The Citroën Axel was a disaster. Due to poor assembly in Romania during the era of the dictator Ceausescu, brand new Axels broke down, leaked oil, lost parts, suffered from excessive fuel consumption or even spontaneously caught fire. Historically however, the Axel is very interesting. It’s the last car of the period when tyre manufacturer Michelin controlled Citroën, therefore the last design without the influence of Peugeot, who took over Citroën shortly afterwards. Besides, the Axel has a long and very interesting history, which is not only linked with the takeover of Citroën by Peugeot, but also full of political intrigue and espionage between East and West.
In this book author Thijs van der Zanden takes the reader through numerous facts, anecdotes and lots of photos, to discover the colourful history of the Axel. Citroën employees and other people who were involved at the Axel project at the time tell their stories in the book, often with interesting anecdotes and information. Overviews with technical data, chassis numbers, colours and trim, price lists plus sales and production figures complete the picture. The whole book is illustrated with more than five hundred images, most of which have never been published before.Citroën Axel - la cousine de craiova
Dutch
Thijs van der Zanden
978-90-815208-0-5
22 x 24 cm, 228 pages
Full colour, hard cover
Author Thijs van der Zanden tells the story of the Citroën Axel, which began as a collaboration between Citroën and the Romanian government and ended when Citroën had to withdraw from the adventure after an enormous loss. Read how Ion Pacepa, the former head of the Romanian secret service, tells about his spies commissioned by dictator Ceausescu to steal Western technology from Citroën. Marvel at the anecdotes by Corneliu Busulescu, who was Romanian Rally Champion several times on behalf of the factory. Check out the many exotic varieties which have been developed behind the scenes: a model for the US market, a Break, convertibles, four-wheel drive versions...