Before the digital information age killed the newspaper, the demand for news was so strong that a specially-prepared high-speed vehicles was built to get newspapers across Europe. Back in 1972, Pierre Tissier built a high-speed car based on a Citroen, to transport French newspapers to Spain overnight.
Thrill-seekers, students, artists and one assumes speed-junkies would take the dangerous job of making the overnight run in these cars at 200 km/h, non-stop, across Europe.
The truck-based delivery vehicles were simply too slow to make the journey. So, Tissier chopped a Citroen DS just behind the driver’s compartment and added a low-loading floor, a double rear axle and an aerodynamic fiberglass body. This allowed two skids of newspapers to be loaded into the vehicle at ground level (no loading dock required). Since the Citroen DS was both front-engine and front-wheel-drive, no modifications to the drivetrain were required. Tissier ingeniously tapped into the Citroen’s hydropneumatic suspension to suspend the rear axles, giving transporter a payload capacity of 1.5 tons.
As the above video explains, driving these vehicles (originally Citroen DS, later Citroen CX) was dangerous and deadly. Prospective speed-demons did not require a special license at all. But during the job interview they were shown the wrecked transporters of drivers who failed the mission, and died in the process.
Two 80L fuel tanks would get the cargo to it’s destination overnight, as long as the two drivers had the nerve.
So cool!
What a job to have! Here’s the super-fast car and we need you to drive all night to another country to make this delivery before dawn.
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That’s a professional driver!
Yep that would really be something!
Amazing the things people did in days gone by to get the job done. That was one clever way to get the news delivered in a timely manner.
First off, that’s quite an amazing vehicle Monsieur Tissier created. A six-wheeled vehicle must be remarkably stable at speed (especially a long one with a heavy load).
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But can you imagine going for a job interview to drive for this company, and the first thing they do is show you the wrecks of other six-wheelers?
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Yup… these guys got the job done at all cost. Must have been a drug-fueled blast for the ‘pilots’!
what an A. MA. ZING story. another banger from the demaras blog.
We’re all wary of ‘The Algorithm’ but YT just placed that video from 427 Motorsports in my feed. Good thing because that was right up my alley, and a WILD story.
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As a ‘professional driver’ you must look down on amateurs like me who would be too scared to try that job. But after your Ms. Daisy experience, this overnight newspaper run would be a cinch.
Reminds me of the … modified … Jaguar E-Type in Harold and Maud.
Hmmm.. I’ve never heard of ‘Harold & Maud’ but I’ll check the trailer on YT. Any movie with a customized Jag is right up my alley.
You may love the mod, or it may leave you wishing for death…
Wow, such a cool story.
I wonder if the highway patrol turned a blind eye to those “special deliveries.”
I have a soft spot for vans, and I loved this one.
It looks fast, even standing still, but also looks very dangerous.
I can’t believe that video just magically appeared on YT a couple days ago. Totally cool story and extra cool vehicles.
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I keep on hoping some middle-aged Frenchman will comment “Mais oui! Zee speed limit after midnight in France is not enforced. Zat would be uncivilized!”