One of the Most Dangerous Jobs of the 1980s

[@AlanBoulter]

Driving a truck at night we learnt to keep an eye out these lads, they appeared rapidly and went past like low flying planes.

[@Doughman888]

In Kenya you have to watch out for the Khat/Miraa delivery drivers. They pick the leaves up in the mountains and they immediately start losing potency. Fresher leaves command the best prices. So they hire young lads to drive pickups stacked with khat to drive as fast as possible to Nairobi where they're immediately loaded on plans to the middle east (where khat is often the only stimulant not considered haram by muslims). The go at mad speeds and when they come to police checkpoints they just throw a roll of notes out the window. You really have to watch out as they'll be behind you in a second and overtake on any corner. Look up "Miraa Driver caught on Camera over speeding and Driving recklessly!" on here. It reminds me of old group B rally vids!

[@indolamabwena]

@ I just looked up "Miraa Driver caught on Camera over speeding and Driving recklessly!" That was crazy, the thing overloaded and bumping up and down. Like he's on a suicide mission. With a CX 6 wheeler that would go like a train on rails.

[@anthonymitchell8893]

why is khat not considered harem ?

[@BureauSpicy]

@@indolamabwenajust looked it up, and it's batshit 😂

[@TheLtVoss]

​@anthonymitchell8893 mhm could be that op just tipped a bit wrong and autocorrection made it a not or he just mixed up the meaning of haram Kaht leafs are the only recreational drug that is considered haram Alcohol,weed,schrooms, and all other chemicals that gives the brain a nice buzz arnt Soo many arrabs just chew kaht leafs like people in south America chew coca leafs

[@steveobarnes]

Nighttime cannonballing france for a living in the 6x citroen is all time content. Great find.

[@Wabeeninc]

This needs a mention on vinwiki

[@RampageG4mer]

How were they allowed to break the speed limit?

[@steveobarnes]

@@RampageG4mer there's only law player

[@SuperOtter]

@@RampageG4mer speed limits just didn't exists yet on most highways

[@kassandrakassendre5893]

​​@@SuperOttertu raconte n'importe quoi ! En france la limitation de vitesse sur autoroute 🛣 c'est 130llm max ! Et sur routes ces 80 klm sauf exception 70klm et en ville ces 30 klm et sur certaines grandes avenue et ou.grand boulevard ces 50klm .

[@gstutje]

The last day of no speedlimit in the Netherlands (feb 5th 1974) we left Amsterdam with a full load of freshly printed Dutch newspapers, drove to Brussels somewhere right next to the motorway, dropped half the load and took in half a load of Belgian newspapers and continued to drop it all off in Paris, 3 hours and 35 minutes after leaving Amsterdam just shy of 500 kms behind us. 495 or 498 BTW, the trailers you mention also had hydropneumatic suspension. And one more thing, this business was over when PDF became a thing, newspapers swapped PDF files all over the world (at 2400 bps) and mutually printed the supply for their countries, long before the Internet chipped away the printed media consumers.

[@427Motorsports]

That is very interesting, I didn't know the trailers also had hydro suspension! Did pdfs come to prominence in the mid 1990s?

[@gstutje]

@427Motorsports I think it did, but maybe I should have said "with the development of interchangeable print formats... " Edit: Wrong, PDF was introduced 1992 by Adobe, they used some other file formats

[@indolamabwena]

That was in a DS Tissier?

[@gstutje]

​@@indolamabwena Yes

[@peterdieleman303]

If not pdf, they probably shared files for Quark(Expres), which was the de facto standard for dtp software in the 90s

[@jrobson100]

I had no idea that this job and vehicles existed, thanks for the fascinating explanation. The picture of the delivery truck Citron on the flatbed Citron cracked me up and I chose to imagine that there was an even longer flatbed Citron in case the first rescue Citron broke down.

[@pakkinen]

and then a bigger one in case the 2 broke down...like russian wooden dolls xD

[@Monkeyb00y]

Exactly what I thought. Russian nesting dolls

[@Rammstein56]

I once chased a Hollander CX at 03.00 in the morning, I was a service engineer for ships and I drove a howling 6 cylinder Volvo station wagon Diesel but I could not keep up with the Hollander CX Diesels, their Turbo Diesels were fastest on the road, period. And if you add the roadholding, brakes and suspension my Volvo was an antique carriage. Only when the CX met with slower traffic I could get closer. Dutch newspaper AD also had CX breaks ( estate ) Diesels, once talked to a driver who said they tried V8 Chevy vans, Mercedes estates but nothing, really nothing drove that good and was that stable at high speeds like a CX. Years later I got a Citroën Xantia Turbo Diesel and yes I understood why these companies choose Citroëns for the long hauls.

[@rvarsigfusson6163]

Volvo with a 6 cyl diesel was with a VW diesel used in VW LT....... No surprise no speed.

