The Citroën Mehari 4x4 Is Perfect for People Who Wish Jeeps Were More Like Kiddie Pools
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- Опубликовано: 25 авг 2024
- The Mehari was one of those now-rare “fun cars,” rugged and cheap variations of popular economy cars that could be used off-road, but weren’t as serious as a hardcore Jeep or other off-roader. They were just silly, enjoyable cars to have a good time in with a minimum of care. Oh we also try to roll a 2CV.
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Chile had it's own Mehari called the Citroen "Yagan" which was Allende's people's car, which ended up being used as a military vehicle after the coup much like the Mehari. The Yagan had a hand made metal body instead of plastic and they only made about 1500 units.
The Yagan was part of Citroëns FAF program, there were several iterations for different parts of the world but al were aimed at developing countries.
I don't know about that, but the VW thing was developed, both as a people's car, for sale in Mexico, and a fun car, for sale in California.
YES!!! I'm so happy to see more Jason Drives:) Thanks Jalopnik folks.
Sorry to be off topic but does any of you know of a tool to log back into an instagram account??
I was dumb lost my password. I would love any help you can offer me.
@Zeke Malachi Instablaster =)
@@zekemalachi2899 password reset.
Didn't do anything with the mehari that a normal 2cv can't...
Flip the windshield down so you don't have to de-ice it in winter? (but you have to wrap up real warm)
Well it doesn't rust, that's about it I guess
@@s4n714g000 oh yea it does, and the plastic decays too...
Actually it isn't a fun car, it's a Military Vehicle.... Yes its origins come from the need for a light but virtually indestructible military vehicle for use primarily in the Sahara. Virtually unobtainable sadly, it is a great fun car but had immense difficulty with crash regulations so never became a viable civilian car.
One final point. You don't cast plastic. It is moulded. Important yes as they are vastly different processes with considerable cost differences.
Great video 👍👍👍👍👍
You don't cast thermoplastics. Thermosetting polymers (still a plastic in layman's terms since it's a polymer) like acrylic and epoxy are cast.
So, I'm not really clear... Is it a fun car or is it not?
It's a fun resort/beach car that started as a light military vehicle. They almost all do. Mini Moke, Jeep, VW Thing. Beetle-based beach buggies are actually the exception to the rule.
@@belliduradespicio8009 I have once (but only 2 wheels drive) I it’s just too fun to drive around une southern France
@@belliduradespicio8009 OMG, that's the only reason I know about this car, watched Gendarme movies with my dad when I was 7 or 8. Loved them, 'Gendarme and Aliens' is my favorite one. Rest in piece Louis De Funes.
Jason, could we have a video of the Mehari 4 x 4 really tackling some real off road stuff please.
There are two expressions for body roll and 2CV drivers...
"The limit of the road holding is when the door handles dig in!!!" - never actually happens except in 2CV Cross motorsport.
"You can tell a 2CV driver by gravel rash on their elbows!"
A slalom of a 2CV at speed is real motoring Rock & Roll... Please try it...
Great fun.
I always wondered what the Canis Kalahari was based off of...
There should also be a Citroën sm in gta v, forgot which one but you were able to get it with the updates on ps3 in your garage and found them everywhere on ps4
I was about to say just that XD
@@benonwheels8481 pigalle
Another Citroen,Jason?! Gosh I love You! Please keep them coming!
Used to have a FWD Mehari.
That was one fun little romper stomper.
please, you can do a video form the citroen dyane 6
Jason: "It was one of the only independently suspended 4 wheel drive vehicles out there."
Subaru owners: "Oh, really?"
The Citroen Mehari started production in 1968... What 4WDs were Subaru making back then?
@@adelaidejones2346 - According to Wikipedia, the Mehari was only made as a 4x4 from 1979 to 1983. I personally remember 4x4 Subaru's as early as 1976 (my family had one), and Wikipedia shows a 1972 Subaru Leone 4x4. Seems that Subaru beat out just about everyone to the 4x4 car market segment.
You know what 'one of the...' means, though, right?
The really weird thing about these 2CV and cousins is that you check the oil, put some gas in and drive, drive, drive - they didn't break down or stop from defects unless you hat a horrible workshop (which were quite common, alas). I loved these things. Spoiled a clutch in Sardegna mountains - new disc, 40 minutes of work, that's it. There were rusty screws making repair time this long.
