Citroen U55 Cityrama Currus

"Wow, is this for real," is what I literally said out loud when I saw this. Short answer: Yes. Of course it's French. Citroen made the darn thing back in the 1950s for a Paris tour operator Groupe Cityrama. Groupe Cityrama commissioned the French coachbuilder Currus to build their tour bus on a Citroen U55 truck chassis. Damn!

Ahhh, the French. Can you imagine anyone else coming up with a ride like this? Sure, Gerry Anderson, back in his UFO/S.H.A.D.O.W. days, but a real car company? Nope, only in France. And imagine touring around Paris in this thing?

But indeed the Cityrama Currus was real. It was built up on a Citroen U55 truck chassis (or so they say). I know nothing about the U55, and darned if I could find anything about it, but suffice it to say that it was capable of being modified, and apparently used in a fashion deemed satisfactory by the folks at Groupe Cityrama.

The Citroen U55 Cityrama Currus was double-decker bus with stylishly curved, wrap around glass on seemingly every surface – sort of like a Vista Cruiser station wagon on steroids. Or on a whole sheet of blotter, now that I think about it. The roof was also glass, and that could be removed so the very upper deck could be used for open air touring in the summer months.

Not only was the Cityrama Currus seen around the streets of Paris, but it was also featured in such continental movies as Le Corniaud and Zazie Dans Le Métro. Yes, those would be the very same movies directed by Gérard Oury and Louis Malle. And yes, that would be the same Louis Malle that was married to Candice Bergen.

Of course, seeing a ride like this raises a whole lot of questions. The first one is: "What's that pointy-pointy thing jabbing out from the front of the, er, first roof for?" I could speculate, but I've found that doing that where the French are concerned is only right about a third of the time.

And another thing: I hope the Citroen U55 Cityrama Currus has an amazing air conditioning system. It's got the glass area of a medium-sized greenhouse. And you combine that with your average Frenchman being required by law (I'm pretty sure) to smoke at least a pack and a half of Gauloises a day back in the 50s and I bet the Cityrama Currus could smell like a pair of sweat socks pretty easy.

Source: Jalopnik