[@Rammstein56]

@rvarsigfusson6163 yes I know, if only the power was as great as the howl of the engine was🤩

[@honestguy7764]

@@rvarsigfusson6163 I had a D24tic and I almost reached 200km/h

[@philiptownsend4026]

I had a succession of Citroen's over the years, saloon, estate and van. All were capable of covering long distances quickly and comfortably. In their day unique and special engineering.

[@aaronpolite4281]

Looks like Rodimus Prime😮

[@roklaca3138]

Flying down the highway with 2 tons of newspapers at 200 km/h...damn

[@dummy3333]

And multiple tanks of fuel, albeit diesel, when crash protection was in it's infancy...

[@ILIJA26101993]

People used to get shit done, now you just can't make any progress and do anything.

[@mannine99]

@@dummy3333 pack of cigarette was their airbag

[@Nickhucks]

@@mannine99 airbags don't matter too much at that speed tbf

[@Recessio]

Here from Tom Scott's newsletter - excellent video!

[@JohnADoe-pg1qk]

Yes and no for me. I read the newsletter, but didn't click on the link. Instead, the almighty KZbin algorithm recommended this video to me a little later in the sidebar of another video.

[@Sheep506]

Another KZbin algorithm gem

[@henryrodgers7386]

So, I need one of these... Here in the US, there was a similar problem with getting newspapers around. When I was a kid, companies hired drivers with modified full-size vans, often with big V8 engines and beefed up suspension. You could tell one of these "wildcat" vans, because they had pretty severe rake when empty, with the rear end 3 inches higher than the front. And yes, they wrecked all the time. Usually they tipped over going around a curve too fast and spilled newspapers everywhere. Eventually, much like in Europe, the old conversions were replaced by Sprinters, which, fun fact to you European types, were sold as Dodge and Freightliner models at that time! "Mercedes? TRUCK?! Preposterous, simply preposterous."

[@fear-is-a-token]

Sprinters may not be as tough as American V8 vans on a frame, but they have one advantage specifically for such tasks. They ride and steer almost like passenger cars and can go 160-180 on the highway. In my country it was always like that - you can ride a normal bus, or switch a couple of commuter trains, but it would take you a day to go over 500-600 km... or you could buy a ticket for minibus, the driver of which would break all the traffic rules but get you where you need in time. The 2.7 CDI diesel does turn this bus into a pocket rocket... and many of them were outfitted with larger turbos/intercoolers, making them real highway missiles with 200+ hp

[@itwontcomeout5678]

I remember when Dodge Sprinter vans started becoming a thing here in America. Then on TV when a show takes place in Europe the ambulance is always a Mercedes Sprinter van

[@mattcintosh2]

About 20 odd years ago, the alternative newspaper in Duluth, mn had an incident. The owner was hauling 2 pallets of newspapers from the printing plant, a guy cut hit off on the freeway, and he had to brake or swerve or something and the load broke loose and scattered all over the road, cars/trucks kept driving over them and the road became newspapered for like a mile

[@cannack]

@@fear-is-a-token Everyone hated the transits when they begun supplanting the E-2/3/450 vans & chassis, but now people don`t mind them, easier driving, better on gas, more options. I *hate* working on them, i thought the e350 regular services was bad but maaaaan the global transit makes me wonder who hurt those engineers so badly to do these things lol.

[@hagglundguy]

Americans apparently didn't get Mercedes commercial vehicles and instead viewed them as luxury cars. In Europe they have always been known for good engineering with the S series being the vanguard of all passenger cars. But Mercedes also makes even some awfully ordinary and utilitarian cars. No European will ever doubt that.

[@chanjoinaua5273]

In Cuba they used AN2 planes to bring the newspaper into far away places. Packets of papers were thrown from the plane into a field. The guy in the door was secured with a harness.

[@rubiconnn]

That sounds like a really fun job. The AN2 is such a cool plane.

[@inhohvh7850]

Sounds brilliant.

[@dreamexxx]

​@@rubiconnn those things have a real low stall speed, they are the slowest biplanes of their size.

[@jorn1409]

Completely forgot about those. Back in the nineties when I studied in Amsterdam this mythical car, a CX, would be seen often parked on the Overtoom, close to the VondelPark. Thanks for the video, we knew it was delivering Le Monde, but I never heard the complete back story.

[@Rammstein56]

The drivers stayed there overnight also in the town of Vlaardingen they sometimes stayed.

[@ottonormalverbrauch3794]

😊 I just wrote the same about the Overtoom parking habit.

[@wtftom1974]

I was just checking for others mentioning the one at the end of overoom. I always assumed it was a weird one off Thanks for this vid

[@Ramon73]

This week I spoke to a former driver on such vehicles. He told me that 160 to 180 km/h was standard. The margin to get from Amsterdam to Paris was 5 minutes.

