Citroën 2CV “Yacco” Racer- 1981

As far back as the early 1930s, Citroën teamed with Yacco, an oil company in France, for endurance testing on Citroën automobiles. These cars were tested at Montlhéry, a track outside Paris. The most famous car was a traction avant nicknamed “Petite Rosalie” which spent 134 days on the track in 1934 covering close to 200,000 miles at an average speed of 57.8 miles per hour. By 1950, Citroën introduced the ever popular 2CV. The Yacco Special 2CV which you see here is a (right hand drive) replica of a record breaker in the tradition of the earlier endurance testing. Sponsored again by Yacco, a production car was chopped, lightened, lowered, and shortened to compete in the 1953 Bol d’or Race at Montlhéry. The “Barbot Special” succeeded in breaking nine international records–two of which were 12 hours at 90.9 kph (56.5 mph) and 24 hours at 85 kph (52.8 mph).