1975 Citroen Ami Super Goes for a Drive

The Citroen Ami Super, described (by me) as France's Mini Cooper, was a muscle car in all but cc, taking a bigger engine and shoehorning it into an unlikely body, and that was a good thing.

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[deniseheard]

I bought a 1973 model Citroën ami 8 in London in 1977. My husband and I drove it all over Europe. Including Scandinavia and all the way into Moscow then out through Poland. Five months and 12000 miles later returning back to London. The most amazing car ever. Cheers from New Zealand 🇳🇿

[devlad]

Just imagining Hubnut sitting bolt upright when this video went live.

[EuroScot]

First car I owned, about '76 to '79, was an Ami 8 Estate (602cc twin) - pre-owned by in-laws. A great little car and so simple to work on for a novice. Rusted like crazy - as did most cars of this era - but with the bolt on wings available cheaply, that was easily fixable. Like many people, I hunted for the distributor until I finally realised it didn't have one! Duh!! The flat twin just sends the spark to both cylinders full time. My wife got the car up to an indicated 90 downhill one day when the power cut out. It turned out the contact breaker self-destructed at that speed. Simplest safety speed-limiter I've ever come across!
Only other significant problem was one morning on the way to work. Suddenly, it sounded as if World War 3 had broken out under the bonnet. On investigation, I found the centre mounting bolt for the big plastic air fan had come undone and was rattling around in the metal housing. Think a 50 pence coin in a washing machine on spin with no clothes in. 20 seconds with the socket set and I was back on the road. I loved that car. So few things to go wrong and so simple to fix.

[plugman]

I had one of these Ami Supers. My mum bought one second hand in around 1980. She passed it on to me after I passed my test in 1981. PEH909M was the reg.
I loved it. Went like a missile, practical, good on fuel and great for taxiing all my mates around. Reliable as well, only thing that had to be replaced on it was the alternator. Oh, and the wiper linkage broke one time while I was in Devon and was just about to drive back to Birmingham. It was pouring with rain. Stopped at a garage to borrow a few tools, managed to pull the dash far enough back to hand operate the wiper linkage! Did that all the way back to Brum while driving!! There I managed to remove the linkage and have it welded. Also remember the brakes had no servo assist, really had to stamp on that pedal!
Sadly wrote it off after falling asleep at the wheel while driving on the M5 at about 2 in the morning. Thankfully only me involved.
Great memories.

[WWarped]

I just knew you would adore the car before I pressed play. Something about this era of French basic cars, Renault 4, Peugeot 403, Panhard 17, etc... They were just a joy. They didn't bother packing the car with features and the odd luxury. It was functional and minimal, I like it. Possibly something manufactures could learn from today with the new breed of electric vehicles. Go back to basics, not everything needs a tablet on the dash, and a host of features that will never get used. If you get chance you have to drive a Citroen Bijou. Great video, loved it.

[timelwell]

This is my kind of car. I used to have an Ami 8 Estate - not as fast as this, of course - but huge fun to drive and bursting with character.

[grayfool]

I had one! It was brilliant fun. You treat the go pedal as an on/off switch, flat to the floor or completely off. You should have openend one of the air vents, they blast you with tornado force wind. Usually with a shower of road dirt too. My favourite game was trying to see how fast I could get it to go round a roundabout before running out of steering lock. Yeah, it understeered quite a bit. Brilliant stuff Matt. Thanks for bringing back all those memories.

[paulie-Gualtieri.]

I like how some older cars fall into the Hubnut class by default.

[johnwaga]

I love Citroens from that era. My father had a GS and I also drove the 2CV, Dyane and Ami. Full of character and so much fun!

[walterbeaumont]

My Dad always said there were three ways to engineer something. The right way, the wrong way and the French way.

[einzylinder]

One of our lecturers at Tech College had a 602 Ami estate. We fitted a 'marked' set of points to it and then, with only adjustment allowed, let him go as long as they would function. 49, 000 miles later, the points were finally changed.

[kensherwood]

A neighbour had the Super saloon "M" reg, every time he cranked it over to start it with a roar of the cooling fan my Dad would say "Derek's starting the bomber!". I loved it, got a GSA then several BX's. You brought back some memories, including the time they bought a new rear wing and unbolted the old one and fitted the new one in a few hours on the drive

[marcusrawlinson]

Great!! Well done. These cars, 2cv's, Diane's and ami's are all too often written off as quirky French wierdos but the engineering is exceptional and so rational when you own one. You have to perform a kind of mental phase shift because we are conditioned by conventional cars, but once done the remorseless logic of these cars falls into place. They are a joy!

[steveberridge]

Love this little car ! 1970s French cars were just so cool ! As a child I always preferred them to almost anything else - apart from an Alfasud which was my absolute favourite.

[AndreiTupolev]

Citroën management meeting: "Le 2CV isn't quite eccentric enough, we feel, mesdames et messieurs. What we really ought to do is restyle it so it looks REALLY weird."

[keithmatthews]

I had an Ami 8 and I wish I still had it. Remarkable machines!

[planestrainsdogsncars]

Through rose coloured glasses this is to all intents a Citroen GS wagon,
but it certainly has its own charm , never sold in
However I must say the bonnet of the earlier Ami 6 looks like it was
hand formed on an anvil by a Bohemian glass blower with a hangover.
It would have been perfect in Mr Hulot's Mon Oncle or Traffic.

[MarkLeeds]

Basically my first car - bright yellow 1972 Ami 8 estate. Great car [faster than a 2CV] They couldn't half rust! Same upholstery - If you took the back seat out [didn't fold] you could get a ton of stuff in! Body roll wasn't too bad - a friends Renault 5 was far worse! Even in the 602cc version the front brake pads lasted about 9000 miles [but simple to change]

[maxidyne]

Love these quirky cars! That makes this channel unique and interesting. Keep them coming Matt.

[nickhaag]

Nice I have a 1969 Ami 6 break with the four headlights and reclining seats. Luxury!