[@SevenBee-q2j]

In the early 1980's I did a similar job, acting as courier for regional newspapers taking their print copy to a centralised print works. This was extreme high pressure and rigidly time constrained .. I had to be there for the print run time or no newspaper. Often this saw me running to my vehicle like the start of Le Mans!. This all took place between 10pm & 7am My vehicle was a 3ltr Capri provided by the company. That was changed every few months as it took a considerable battering. One night they were out of Capris so I was given a hire car ... A brand new 1ltr Metro ... I kid you not. 🙄 By 4 am the next morning the Metro had 3 cylinders left, it's engine totally destroyed 😂 They banned us from any further renting, but hey, I got the job done! _Before it died_ 🎉

[@Team33Team33]

BS but cool story for a bunch of drunks at the pub.

[@buddy1155]

THANKS! you reminded me of good times! I had a similar job in the '90s, we had Peugeot 205 turbo diesel, those things were tough as nails. I was international courier, we transported: transaction data between banks, movie film to Lausanne to be developed, contracts between companies, portfolios to modeling agencies, etc. Our craziest run was probably when a US president visited, the tapes needed to go to the US to be broadcasted, I was stalling the plane by checking in an empty cardboard box but not boarding the plane, my college drove a superbike in 26 minutes from the center of The Hague to Schiphol, he lost his police escort entering the highway, the police couldn't keep up. When I boarded the plane they had already started unloading the luggage to search for my luggage.... they were SO mad on me, I delayed the plane for over half an hour. The internet changed a lot, especially the courier business, I typically delivered one package a day, sometime you could combine and deliver two or even three in a day. Good times...

[@SevenBee-q2j]

@Team33Team33 ... Nope M*R*N ... 100% true .. Just because you've have no life, doesn't mean no one else has .. Mommy's teet is getting cold, off you run

[@ptonpc]

​@Team33Team33 Joined Apr 15, 2023 You seem to think a lot of drunks at the pub. You keep mentioning them in pretty much every comment. Is there something you would like to share with the group? Just, this is not the AA..

[@Team33Team33]

@@ptonpc YES: I'm sharing that this story is such BS that you MUST be seriously inebriated to actually believe it. The message remains the same. This story is full of BS. Are you having issues with Alcohol.

[@iainlaurence]

A sports van... sounds like something right out of a Top Gear experiment. I want one.

[@PaulRudd1941]

Like the Ford transit with a jaguar xj220 underneath it lol.

[@anthonynicholson5523]

​@@PaulRudd1941 haha. I drive a new Ford Transit for state to state transit service. Huge thing has a small 3.5 Ecoboost that absolutely flies and crazy good suspension on dullies. Drives like a car. It's pretty fun

[@Dale-q5c]

The A team

[@clivepage7016]

In 1991 I used to drive overnight 'Air' parcel runs for UPS Parcels in Germany in Mercedes vans. We'd go all night on the Autobahns full gas at 140km/h. TNT Germany had some of these 6 wheeled Citroen CX's - I was envious of those drivers.

[@Team33Team33]

The CX cars didn't go above 140km/h either. IF they got stopped they got heavily fined and FIRED. 140km/h is "normal" on any motorway, 200kp/h is BS. Nice story for a late night out with a bunch of drunks though to try and impress ..... LOL.

[@chucku00]

@Team33Team33 Police forces rarely did speed checks at night in the 70's and 80's : in France, even the _brigades autoroutières_ almost never patrolled at night (11PM to 5AM) except in case of an accident or in harsh weather conditions. I remember in 1991 a 3.5 tons France Express truck following me (in my Renault 5 Alpine Turbo) at 150 Kkm/h at 2AM on the A10 highway around Tours, so a CX Tissier going at 200km/h is totally believable, and Hollander made enough money to pay their drivers fines. BTW, I never have been caught in my R5 during the 100000 km I covered mainly on highways during the early 90's, and I was very often over the speed limit.

[@GTKlopfer]

@Team33Team33 In the night it doesn't take too long to find people who are driving 160-200 kp/h on french motorways. At least on those I am using.

[@locastable]

​@Team33Team33nuh uh, ur wrong and dumb. I win bye bye

[@Team33Team33]

@@GTKlopfer When was the last time you used a French Auroroute ? LOL. It's absolutely NOT possible anymore and was seriously risky in the 80's. The bottom line is that this story is BS squared because the drivers LOST their jobs if they were caught speeding. Have you EVER heard about licences being revoked ? Drive at 200kp/h in the 80's and get caught and your licence was revoked just as it is today.

