The Infamous Citroen Ami Monaco Crash Explained

Despite the Citroen Ami Having just 8 horsepower and a 0-60 of never,
it's got itself into a fair few scrapes over it's short time on public roads.
Since it's release in 2020, Ami's have been caught
twerking on teslas, drifting in car parks and getting up to
all kinds of other juvenile activities.
There's something really endearing about the Ami.

Me and Mon Ami:

It doesn't take itself too seriously, and sort of exudes
this goofy, loveable personality just like the mk1 mx5 and volkswagen lupo have.
Now the Ami is one of few cars which still manages to look quite comical even in a crash.
Today, we're going to talk about the infamous citroen ami flip in monaco.

It's pretty remarkable, if you haven't seen it yet take a look.
Interestingly, despite the Ami being limited to just 28 miles per hour,
and having most of its weight at the bottom giving it a low centre of gravity,
this absolute mad lad managed to roll the thing over, smacking it into a bollard.
Don't worry, no one was injured too seriously by the way, but for one of the occupants it was a very close call.
Doctors told the passenger if the impact had been slightly different he could have been paralysed.

I don't really know if this counts as a car crash really, given that it's
technically a quadracycle, which might give my European viewers a hint as to who was at the wheel of the Ami.

So, what exactly led up to the crash, and what happened afterwards?
The story is actually surprisingly strange and a little funny despite it no doubt being
a little scary for the two occupants.

The passenger was a young car spotter by the name of Raphael Sky, who had already amassed a decent following on tiktok before the crash.
Luckily, he gave an interview to the guys over on the Me and Mon Ami channel,
which is largely how we can piece together the context of the crash.

Go and follow both them and Raphael by the way, I'll leave links in the description.
If it wasn't for them coming together, we wouldn't know nearly as much as we do now about exactly what happened.

Raphael was car spotting that day, when he met another spotter who he hadn't met before.
He said when he saw the Ami driving around in Monaco, it was the first he had ever seen.
The other man took note of Raphael's interest in the car and asked if he wanted a ride around in it.
Of course, Raphael excitedly agreed.

They did a couple of rounds arund the famous Monaco hairpun bend, bombing up and down the hill
at never before seen speeds.
The third lap was the one where the car rolled.
Presumably, the driver wanted to show off a bit as many blokes tend to do when they've got a passenger they wanted
to impress.

Well, I say bloke. In reality, the unnamed driver was actually a 16 year old. Since the Ami is a quadricycle and not a car, it can be driven without a full drivers
licence which is what makes them a popular vehicle among teenagers.
As anyone with a younger brother knows though, 16 year old lads are morons and the guy clearly didn't understand how physics works just yet.
The car began tipping, and before long it was on its side, and we all know what happened after that.

But what happened after that?

Firstly, the injuries.
Raphael was on the side which hit the ground, so he took the brunt of the crash.
He banged his head and needed a few stitches, and hurt his hand. He also had some neck pain for a while afterwards.
Luckily, he was wearing his seatbelt because he didn't entirely feel safe putting his life in the hands
of a kid.

In Monaco, it's not actually a legal requirement to wear a seatbelt, but Raphael said this acted as a pretty strong reminder
to belt up for your own safety every time you get in a car.

Now, onto the teenager.
He luckily escaped completely unharmed.

Shortly after news of the crash got around, the fire brigade and police arrived.
The 16 year old reportedly received a massive bollocking from his parents, unsurprisingly.
He also got a bollocking from the police.

Given the video was filmed so well and the Ami shouldn't really be able to roll this easily, many people initially
thought they had deliberately flipped the car as a meme, but Raphael categorically confirmed that this was in fact not the case.
This particular spot in Monaco is where dozens of car spotters film during the day, so it was inevitable that at least
one person would have filmed it.

It's thought that the Ami was an insurance write off, since just about every panel on the thing was smashed up.
Generally in France cars like this don't tend to get repaired since it makes no financial sense to do so.

And there you have it, that's the story behind the infamous monaco ami crash.
I should have known it was a kid driving.
My initial assumption was that it was a well off Monaco local who thought it would be funny to try and roll one.

[TheEulerID]

Put two males into into a vehicle weighing just 485 kg, and that centre of gravity is going to be raised rather a lot, especially when one of them is rather on the large size. Put him on the right hand side of a very tight left hand bend, and tipping over becomes a distinct possibility, not matter how little power the vehicle has (particularly with gravity on its side).

[OLDSACKS]

Citroën in the 1950s: Here is the 2CV, it is virtually unrollable. Should it actually happen, we give it to you for free.
Citroën in the 2020s: Here is the Ami. Reaching the urban speed limit can result in death, or worse, a voided warranty.

[michaeln]

Maybe the funniest crash ever recorded

[nighttimer]

This crash is so funny because there's so many POV of the crash online, there's even inside the Ami

[G-performance]

hats off to Citroen for making this thing crazy strong enough to be moronproof ! (the steel pole should have crushed the roof structure ! impressive. kids are safe in this)

[Baguenaudeur]

Its funny how huge that turn actually is because when you watch the Grand Prix F1 cars make it look like its incredibly tight!

[butwhytharum]

that crash is comical
but the one angle shows literally how close the passenger came to being killed/paralized when it hit that pole

[legoferrari]

I mean, if you're gonna crash somewhere, you might as well do it at the most iconic corner of all motorsport; the Monaco Grand Hotel Hairpin!

[Viszayy]

As soon as I herd twerking on teslas I was sold

[ElderlyAnteater]

This is so well put together and has no clickbait or nonsense whatsoever. Thank you for the great video my friend

[marco_grt]

The Ami is one of type of vehicles that can roll easily due to wheelbase and height like Smart Fortwo and Fiat 500

[michaeltba]

The 16yo driver has no doubt been through this corner a gazillion times at possibly even greater speed, but he didn't have the experience to recognise how the weight of the passenger would affect his stability.

[BigTingOreoBiscuit]

I’m convinced this channel is gonna blow up soon the consistency of these videos is like one of a channel with a 20x the subs! Keep it up man

[loich]

I was not expecting this crash spotlight, but hell yeah!

[MIGBMWLOVER]

I am an F1 enthusiast and car spotter but I am not stupid, that hairpin gives professional drivers a hard time let alone a 16year old with no license.

[deemdoubleu]

I was in a double flip accident in a fibreglass Reliant Supervan back in the early 1970's. Holes gouged in both sides but they flipped it back on its wheels and we drove it 200 miles home.

[DanakarEndeel]

If you buy a shopping cart for a car, don't expect you're suddenly a pro driver.

"16 year old lads are morons" = FACTS!

[fugu]

Back in the 1970s there was an Citroen Ami but that car was based on the same chassi as the 2CV.
My father did own two Citroen Ami stationwagon.

[Giitzerland]

That reminded me of when Jeremy Clarkson rolled the Reliant Robin :D

[superaviation]

Clicked on this instantly when I saw this was your video, keep up the good work and the good videos! Really love these