C8 and C10 - Cocinelle or "Goutte d'eau"*

*Beetle or drop of water

In the early fifties, Citroën's range comprised two models - the 2 CV and the Traction, shortly to be replaced by the DS. Work was underway to plug this gap - there were two projects, one resulted in the Ami 6 while the other, regrettably was never launched.

In 1953, André Lefèbvre thought to develop a vehicle that would by more modern and more compact than the 2CV and to this end, the C range of prototypes were developed, ranging from C1 in 1955 through to C10 in 1956.

Pictured right is the C8 "discovered" in a barn in Ferté-Vidame in the eighties.

The C10 was a front wheel drive design (using the A Series flat twin), housed in an ultra lightweight (382 kg), aerodynamic body with DS style wide front track and narrow rear track. Shaped like a drop of water - tapering in all three planes towards the rear and employing aircraft construction techniques to ensure low weight, it looked not unlike a flattened, widened Messerschmitt bubble car, even down to the aircraft canopy glasshouse. The decision was taken to proceed with the "conventional" looking Ami 6. The Ami 6 was always viewed as a temporary stopgap solution to the chasm between the 2 CV and the DS - a chasm that was not really filled until the launch of the GS. Having rejected the Cocinelle, work started on the C 60 project to fill this gap.