[@chucku00]

Hollander CX Tissier 6-wheeler vans were actually quite safe compared to the France Express 3.5 tons trucks with unrestrained engines : I remember taking the A10 French highway at night (2AM) in the early 90's with my Renault 5 Alpine Turbo and one of these crazy trucks was following me at 150 km/h (around 93mph). Hollander CX Tissier vans also delivered newspapers in smaller cities around Paris, I often saw one of them in my little (20000 inhabitants at the time) Seine-et-Marne town. Another advantage about the Tissier 6 wheeler vehicles over standard trucks was its hydropneumatic suspension that allowed to avoid many accidents in case of a tire blow-out in addition to the constant trim independantly of the load.

[@onkcuf]

One of those might make a neat camper.

[@christopherdean1326]

Neat hardly begins to describe it! They would be fantastic!

[@SpoonR24]

Approved by Jeremy Clarkson

[@mr.slaphappy3794]

Look up "CX Penthouse", someone was actually mad enough to create one 🤣

[@barenstil5525]

there are camper versions out there, build by Tissier himself. google them, they're even cooler!

[@indolamabwena]

I have one. The loading space is 4.40m long.

[@philorkill]

Now that is a cool car story! Thank you for sharing!

[@Ned-Ryerson]

In the mid-90s, while studying, I used to drive a banged-up VW van two nights a week, delivering a small local newspaper straight from the printing press to the pickup spots of the local paper round people. This meant trying to be at the press around 02:30 in the morning, hoping that you did not have to wait too long for your batch. As I only did the city and surroundings, the guys the took stuff to outlying towns got theirs early. Sometimes, that meant I did not start my round before 03:45. The route involved some very small backroads, sometimes across fields, which were no laughing matter at any time of day, but really iffy at 05:00 in the morning with black ice. As I got paid a fixed sum for each run, it was in my own interest to get things done quickly, but that meant that I did some unwanted drifting around icy patches. Needless to say, I did not last for much more than six months, as my sleeping pattern was completely shot.

[@Kaltagstar96]

Talking about the fact that new boys and girls were shown smashed up Hollander CX's is honestly chilling, imagine going for the job and just seeing what happened to the last few people in your role?

[@osn1ffyo]

I worked for a truck service company as a first job 25 years ago and we had one of these come in couple of times they told me it could carry 2 pallets at 200 mph lol, always thought that was abit much but was still very impressive to see and I'm pretty sure it was the vehicle at 6:27, looked for picture of this many times never found the uk vehicles.

[@initiald975]

A citroen that goes 200 mph? Nah, no way. 200 kph would be reasonable though. 320 kph is the 200 mph equivalent.

[@osn1ffyo]

@@initiald975 yeah i didn't believe the 200mph claim, i assumed they got confused when telling me about it and ment 200kph, but still an amazing vehicle to see in person

[@peterjohan6735]

I was working at a gas station in Switzerland, and these were still around; the drivers were freaks! I remember one must have had 100 cigarette buds in the ashtray! They were all cool guys, and as much as I was in my ‘20s, I still remember some of them.

[@chrisadams6595]

Citroen were so far ahead of the rest of the pack at this time. Aerodynamics, suspension, just terrific vehicles

[@stephenberry1205]

Very insightful. I visited Tissier in 1979 in my 1978 CX2400 EFI 5 speed Prestige which I brought back to Australia. At that time he was working of a 6 wheel CX Camping Car and was also thinking of selling his business. My 5 speed Prestige would do 190 kph and I one saw 200 on a down hill. A 5 speed CX 2500 Turbo 2 Diesel 6 wheel van at 200 kph with all that weight sounds rather optimistic and scary. 160 kph would be enough. I believe a lot of this travel would be at night, yet I don't see any spotlights...

[@427Motorsports]

I bet he was a fascinating character! Would love to get my hands on a 6 wheeled CX for camping in. True re spotlights although I reckon the motorways would have been decently well lit, they just seem to carry the foglights at the front, wouldn't fancy trying to stop 3/4 tons from 160 in the fog mind!

[@stephenberry1205]

@@427Motorsports He sold me an electronic horn unit for my Prestige. 24 tunes including the French National Anthem plus an imitation police siren.

[@indolamabwena]

I have a CX Tissier Bagagère with the 2.5 Turbo 1 Diesel. It will do 160kph max but I reached 170-175kph a few times under good conditions. It's like driving on rails.

[@Rammstein56]

It is true, I got the Volvo Diesel station wagon because vans were simply too slow, we chased ships all over Europe to repair and modify equipment and we simply needed to be there on time, a Mercedes 207 Diesel van could do maybe 65 mph making an incredible noise. I think the first faster van was the Sevel built Peugeot J5/ Citroën C 25/Fiat Ducato. These had quite powerfull engines and a 5 speed gearbox. Later the Mercedes Sprinter came and that really had a name that covered its performance. Dutch garagist and Panhard specialist Peter Breed has built his own CX platform van to transport classic cars, especially Panhards.

