at its C_42 showcase on the\u00a0Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es in Paris.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Citro\u00ebn M\u00e9hari turns 45 this year. Remember a classic &#8212; a true spiritual partner to the legendary Citro\u00ebn 2CV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[120,1704],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4633"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4637,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4633\/revisions\/4637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}