Yacco Citroen poster – Graissée avec Yacco Citroen Poster – H Camy 1953
This is a reproduction of a Yacco promotional poster. The dramatic, dynamic poster was created by the artist H Camy to advertise the successful part Yacco Oil had played in the 1953 endurance tests. The poster goes on to explain that the French Citroen 2CV car was ‘Greased with Yacco’ oil.
The Citröen 2CV
The Citroen 2CV wasn’t exactly what you’d call a sporty car. In fact, it was exactly the opposite. The car, was conceived in the late 1930s by Citroën’s then Vice-President, Pierre Boulanger. It was developed to provide affordable transportation to the large number of French farmers still using horse-drawn carts.
The result was the 2CV, a no-frills vehicle that was relatively cheap, had a small engine, no aerodynamics what-so-ever with a boxy, utilitarian appearance. It has often been described as an “umbrella on wheels”. The car was in stark contrast to the sleek and stylish cars that were popular at the time. In reality, the Citroen Deux Chevaux, better known as the 2CV was an unlikely choice of car in which to attempt to win races and set new international and world records.
That is until a young Frenchman, named Pierre Barbot, had an ambition to set new records and win races with the popular 2CV. Pierre Barbot was an engineer, a director of a precision engineering company and a student of the sciences. He was also a man with a dream.
Barbot saw the potential in the car’s positive aspects. The 2CV was affordable, rugged enough to handle off-road conditions, easy to repair, and economical to operate. The robust and sturdy motor car had an ability to just keep on going. Whatever the weather, terrain or distance, the 2CV was a triumph of practicality over substance. In 1951, Barbot set about transforming a humble 2CV into a competition car to take on the world.
The “Barbot Citroën 2CV Spéciale”
According to the motormuseuminminiature website, over the next two years, Barbot transformed “the farmer’s car” with a maximum speed of 65kph into a world record setting competition car. Unbelievably by reducing the standard 375cc engine capacity reduced its capacity down to just 348cc.
The 2CV he developed was affectionally nicknamed the “Barbot Special”. It was a serious customisation job. First, the roof was cut off just below the windshield, to not only reduce the weight of the vehicle but also to help the car become more aerodynamic. It had the added benefit of lowering the centre of gravity, making the car handle better. In addition, the bonnet was lowered by 10cm and extended by 30cm. Dozen’s of other modifications were made to the car and its engine and Barbot had raised the power output from 9hp to 14hp. When it was finished Barbot’s Citroën 2CV Spéciale bore very little resemblance to an original Citroen 2CV.
The Bol d’Or
In 1952, Barbot had hoped to enter his car in the Montlhery 24hr Bol d’Or race but the car wasn’t ready. It was ready for the 1953 event though. The race took place on the 21st of June 1953 at Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry (near Paris, France).
The race rules designated that the entire 24 hour race was to driven by one driver. Barbot’s Citroën 2CV Spéciale was driven by a gifted, nineteen-year-old driver named Jean Vinatier. The car carried race number 80. Although Vinatier only finished 19th overall, he not only won the under 350cc class but set a new 24-hour distance travelled record. The young driver and the Barbot Special 2cv covered 1,649.309km at an average 68.721kph. The distance covered is even more remarkable when you know that Vinatier had to push the car for 2km due to a broken rocker arm stopping the car.
The 2CV sets nine new records at Monthlery.
After the achievements at the Bol D’or, Yacco oils stepped in to sponsor the car for an attempt on a series of under 350cc class endurance records.
On 27th September 1953, Pierre Barbot, Vinatier and his father returned to the Montlhery race track with the successful and slightly modified 2CV where they set a raft of new Class J records. Nine to be exact. These were:
200km in 3h28m36s (average 92.13kph)
500km in 5h28m46s (average 91.25kph)
750km in 8h47m51s (average 91.46kph)
1,000km in 10h59m09s (average 91.03kph)
1,500km in 18h24m16s (average 87.44kph)
2,000km in 23h32m13s (average 84.87kph)
6-hours distance of 547.672km (average 91.28kph)
12-hours distance of 1,091.577km (average 90.96kph)
24-hours distance of 2,040.469km (average 85.02kph)
It was a remarkable achievement for a car with an engine capacity of 348cc. It was a success that needed to be announced to the motoring world. Yacco in conjunction with Citroen were extremely keen to announce the results. They commissioned the original of this Graissée avec Yacco Citroen advertising poster.
Citroen and Yacco
Citroën is a French car company that has been around since the early 1900s. They are known for its innovative design and engineering. In the early 1930s, Citroën teamed up with Yacco, an oil company in France, for endurance testing on their automobiles. The endurance results and records ensured positive publicity, beneficial to both companies. The cars were tested at the Montlhéry race track just outside Paris.
The most famous of the endurance cars was a Citroen Traction Avant. The car was nicknamed “Petite Rosalie”. It spent 134 days on the track in 1934 covering close to 200,000 miles at an average speed of 57.8 miles per hour.
In 1950, Citroën introduced its new 2CV model. By 1953, a modified version of it had been created by a young engineer named Pierre Barbot. Once again sponsored by the Yacco oil company, the car nicknamed The Barbot Special went on to successfully break nine international records. As this vintage Yacco Citroen poster extolls, two of them records the 12 hour and 24 hour endurance records.
