14 Dec 06
Citroen
For a company known for its experimental approach, Citroen got into the aeronautical world oddly late. It's less surprising that this belated entry sprang from - what else? - its ill-fated rotary engine project. This dated back to a co-venture with Wankel specialists NSU, established in 1964, when the Comotor plant built 260 M35 prototypes, Ami 8s fitted with the Birotor engine and the hydropneumatic suspension of the upcoming GS. Trials satisfied Citroen that the rotary engine had a commercial future in the GS - but by the time the GS Birotor was launched in 1973, the oil crisis put paid to any demand of a car which could barely return 18mpg, and fewer than 900 Birotors were built.
But Citroen had other plans for the Comotor 622 Birotor engine, and wasn't going to give up on it, so teamed up with helicopter-maker Charles Marchetti. The idea was to produce a low-cost helicopter, and the signs were good: the advanced, lightweight two-seat RE1 was praised for its elegant design, its power and smoothness, and it completed 200 successful test flights. However, the Birotor engine was still just too thirsty, even by aviation standards, and the project was eventually shelved in 1979.
Even odder are the independently made Citroen-powered aircraft still around today: essentially ultra-light kit craft one step up from gliders and microlights, there are a number of designs using the two-cylinder 602cc 2CV engine. An Ontario-based firm called Holbrook & Israel is offering the reconditioned Thunderchief 602, fitted in craft including its L'il Buzzard two-seater. L'il Buzzard is even available with floats to give seaplane capability.
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