Citroen H Vans - where do they come from??

[mcgandalf]

I fell in love with these lovely old buses years ago when I was a wee nipper and my Dad found me one happily rusting away in the undergrowth in a wood somewhere in the Auvergne.

For about 20 years I saw maybe two on the roads. There were rumours that a few were in daily use by farmers deep in La France Profonde but I never saw any. Last manufactured in 1979 as I recall.

Over the past couple of years I've started to see them everywhere. Every hipster and his dog seems to sell flat whites/ice creams out of one in London.

Where did all these Citroen H Vans/HYs suddenly come from?

Were several thousand suddenly discovered in mint condition in a barn?
Are they replicas?

Anyone know?

[mcgandalf]

…picture orientation not intentional! Anyone know how to right it?

[threespires]

[InitialDave]

Where do they come from?

Well, when a French car manufacturer and a purveyor of corrugated sheds love each other very much...

[craigjm]

You can buy kitted out catering replicas

[threespires]

Citroen H Van

Citroen H Van Pizza Shop

[LordBretSinclair]

I could have posted this is in the "rotting" thread !!!

A real one currently rusting away in the grounds of a hotel near Pessan, France

[Iva Barchetta]

There's a farm in Surrey that usually has a few parked in a shed,presumably waiting for a restoration by a local specialist.

Guarded by barking dogs or I'd get good pics of them.

[tog]

Sniff has a view of these.

http://sniffpetrol.com/2015/11/12/new-business-sav...

[silverfoxcc]

Theres one parked on the Underground Concourse at Paddington ( the new entrance to the H+C line )

[W124Bob]

The H van was once about as common in France as the old Austin J4 was here, numerous companines made mobile shop conversions in various lengths. With hundreds of street markets the mobile shop is still a common sight in most towns on market days. Renualt and Peugeot had contempories wich don't seem to survive today in similar numbers. I ran a Citroen Acadiane (Dyane van) for a time and loved it.

[TooMany2cvs]

"France" is the obvious answer to "Where are they all coming from...?"

But there are several specialists importing/restoring/fitting them to various qualities and standards. Some, I wouldn't touch with somebody else's bargepole. Some, I'd be VERY happy to buy from.

Give it a few years, there'll be plenty on the market ripe for conversion to campers. I know the first question I'd be asking is who restored it...

[hkp57]

It seams to be another over-priced fashion statement to use pretty bad vans as a sales gimick.

Hats of to those who are ripping people off for them same as they do on the VW scene


http://www.citroenhyonline.co.uk/

http://www.hvanworld.co.uk/index.htm

[mcgandalf]

silverfoxcc said:

Theres one parked on the Underground Concourse at Paddington ( the new entrance to the H+C line )

I wrote my original post on the Hammersmith and City Line 5 minutes after walking past said example.

It actually looks like a replica shell of an H Van - not an actual van. Windscreen blocked in.

[W124Bob]

Here is a German classic dealer with some eyewateringly expensive H vans, the rusty shed above all of sudden looks quite tasty http://www.atelier-automobile.de/verkauf-lieferwag...