[@mumblbeebee6546]

At least one of the CX versions was acquired by a French CD pressing plant and delivered ‘freshly pressed’ CDs to record labels in Europe. I had always been a fan of the Ds/Cx cars and swooned when the guy drove into our lot. But my jaw dropped when he opened the big door and our merch was in there on Euro pallets! I must say that he exuded an odd vibe, had a thousand-yard stare and took off like the hounds of hell were after him the moment we emptied his magic truck. I wonder whether he had come with the vehicle from the Express Presse days now 😂

[@Therapistinthewhitehouse]

Vans like this used to collect newspapers for delivery to the continent from Rupert Murdoch’s Sun and Times print works in Wapping London, in the late 80s and early 90s. This was before the channel tunnel so they must have shot down to Dover for the ferry. I’m not sure if it’s true but was told that they would drive to the south of France and Spain to deliver papers for Brit holidaymakers and ex-pats.

[@guybutler6406]

Great video. Amazing research. Thank you.

[@ewyss9206]

Same in Italy: Milan to down South; Volvo 760 and 240 estates with the 2.4 litre VW 6 cylinder Turbo-Diesel engines and adjustable rear dampers. Talked to an ex-driver who is now a beachguard in the Abruzzese region.

[@LaLaLand.Germany]

THANK YOU for digging this up. All the old street scenes and these cool vans, what a nice trip down memory lane. And Citroen once was a sweet, different brand. The DS, the CX- all great cars. They were different- so much so that some bad words of mouth formed over their performance and repairability. I always loved the DS for its slick look, I even remember the tv commercials of the time: one distinct looking elder man drove on the Autobahn behind a garbage truck. That suddenly opened up and dumped all its contents over the street. Our protagonist didn´t even flinch, reached for the height control and the car simply lifted over the hole mess. Very elegant, like a Lady picing up her dress in front of a puddle. I love that car…

[@metricstormtrooper]

Here in australia Newspaper trucks were dodge or international trucks with about a 4 or 5 tonne load rating, they were powered by 318 cubic inch v8s and could cruise at about 80mph, drivers woukd swap trucks halfway and the driver from the loaded end would pick up the unladen truck and take it back to the depot and visa versa. They were the fastest things on the road and ruled the princes highway in southern new south wales.

[@Noelzsazsa]

We had one that was a 4 X2 semi it had a factor packston super charger on it could pull hard once it got rolling we pull a carnival ride with it in 80s and early 90s we put a Ross steering box in it I wound it off the clock a few times even going up a hill once it was up and revving just couldn't stop it with the brakes

[@iananderson4897]

Don't forget the 6 wheel Holden Tonners, usually 308 ci V8s but sometimes with 350 chev V8 engines. Amusingly the Hume highway semis weren't much slower!

[@Noelzsazsa]

@iananderson4897 sesame Street some of the trucks were driven on the Hume Highway and raced on the track Frank Amoroso was one I think there is some footage of his Louisville on the Hume wound off the clock

[@AFCManUk]

Holy crap . . . It's Rodimus Prime!!

[@javierpatag3609]

My thought exactly.

[@neilmitchell8223]

Exactly what I thought! Scrolled down the comments to see if anyone else did.👍🏻🤣

[@dgthe3]

@@neilmitchell8223 Ditto. Though I first searched for "Hot Rod" and then 'Rodimus'

[@thahbx]

I've used to be a lorry driver in daily newspaper distribution. Always in a rush, no place to make any mistake. Very stressful but lucrative. I've gave up after 6 months and switched to completely chilled work

[@nigel9843]

Great story, these CX vans look amazing , incredible the distances they used to travel..

[@laurentderrien]

I'm French, born in the 80s, and I had never heard of those cars, thanks

[@matthiasheindl8270]

Fantastic video. My uncle was/is a big fan of Citroëns and had a huge 1:43 model collection with at least one model of these, think there was the DS variant and the flatbed as well. Never knew this background though. Lovely.

[@user-mn1mv7mv8x]

Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s in Amsterdam these vehicles always fascinated me as a kid, there was one parked at the Overtoom up until the 2000’s

[@ulliulli1287]

In the mid-90 there was a company close to Heidelberg, Germany - Mike‘s Garage, if I remember correctly - that also did those CX-conversions, both as „bathtub“ i.e. high roof as Tissier did and as a „normal roof“ just like stock. Besides „fast transporter they offerd a familial/commercial version i.e. 3 row seating with full luggage space as with a normal CX station wagon. All mechanical parts were original Citroen, so they claimed. Sometimes - very rarely - you see them on CX meetings.

[@10zoll]

The Loadrunner from Mikes Garage was build not from One CX but from Two. Tessier and another Builder from Brussels lengthen the CX with GFK Parts and used just an extra rear axleframe and the suspension for their Versions.

