The German association of all Citroën car clubs, the “Citroën-Strasse”, will be prominently visible again in Hall 9.1 on their 400 sq.m. booth, this year focusing on some great highlights of the famous brand:

• 40 Jahre Citroën SM / Citroën GS:
  

  Salon de l'Auto 1970

  this anniversary exhibition will display 5-6 cars and focus on the most important highlights of the very prestigious SM “Grand Tourisme” Coupé as well as on the little big brother, the GS middle class model. The clubs provide an interesting retrospective: we will show a stunning GS cutaway engine and gearbox, some interior details, historic videos from publications and the Citroen archives and of course many details from those years.

  Furthermore, as the GS has been elected as the “European Car Of The Year 1971″, we will have a “GS Drapeau” on show.

• “Citroën — sportlich unterwegs”:
  

  Rallye Citroen-Strasse 2010

  

  Poster Rallye Monte Carlo 1959, Citroën DS

  This slogan will be heading the rest of the models being presented, from the very first years to the latest vintage car models. The clubs present a Rallys DS, CX, Panhard with GS-Engine, XM à la “Tour de France”, a 1966 2CV AZAM “Wintersport” and Traction Avant etc.

• VIP guests:
  

  Robert Opron, Bureau des Etudes

  

  Robert Opron

  Mr. Robert Opron, the great Citroën designer and stylist eg. of the new 1967 DS headlights, the SM, GS and CX at the weekend; we are proud to have received his confirmation to our invitation to the show. Certainly one if not *the* highlight to meet one of the brains behind the style and creativity of Automobiles Citroën! Mr. Opron will give some insights into his works as some of the original 3D models he has been working on, will be presented on the stand as well – a “first time” within Germany!

  Of course, also ACI Delegates and others are invited to visit us.

• Memorabilia:
  

  Citroen-Strasse Rotwein 2010

  Of course, as one of the takeaways for this year we have created a dedicated red wine, “serie limitée” for the anniversary resp. the visitors of “Citroën-Strasse” next to the individual club offerings…

The major German Citroën car clubs representing ca. 12.000 club members, will be showing off their portfolio:

Citroen-Strasse 2009: 75 Jahre Traction Avant

Andre Citroën-Club (ACC), Citroën-Veteranen-Club e.V. (CVC), DS-Club Deutschland e.V. (DSCD), Citroën-Club Rhein-Ruhr e.V. (CCRR), Citroën CX-Club Deutschland e.V. (CCXC), Citroën SM-Club Deutschland e.V., Panhard Club Deutschland e.V., Traction Avant IG (TAVIG), XM-IG etc. …

Additionally, expect to meet the ACI as well as the organizers of this year’s “ACI Event Of The Year”, Citroënstory Belgien which will inform about the big event 2 weeks after the Technoclassica fair takes place.

For the Germany clubs, Saturday 10-Apr-2010 is also the day to have the national ACI meeting.

Our partner: the “Automobiles Citroën” booth

The stand of “Citroen-Strasse” will be complemented by another very exciting presentation of the German subsidiary of Automobiles Citroën, Citroën Deutschland GmbH, which will present on their booth in Hall 4 a stunning selection of cars from the Conservatoire and also from the French government:

• The “Citroën SM Présidentielle”, one of the 2 original cars from the Paris Elysée governmental palace, will be shown. A first time ever that this exciting prestigious convertible is now on a show in Germany!
• The “GS Energetique” a famous and unique design made by the French artist Jean-Pierre Lihou in 1976, will be presented from the Conservatoire,
• The “M 35″, Citroën’s very rare ambition to commercialize the Wankel engine, will complement the presentation of the 3 newcomers from 1970 which jointly will be celebrated.
• The “creative technology” (Citroën’s brand claim) of the famous history of the past will be reflected by a presentation of the latest Citroën DS3, bridging the gap from the history to the present.

So please be warm welcome!