Making that into a mower is actually a really really good idea, tell that young man that's a fantastic idea.
Citroen's return to America, is in Lawnmowers...
Honda, BEWARE!!!
Awesome video!! Fantastic little car I never knew existed!!
Hats off to Adam and Erica too!!! Well done!!
Just to set things straight. The Mehari is based on the Dyane, not the 2cv. BUT the 2cv, Dyane, Mehari and AMI 6 & 8 are all a-models and based on the same platform. The 2cv was just the first on that platform. The AMI Super has it's own platform as it had the GS 4 cyl boxer
Some Citroën cars are pure magic!
I think all Citroën cars from before roughly 1985 are very interesting.
@the Game, Review and Reallife Channel I thought the same when I was a kid. Then I found how CX, DS and XM are beautiful. Now I understand how 2CV and Mehari are also beautiful. I know it could sound strange but that is how it is.
@the Game, Review and Reallife Channel It's typical semi-military utility vehicle styling of the era, very much like the VW Kübel or DKW Munga
@the Game, Review and Reallife Channel even in poison green or orange you want that "ugly" car. On of the few open top cars when it rains it doesn't matter at all
@Gibbon Well, not death or dismemberment, maybe.
I once saw a Citroën Méhari parked near my apartment and was fascinated. The anti-rollover feature is awesomely amazing. As an appreciator of the 4x6 Gator work vehicle I'd love one of these.
Jason: ‘no matter how many doughnuts I do..’ -you’re being a bit optimistic right there
This two-piece-backcover is *not* by Citroën, it is an accessory made by someone else.
When the Méhari 4×4 was in the showroom at Strassbourg, I inspected every detail of it. Unfortunately I lacked the money to buy one. It even had disc brakes at the back (just like the front) mounted to the differential, not in the wheels. The kardan driving shaft was placed inside the platform frame, there was no tunnel in the passenger room. Later they made a military version with the better 650 cm³ Citroën visa engine with electronic ignition, more torque at low RPM rate and a mileage today's car owners dream of.
Jason always epitomizes the JOY of driving... except when he almost makes himself puke. 🤣
6:10 OMG I suffered for this light driver's door.
That Citroen Mehari is awesome to owned kinda reminds me a GTA V car Canis btw the car body panel made by Lego plastic material
The Canis Kalahari is a fun little off-roader in GTAV, and a cheap one to buy too at $40k. I own one, and it can climb Mt. Chiliad's mountain trail with relative ease (even while stock) and handles really well. Though the only downside is that you are really exposed to gunfire (especially with the topless variant), which limits it's use in free-roam when there are tryhards and snipers on nearly every corner.
None the less, it's a really good GTA representation of the Citroën Mehari.
Well it is based on one haha
@@VoltTackle11 You bought one? You could just steal one if you wait at the highway exit near the beach lol.
Well you can actually smelt a Lego brick in acetone and repair a crack in body with it 😉
I saw this in the 1971 film The Omega Man with Charlton Heston. He played a character named Dr. Neville.
Great movie, one of my favourite 'I am legend' movie adaptations.
2:40 in the background isn't that the VW RCR reviewed? :'D
Why has everything suddenly become loosely related to a Citroen Mehari?...
I vividly remember a colleague of my father driving a similar yellow Mehari in the 80s. The man was over 2 meters tall and didn't fit under the canvas top, so he ended up driving without the canvas top. As it rains regularly in the Netherlands he always kept a raincoat nearby.
Oh and the 2cv used to do Donuts has a Dutch license plate from the mid 70s
the other gray 1st generation 2CV with canvas booth has the old style blue Dutch license plate.
After the French we Dutch are the most Citroen minded.
@@obelic71 Must be the origins of the master I guess! :)
The only good show on jalopnik
Best summer weekend car there is 👌🏼
the old 2CV factory was off limits to photographers rumor of a worker with a special made boot kicked the hood to align the latch mechanism, hiding a embarrassing method but effective I suppose yet not be exposed
You can roll each 2CV (and every other car) when you are fast enough. On a parking lot this is difficult, I agree. And the inboard brake discs (drums on the earlier 2CV-models) are a crap when you need to change them since you have to remove the axle drive shafts - and that's no fun. How do I know? A 2CV4 was my first car... By the way - do not shut the doors too powerful with open windows. They tend to slip out of the clamp and when you have your arm outside, the window will hit your hand or elbow. Ouch! How do I know? ...