[@ulliulli1287]

@@10zoll That would fit my memory, the one I saw back then at his workshop looked all steel bodywork, just lengthened. Maybe a case of reusing a front end damaged vehicle, thus using all original (but modified) parts..all steel no GFK.😁

[@Charlottesville798]

Absolutely loved this video... Fantastic work, many thanks!!

[@Titan604]

In the UK we had express newspaper trains. Surprised that with the French Railway system that that was not a better option for them too?

[@MarceloBenoit-trenes]

It looks like a 60s thing, when the roads were "the future" and railways the past.

[@427Motorsports]

I think it's the international aspect of it, getting across to Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany etc and even over the channel to the UK - for France interior I bet you're right and the tgv network would be quicker

[@beeble2003]

@@427Motorsports The TGV network only came online from the early 1980s, which is later than the start of your story. But France did already have a perfectly decent rail network at that point. Crossing borders was no more problem for a train than a van. Crossing the channel may have been slightly more of a problem: there were train ferries, but their timetable might not have been appropriate for this specific traffic.

[@RalfyCustoms]

And mail trains, they were often the only trains running at night

[@alexphelps7042]

Well you’re on an island & the Chunnel didn’t exist yet. If an enterprising English person wanted ship papers internationally you pretty much have to get a third party involved. But in continental Europe having a proto express van lets you deliver papers to dozens of countries with your own equipment.

[@trekintosh]

I’m amazed that these things were able to hustle so quickly with like a hundred horsepower and with almost no weight over the drive wheels.

[@gillespriod5509]

More than 100 hp, try 200 for the petrols and they still are lighter than a truck or an american car, and very aerodynamic, once up to 200 kmh maintaing the Speed isnt hard if you are not scared of keeping the engine almost at full power for hours, if those engines lasted only 200k km they were driven very very hard since usually they shoud live double that atleast, on the drive wheels you have the drivetrain and all the DS-CX heavy nose, One of the more stable cars ever made

[@pulaski1]

The weight on the driven (front) wheels is substantially a function of how far _back_ you put the rear axles - the further back the rear axles, the more of the payload weight is carried on the _front_ wheels. .... Hence the reason for high prformance sports cars having a "mid-engine" - by adjusting the postion of the engine with respect to the rear axle, it is possible to adjust the weight distribution to get close to a 50:50, front:rear split.

[@arch9enius]

Plus Citroens' trick suspension probably played a part.

[@arch9enius]

That and the aerodynamics probably > using a dual axle Transit with a Cologne or Essex v6

[@RailwaysoftheWorld1]

Really interesting video, I had no idea that international overnight shipping with a speeding vehicle was not a fantasy, but a really working business model from the past. Good luck with your channel!

[@rogerkretzschmar8280]

1984/ 85 as a 19 year old worked for a small oil rig parts shipping company, based in Stratford, East London. We had Ford Transit vans and Mercedes vans. We specialised in what was known then as ' hot shot' deliveries. Basically leave London early evening and be in either Aberdeen, Inverness, Peterhead, Marseille or Bordeaux by the next day. The idea was to punch through the night, and our vans ( especially the petrol Transits) could shift. The hardest part was keeping your eyes open!

[@christopherdean1326]

It may have been dangerous, but they did get to drive epicly cool vans, so swings and roundabouts!

[@Demun1649]

The 6-wheeled Citroën is a superb car. Rare now, but they exist, and I have travelled in one. All luxury, long-haul cars should have a twin rear axle.

[@damienhill6383]

The European Commission also used modified Citroen CX's for express delivery of documents between Brussels and Strasbourg and elsewhere ...

[@Virginie-g6j8r]

Bonjour à tous Merci pour cette vidéo de me replonger dans mon début carrière , roulez toutes les nuits entre la France , Belgique , luxenbourg , Allemagne , pays bas , Angleterre , ecosse , suisse , Italie , etc ……… Merci 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@iainwalker8701]

Good concise video with lots of facts with little to no filler. Well done.

[@MMM_MADness]

Honestly never knew of those cars, but now I kind of want one!

[@marcbrasse747]

One of my strongest holiday memories is to regularly see the Hollander DS’ on the French motorways in the seventies. I had been a Thunderbirds fan already for about 10 years at the time so that totally was the sort of car for me. Which started another livelong fascination for Citroën. Never got one of these but “having to do” with 3 XM’s for about 3 decades and still keeping the last one running well surely softens that blow.

[@stevenharpervw]

It’s fantastic that you are finding and cataloguing ( and sharing) these car stories

[@Team33Team33]

These cars DID exist. They drove at the LEGAL speed limits though or else the driver was fined and after too many fines FIRED. SO: They criss crossed EU at 70mph (probably 80mph). Petrol/Diesel was paid for - Easy job, Easy money. The simple thought that cars would drive regular distances at 200kp/h is a myth.

