We are very proud to share with you that another country has now joined the global ACI network – please warmly welcome the representatives for Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire)!
KONE N’GANLOH SEVERIN MASSAFOMA and KONE N’GANNANG SILVERE MASSAFOMA will be the persons to contact – please find their contact details on our webpage.
Maybe you are familiar that the demand in countries like the Ivory Coast is also one of the reasons to create a dedicated vehicle to this market – the famous “Baby Brousse”:
At the end of the 1950s, the 2CV built a solid reputation in West Africa, particularly during long-distance raids of several thousand kilometres that gave it great publicity. The model is known for its reliability and low and easy maintenance. However, its distribution remains limited on this continent because the 2CV remains too “sophisticated” for everyday use. Its closed bodywork, in particular, is not practical enough: doors are useless in regions where the average temperature varies between 23° at night and 35° during the day, with humidity levels ranging from 20% in the north to 100% in the south!
In Côte d’Ivoire and Upper Volta, Citroën is distributed by the Compagnie industrielle et commerciale d’Afrique (CICA), and the customers are mainly French residents. Maurice Delignon, a carpenter craftsman based in Abidjan, regularly travels in 2 CV AZL. He hunts a lot, always in the bush, and his Deuche is not adapted to this kind of sport at all. In March 1962, the idea came to him to transform it into a vehicle discovered in the tonality of the Land-Rover pick-up. He wants a rear with a practical clearance surface for long and bulky loads. A garage in Abidjan is carrying out the modification using bodywork components from a Type H van. Once the car is finished, only the wheels, the grille and the windshield window vaguely evoke a Deuche…
Mr Maurice’s “new 2 CV” is changing its face. The doors have disappeared, replaced by indentations made on the bodywork. The automobile now reflects a strong utilitarian vocation. Intended for hunters and small planters, this 2CV, which looks like a mini-military vehicle, is called Baby-Brousse by Maurice Delignon himself. At the time, the car caught the attention of another Frenchman residing in Côte d’Ivoire: Jacques Deniau. A businessman running several companies – some of which specialize in the automotive industry – he is seduced by this concept based on 2 CVs. Adapted to the Ivorian trails, the Baby-Brousse can attract a varied clientele: hunters, farmers, planters….
We have asked now the delegates to also send us a report on the activities in their country since they are to most of us rather unfamiliar… so stay tuned!
Please also find an interesting article on Jalopnik on the Baby Brousse / Ivory Coast (title photo courtesy via Jalopnik).
Allways diffucult to read in grey. Particulaly on a smartphone