I was looking for the window comment, hah!
If your window holder-upper-clamp-thingy is a bit loose, a hard turn will have the same effect and yes, many-a 2CV owner's fingers and elbows have been brutally hit over the years by that french door trap. :-)
Removing the axle drive shafts is no such a big issue. 6 bolts each side. And replacing front disc brakes pads is a breeze, you just need a flat screwdriver and it takes 30 seconds each side.
Brilliant
Ever tried a Burton from Burton motors (Netherlands) it's also a 2cv chassis
brings me back to my youth, when my drunk grandpa was driving me around in his white mehari...
the 2cv you test on 5:24 is not road legal with that dutch number plate. This license plate is unknown by the government..?
Great video :) I wonder what would have happened if you had driven the car clockwise so that your body was on the outside, exerting more centrifugal force?
Doesn’t really matter which Way you turn. I Think all 2cv owners have tried at least once. (At least all young males 😇).
I had a 2cv AZU fourgeonnette and we tested it on a small country road in a t-crossing.
Full speed (70-80 kph) and turning right at the crossing. Great fun.
Eventually it just understeered into the field, but that is no problem for a 2cv.
Lovely charming car.
Oh, the brakes at the differential is not such a bad idea, it reduces the weight of the wheels. I suspect they just took the front differential and stripped it of the gearbox and engine.
Unique and beautiful car 👍😊
On a related note, if you think that’s weird, check out the U.K.-only Citroen 2CV-based ‘Bijou’.
Pls where can i get one to buy?
I live in Nigeria.
My dad once had one.
I love the Dr. Cox hair.
I would really enjoy that little Plastic truck. Roll up to Lowe’s or Home Depot with that thing
Jaguar had inboard rear breaks as well .?
You really should do a video on the Vanclee Mungo. A friend of mine owns one.
The 2 parts of the flatbed are also part of a hard top.
Think the kids got the idea.... Lol lawn mower. Be a pretty cool little plow truck for parking lots in the winter.
Looks better than a UTV.
It's what the Mini Moke should have been.
Trying to make a Citroen roll will normally not cause nausea to the driver. Maybe Torch as well as Otto (he looks unhappily pale) had a bug?
Sporting the Squiggy look? :)
6:45 Try that in a Reliant Robin,
Why does the 2cv still has the Dutch license plate?
So it's like a roofless Crosstrek with half the engine?
Do you have it for sale?, thanks.
*recognize the looks from GTA V* Holy shit it does exist....
市販車で初めてABS樹脂製ボディーを採用した2CV派性の小型MPV
Alright, give that kid back to his parents now!
Well that's not the case in which the car would roll over. I would be more likely to happen when you have an impulse caused by a sudden shift in loading. That said it may still not roll over.
Kanis Kalahari?
Is Jason gonna be ok? Does he bring the kid along because that’s his replacement when he dies? Where does he get all these cars? How can I get to drive some of these?
Most of them are at the lane motor museum. He finds them at other museums and random car collections
the mehari is a variant of the citroen dyane 6, the little brother of the 2cv, is was produced to sustitue the 2cv, because the sells of the 2cv down comparate the ranult 4, the competitor of the 2cv, but, the dyan
e isn´t popural than the 2cv.
All Hail Torch!
Cant it just like.. melt?
So basically it’s a golf cart.
MAHARI ?!?!
sorry, but going around in circles at this speed would not roll over even one of those kei vans that are taller than wide.
You son is named Otto, was that a play on "Auto"? Not making fun or trying to be mean..just curious. If it were a family name or just a name you guys like pretty wild given your job. Thank you.
PS. Good to see you "bring him to work." Advice, Enjoy him all you can at this age...they grow up amazingly fast."
SEATBELTS!!!!