[@ptonpc]

@Team33Team33 Joined Apr 15, 2023 So... where is your counterpoint? The video and comments are reporting things experienced at the time. Were you even alive at the time things like this happened? None of the comments are saying they were driving at a verified 200 Km/h (by the way, it's Km/h not Kp/h.) In fact one of them @aussietruckphotosandmodels8510 points out the difficulty of doing so. PS. Congratulations on your first comment not referencing being drunk or pubs.

[@indolamabwena]

@Team33Team33 Nope, they had permission to go over the speed limit in France.

[@Team33Team33]

@@indolamabwena What are you smoking mate ? LOL. Are you for real ? LMAO

[@indolamabwena]

@ Well, I have a CX Tissier and I talked to a guy who used to drive these things back in the day for work and he told me they were driving full throttle all night with permission. But hey, next time I'll see him I'll tell him he's a liar. Ok? You sound like you know it all.

[@larkhill2119]

Night-time speed limits were only lightly enforced in the late 1970s and 1980s. I was caught at 125 MPH in the UK one night. I pulled on my handbrake to slow down with no brake lights. The police turned off their lights and never pulled me over. He only caught up with me because of roadworks, where I slowed down and waited for the road to be clear again. Maybe that had something to do with it?

[@RasheedKhan-he6xx]

90s too. In particular the M57, a short motorway between Warrington and Southport that never saw a policeman and was effectively unrestricted. And you would do 95-100 up and down the M6 any day, any time. Just "keeping with the flow" required 85. But on the M56 near Manchester Airport you'd get done in the blink of an eye if you went even a hair above 70.

[@MikeP229]

Brings back memories from when I was driving the Heathrow-Paris route or Brussels, Ams, Frankfurt,Dusseldorf

[@markiesmith4537]

Always wondered about these looooong Citroens...Now I know - thanks!

[@bveracka]

What a gem of a video! Great work. 👍🏻

[@JerzeyBoy]

I will admit the paint job on these things reminds me of rodimus prime.

[@frank_calvert]

i cant unsee it now.

[@gww730]

Beat me to it!

[@FeRReT421]

It's the same car he turns into

[@lukapogo]

Short and to the point. Great video, definitely subbing.

[@paulreilly3904]

My first car was a CX 2400 GTi with the wonderful number plate XLX 7X. My first love. I wish, like many others I still had it.

[@hackfreak2k7]

This is such an underated story and such a great cover!

[@christianrogers5674]

Fantastic video. I love automotive esoterica and I never knew any of these existed!

[@StefanoDomellicalo]

I can remember seeing the beasts in the 80's on the European motorways and the A2/M2 going from Dover to London

[@poolitzer384]

Thanks Tom

[@JachuJustyDriver]

There was a vast article on Petrolicious about this topic, but they archived, or deleted it for some reason. I'm glad you did a video about it. I always said, it would be a perfect job for me, but I was born too late, and in the wrong part of Europe :D

[@hekitotv4314]

Rodimus Prime?

[@gordyl9247]

Back in the 80s our garage in Northern Ireland used to service one of these Citroëns which was used to transport heavy and very expensive operating tables .😊

[@VanAdventuresBavaria]

Thanks for the video. I saw one of the vehicles driving over the Brenner Pass in the 80s. Since then I've wondered who built it. Now I know!

[@indyvelo4130]

Great video, well done! As some who is across the pond, I was never aware of these before watching this. Please keep it up!

[@seanmoran1056]

Best video I have seen on you tube in a while .

[@jochen95]

Now THIS is what i always hope to find among all the garbage that is on KZbin, something fascinating that i knew nothing about and feel that i want to know more about instantly! 👌👌 Instant sub from me, good work! 😃👍

[@jean-pierredeclemy7032]

My wife in a CX Familiale did 300 miles in 3 hours on the French autoroute which included fuel stop!

[@S7EVE_P]

This channel is amazing....loads of interesting content...delivery is spot on..... subscribed👍

[@salvatoreshiggerino6810]

How did they get away with all that speeding?

[@t1m3f0x]

If you were a cop would you pull over the leader of the Autobots, for speeding?

[@ToTheGAMES]

There werent really any speed laws in those times

[@JonMurray]

Brilliant video mate. I had never heard of these before. New subscriber ✌🏻

[@TheIMacG3Fan]

And thanks to the hydropneumatic suspension the ride height stays the same no matter how much load you carry, and from factory, the rear brakes (always disc brakes, of course) are load dependent.

[@tomasbohunek9698]

So many things I learn in one short video on a Friday morning. :) I'm stunned that I didn't know about these!

