FAF Facile à Fabriquer, Facile à Financer

(Easy to build, easy to fund)

FAF - facile à fabriquer - easy to build - facile à financer - easy to fund.  This was the ethos behind the FAF V.E.P., a range of cars based on the 2CV platform and intended for assembly in third world countries thereby reducing those countries' dependence on the developed nations and assisting in economic growth. It was thus not dissimilar in concept to the Baby Brousse. 

Citroën International developed the V.E.P. range of vehicles specifically for assembly in countries without a high tech industrial infrastructure.

The FAF was designed to ensure that at least 50% of the vehicle was of local manufacture; specifically the bodywork, chassis seating and electrical wiring.  Citroën International claimed that the manufacture of the V.E.P. was not a matter of assembling largely imported components but of creating a national automobile manufacturing industry.

The FAF was based on the 2CV mechanics, viz. the flat twin engine, front wheel drive and interconnected, horizontal coils spring suspension, all ideally suited to the extreme conditions to be found in its target markets.

Six bodywork styles were proposed: saloon, three door estate, van, pick-up, four wheel drive patrol car and a runabout with the options of a metal or fabric roof. 

The bodywork manufacture did not require expensive presses since it comprised mainly flat, sheet steel panels which were cut and folded  using a mixture of folding presses and folding by hand.

Assembly of the panels was by spot welding and once assembled, the body and doors were painted by hand.

The seats, interior trim and seat frames were made locally and again were largely done manually.

Electrical wiring harnesses were also manufactured manually on site.

Total assembly time per vehicle was in the region of 163 hours - 146 hours for the body and 17 hours for the chassis.

Citroën International provided plans for the construction of a factory which, in order to produce 500 vehicles per year would require 2 ha. of land; the factory building itself occupying 2 500 m2.

Tooling was specifically intended to require minimum capital outlay and comprised:

• 12 pneumatic welding tongs, water-cooled 

• 4 pneumatic sanders 

• 1 arc welding unit 

• 6 oxyacetylene torches 

• 4 spray guns 

• 2 sewing machines 

• 1 guillotine  

• 1 pair of shears 

• 1 punching machine 

• 1 lathe 

• 4 pneumatic drills 

The FAF project ran from 1973 until 1979 with assembly initially taking place in Mangualde in Portugal and ending in Guinée-Bissau in Africa.

Not dissimilar concepts were the Baby Brousse and the British Africar project.

This red vehicle is an unusual right hand drive FAF (possibly the only one in the world) which was built in Portugal as a demonstrator when the company proposed building a factory in Kenya.  It belongs to Jean-Pierre Roquier who provided me with a lot of the information about this project.