The 2CV , when a BUG is too much car
Objectively is the 2cv a much more advanced car as the VW Bug... the 2cv project starts in 1936 as "TPV", first prototype rolls in 1937 (34 others was built), first preserie of 250 TPV was built in 1939, but never sale because debut of ww2, 246 from this new cars was destroyed, only 4 survive, hidden in the Citroën test center+ 1 mini pick up (main differences VS 2cv:aluminium body, water cooled flat twin engine)...The 1948 2cv was a improvement from the 1939 TPV...
I was wondering if he was going to🤮, years ago one of the lads on TG was larking about and did🤣
Plastique
Silly enyobale car? This takes you with ease across the Sahara Desert high dunes and Fesch Fesch sand no stock jeep have a chance on! If you stuck two guys recover it with ease .This car was built for military conquare wildest trails in Africa,South America Jungle ,Rocky trails in the Alps (complete skid plate under the car from bumper to bumper) the Mehari have even a rear axel locker no jeep got this in century when the Mehari was built. The Mehari 4x4 was built for though use on small only ATV size passabel Trails. You can transport 6 people 1/4 of fuel a Jeep takes offroad.Watch for 2CV 4x4 (near the same drivetrain) offroad and be amazed what this "silly enjoyabel" car be able to perform in offroad "competition" ha ha!
Why did he say Citroen like that? Is that how Americans say it?
Worth noting you can buy a brand new electric one in Europe
How much are they? What does it cost to have shipped here to the United States?
@@jimmccarley3191 The E-Mehari has just been discontinued and looks very different compared to the original, although it retains the same concept of a steel frame with plastic body panels. FWD only though. Price was around 25 grand, which was a bit much for a vehicle that was initially sold (keep in mind this came out in 2016) without airbags and even ABS, which were only added later. It only produced 68hp (briefly for overtaking - normally it's just 48) and had a range of just 100 to 200km (60 to 120 miles).
You can not import these into the US due to the 25 year rule.
@@no1DdC Thanks, that is the only thing I have seen that really sparked my interest. I thought the new jeep Gladiator might be a pickup to consider but they are so disappointing to me. I think they are way over priced and who can they they would want one even at half the price? I like the idea of a plastic body. I would think it would hold up as well as some of these new model vehicles and it just looked cool.
Not the e-mahari, that was just a badge engineered something else. The Club Cassis Electric Eden is a ‘real’ mehari. Limited speed for legal reasons as it’s registered as a ‘quadricycle’ but I’ve been led to believe it can be opened up a bit.
"Sit true in?" It's pronounced, Citroen, as in "sitrone"
Citroën (SIT TRO EN)
Yeah... No
Why is he. and more importantly the young boy, not wearing the seatbelts?
They wouldn't help anyway
Duncan Macpherson Seatbelts weren’t in all cars at the time it was manufactured.
His son has a lap belt in
Duncan Macpherson - They’re wearing lap belts.
Stop saying Sit-Roh-En, ffs.
That's how it's pronounced though.
@@armink9686 Aww crap. You're right. Even though I've spent quite a lot of time in France I've never heard it pronounced like that. It sounded strikingly wrong to my ears. Anyway, I was about to tell you that you were wrong too but thought I ought to just double check. Turns out I'm a dumb ass, lol. I retract my original complaint, please carry on. :)
I hi
pass owning that
Please do not vomit in the nice French car.
Is there a reason for pronouncing Citroen “cit-ro-en”? Isn’t it just cit-tren
Dom Cradick You should hear Americans try to pronounce Peugeot!
Rev Counter oath, seeing Doug Demuro pronounce it as Poo-geut makes me wince
@@belcopride Purr-go, Pew-joe, Pwer-joot, the list goes on!
In France we do say the o in Citroën
In french we pronounce " sit - ro - enn "
Just like Moke
but the mehari is bigger, MUCH MORE comfortable and can make real hard 4x4 ...the moke doest because small wheels and low ground clearance
Do your research please, the mehari 4x4 is NOT cheap, not in France at least.
Elle était pas cher à l'époque c'est ça qu'il veut dire
@@randylahey3988 non, la Mehari 4x4 était très chère à l'époque, ça coûtait juste un peu moins cher qu'une Jeep ...
@@leneanderthalien ah oui peut être pour la version 4x4, sans doute mais je parlais pour la méhari de base
@@leneanderthalien sauf que certain militaire m'ont dit qu'ils préféraient conduire des Méhari que des Jeep