Description
Citroen B12 Plateau (Pick Up) Built in 1925 (verified by Stellantis UK - the parent company of Citroen). This is a 4 cylinder liquid cooled in-line engined vehicle with rear wheel drive. She is affectionally named Violette after the World War 2 Resistance and SOE heroine Violette Szabo. She was originally built as a saloon car - see story below.
She was purchased in May 2021 and was a non runner. She was missing a handbrake and quadrant, and also a starter motor. Both of these have been sourced and are now fitted. The following work has also been undertaken: replacement of the rotten flat bed and some of the cross members; fitting of black metal shrouds over the wooden running boards; replacement of the copper fuel line; refurbishment of the steering wheel; fitting a new battery cradle to the drivers side running board; attending to some of the electrics; adding a claxon; fitting a 6volt windscreen motor; fabricating and covering a new interior seat (the previous seat was rotten and not original); replacing some broken glass; restoring the oil pressure gauge; fabricating a new front valance; fabricating period registration plates. A You Tube video of Violette at the 2023 Brooklands French Day will give you a good insight into this vehicles past history.
- details above
The only correction to the commentary is that we discovered that, despite the Citroen Traction Owners Club dating her as being built in 1926, we now know (through Stellantis UK) that she was actually built in 1925 - so nearly 100 years old.
We bought her as part of our interest in World War 2 history and it is clear she has plenty of that. Originally built as a saloon car she was converted to a pick up by a butcher in the Dordogne to enable him to obtain fuel and petrol coupons from the Nazi occupiers; apparently the Nazis only issued coupons to owners of commercial vehicles that could support their war effort. The butcher then sold it to a local vineyard owner. Violette was spotted in the late 1980s in a distressed state lying in a field by an Englishman and brought to the UK. Since purchase we have tracked down the vineyard family in the Dordogne and the son (now aged 88) still lives in the same house where Violette was garaged.
The vehicle now has the HMRC NOVA Customs import certificate and was granted an aged related VRM (not transferable) by DVLA in January 2024.
