Citroën Type HZ Camping

The Citroën H-Type vans (but mostly Citroën HY), are a series of panel vans and light trucks, produced by French automaker Citroën for 34 years (from 1947 through 1981), that are memorable for their Industrial design, using many corrugated metal outer body panels, to save material, weight, and costs. Early models of the uniquely styled trucks were just named Type H, but soon they were differentiated by a second letter, using the last four letters in the alphabet – except for the type HP for (flat-bed) pickups. Thus the vans were built as the types HW through HZ – with the majority of them built as Citroën HY.

The Citroën H-types were developed as simple, low-cost, front-wheel drive vans after World War II, using the same design philosophy as on Citroën’s 2CV, but featuring a frameless, unitary body-structure. A total of 473,289 of their variants were produced in 34 years in factories in France and Belgium.

Place of manufacture: Paris (France)

Date of manufacture: 1949

Engine: 4 cylinders; 1911 cc

Brakes: hydraulic braking

Power: 50 HP

Load: 800 kg

Top speed: 88 km/h (10 km/h more than Type H)

Read more: History of trucks with Jim Andrews ...