On behalf of the clubs,

///Stephan Joest
“Citroën-Strasse” Project Leader,
ACI national Delegate Germany.

more details:
www.amicale-citroen.de

Additional fairground info, travel, trip, accomodation, entry tickets etc.: Messe Essen / SIHA, www.siha.de

Fairground map:

Worlds leading vintage car trade fair, the “Technoclassica” in Essen, has been in 2009 a great place to show off both historical anniversaries as well as activities of German Citroen car clubs to the almost 170.000 visitors.

Well-known as the “Citroen-Strasse”, the 20-year-old association of all major clubs from Germany was showing off double-fold. 75 years of Traction Avant were celebrated with a TA Gauloises cabriolet, a Faux Cabriolet, Commerciale, Normale and Legere. On the other half of the booth, the 90 years of Automobiles Citroen retrospective started with a chassis number #189 Type A 1919, Panhard DB Le Mans cabriolet, DS19, CX Prestige, SM, and not to forget the well-beloved 2CV Charleston.

Supported by the new brand claim “Creative Technologie”, Citroen Germany presented three cars from the Conservatoire, a 1919 Type A Chassis “#1″, the original 1934 “salon de l’Automobile” Traction Avant 7A display with its separate engine, C-Sportlounge prototype (2005), as well as the newest model, the C3 Picasso Exclusive (2009).

On TC, overall more than 230 amateur clubs of almost all car manufacturers have presented their activities and celebrated worlds largest “family reunion” of the club scene. “The clubs are the foundation of the vintage car scene“, says Horst Brüning, chairman of the world association of vintage car clubs (FIVA, Fédération des Véhicules Anciens). “At the Technoclassica they make a significant contribution to creating an automotive journey through the last century“. Amongst them are the 12 leading German Citroen clubs.

In cooperation with the German subsidiary of Automobiles Citroen over more than a decade, the show has once more confirmed the successful partnership between the clubs and the manufacturer on joint public activities involving the history of the famous brand.

Thomas Albrecht, head of press at Citroen Germany, says: “I am delighted that there is such good co-operation between the German Citroën Clubs. TechnoClassica is really an international showcase. Especially the German brands like to show off here, and we’re proud to fly our flag on this occasion. Heritage gets ever more important if you want to appeal to people’s emotions, and we have such a lot to say on that account. Thanks to the excellent teamwork with and between the Clubs, our brand is able to put up a worthy display year after year.”

As one of the great takeaways from that show, Citroen Germany has launched a retrospective brochure about the anniversary which you will find attached to this report (PDF download). It’s been distributed in Austria and German-speaking Switzerland as well, and the Dutch, Norwegian, and Swiss subsidiary are preparing or have prepared translations of this document for their markets.

The spirit of creating results by working together as a team has been the basis for “Citroen-Strasse”. Lets quote the head of the “Citroen-Strasse” organisation: “Club separation has not been an issue for us for almost 20 years now. Since many years it does not matter whether eg. a CX must be presented by a CX club member – when its the right car we strive to bring it to the show, regardless from which club it is. Organized by a great team of friends, we share common resources and celebrate a good time – not to forget some “savoir vivre” with “Vin Traction Avant” or “Chateau DS”, cheese, baguettes and alikes, and all that in front of a French bistro scenery. Did I mention there were some cars?”

Similar says organizer Leon Franssen from SIHA, the Techno-Classica show owner: “Despite hard basic conditions, our exhibitors noticed a heavy demand and respectable sales conclusions. Customers have more expertise than they used to have, they are also more demanding and critical, they check and compare more intensely than before. But they also accept adequate prices for decent quality“.

Next TC will take place 7-11 April 2010 at Messe Essen. Why not already plan for your next trip to Germany in spring 2010, and have a look?

Contact the Germany delegates for more activities around the double chevron: info@amicale-citroen.de

On behalf of the ACI Germany delegates, Stephan Joest, who is also the project manager of the Technoclassica Citroen club stand.

On the “Traction Avant!” club Germany homepage you can find a selection of pictures in their gallery, please check out:

http://tractionavant.com/

On the same website you will also find the PDF download of the “90 years” anniversary brochure (German language though).