Sunday, July 28, 2019

"Citroën Sabotaged Wartime Nazi Truck Production in a Simple and Brilliant Way"

From Jalopnik:
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ftYJK5tO--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/ccidmjbfhq9qautxe8sn.png
In case you forgot to change the batteries in your calendar, you may not be aware that this year is the 100th anniversary of Citroën. We’ve been shooting a Jason Drives special mini-series for this centenary, and while doing some research I happened to stumble upon a fascinating bit of wartime Citroën lore. It involves screwing with Nazis in a genuinely clever and subtle way that nevertheless had big repercussions. I’ll explain.

So, when France was occupied by the Germans in 1940, major French factories like Citroën were forced to produce equipment for the Nazis. Citroën president Pierre-Jules Boulanger knew he couldn’t just refuse to produce anything, but he also knew there’s no way in hell he’s going to just roll over and build trucks for a bunch of filthy Nazis. Pierre had a plan....MORE
The 'Pierre had a plan' link goes to the design mavens at Core77:

A Brief History of Citröen, Part 1: Ignoring War and Sabotaging Nazis on Their Way to Producing Funky, Iconic Cars

https://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2014/09/0citroen1-001.jpg

Lots of pics.