[@chrisweber4850]

Back in the 80s my dad and me visited a large Car Museum in or near Monaco, and they had one of those 3 wheeled Tissier CX in front of the building. And growing up in the 80s and 90s and my dad working for a shipping company called EMS, some of his coworkers even had these 3axle CX transporters to deliver stuff (while we had an early Fiat Ducato with the engine so loud the radio was useless)

[@markpitts5194]

BMW - Alpina, Mercedes - AMG, Citroen - Tissier. By the way, i have 5 Xantias and a BX. I have already worked out where to cut a pair of Xantia estates to get the 3rd axle in.

[@rochester212]

A two driver lorry drives non stop for 21 hours, after which they take a 9 hour break and then start all over again, 6 days a week for months at a time. During each 21 hour shift, the truck does around 1500 km and this is something that goes on every day of the year, including the holidays. The vast majority of these drivers come from eastern Europe and they each earn around the same salary as a typical cashier at a supermarket. (And of course, the common rule is always go full speed, no matter what, nobody wants a "slow" truck driver, it's 90km/h all the way, no break other than restroom and to change cards).

[@romanobezuidenhout7506]

Old Citroen's were fast. We got a 1971 DS21 5speed. We did a trip of 550km in it about 2 years ago and took all of 3hours 45min. Impressive times even for modern cars.

[@cyclist2906]

Thanks for creating this, fascinating! Never seen one of these flying past.

[@unclegargameldgargameld4888]

used to see those Citroens in Dover, wonder if there is any still around

[@427Motorsports]

Definitely still a few! Take a look at Moteurflottant on Instagram, he posted one last week in really nice condition

[@AaA-k6u6c]

Average Yurp: heading home from the bar quietly so as not to get pulled over Some 16-year-old Franc, riveting the gas pedal to the floor of Rodimus Prime: LE MAKING SUCH GOOD TIME

[@kingofsludge7262]

This was a cool video about stuff I didn’t know, new sub!

[@Jacob-jo4px]

Absolutely fascinating - Tissier definitely inspired many similar 3 axle specialist vehicles today such as those built by Algema Fitzel and Rohill.

[@ferdinandhendriks3507]

Thank you for posting this. Just a week ago I was thinking about those cars, remembered them from my youth and reading bout them. They were replaced Mercedes Sprinter vans in late 90s, which could do 1.5 tons at 150-160kph. After that high speed internet connections would phase out those transports.

[@MarkAtkin]

I'd never heard or these machines. I want one! I had a CX Familiale many years ago.

[@jareknowak8712]

My uncle did this job in the mid 80s in Stockholm, Sweden.

[@johanankarback6821]

That´s really cool! Never heard of theese cars before. In Sweden they used Chevrolet and Dodge pickup trucks for delivering newspapers.

[@ciklop4206]

Bruv I saw an Edsel looking thing up in Skellefteå. Many yankee cars and yankee style buildings there. Shame about the fast food options tho

[@willhughes99]

Fascinating! Thank you for creating

[@rj7855]

In 1992, I drove a (normal 4 wheeled) CX turbo diesel 2 from the Netherlands to Spain (1650km) at night in 10:45 minutes. (3 drivers, the only stops were to pay the peage and fill up the tank) Note: we did obey the speed limit in the Netherlands and only put the pedal to the medal after crossing the Belgium border

[@The_Dutch_Pancake]

Yep, I have been a taxi driver in the 80-90’s in Amsterdam. There was such a delivery Citroen for distribution of French newspapers. Ones I saw this Citroen on the highway in the middle of the night. I couldn’t keep up.

[@racer98]

this needs to be a movie !

[@thelaughingmanofficial]

So that's where the inspiration for Rodimus Prime came from.

[@Jonny_5]

I love old Citorens

[@mvdnbos]

You mean clitorus ? lol

[@Deckzwabber]

Great story! Thanks for sharing

[@seymourclearly]

Thank you, that was really interesting. Greetings from Co Down

[@blackflagqwerty]

3:14 Was this the car that inspired HotRod from G1 transformers?

[@barch90]

The colour scheme is real close and Hot Rodimus had a big back with high roof. Make sense.

[@barch90]

Hot Rodimus…I mean Rodimus Prime😁

[@AddyBittler-]

Excellent video I like the knowledge

[@VEC7ORlt]

Most comfortable delivery vehicle EVER!

[@gsd4me00]

In New Zealand, back in the day, they stretched the chassis of Ford Thames 400e vans and fitted the 6 cylinder Zephyr engine.

[@jeremywentworth1833]

That was a really interesting video. Wonder if there is any Tissier built Citroens left. I always thought Citroens were crap until i made a decent profit on s Zantia 1.9TD at least 20 years ago+ 1 of our cars is a DS3 & i love it. Not as much in the UK but on a hole.in Europe its had 40% of all Supermini sales. So Citroens are much better cars than they are given credit for.

[@indolamabwena]

I have one.