THE CITYRAMA BUS LIVES!

Last year, we published a blog about the Cityrama, the Paris bus that made a DS19 look positively low-key by comparison. Underneath, it may have had the chassis of the humble Citroen Type 55 lorry, but in the 1950s and 1960s, it was as much a tourist attraction as the Eiffel Tower. Today, only one example is believed to exist – and we are delighted to report that it is now undergoing restoration.

To briefly recap, in 1956, the travel firm Groupe Cityrama commissioned the long-established coachbuilder Currus to create France’s ultimate tourist bus. The criteria were for lightweight construction and maximum visibility, so the project employed a steel framework combined with plexiglass, which was cheaper than curved standard glass. The firm made another two models in 1957, which sported three front grilles to assist engine cooling in heavy traffic.

Inside, the Cityrama coach boasted reclining seats complete with audiphones with commentary in seven different languages for the 50 passengers. An array of pushbuttons in the armrest operated tape-recorded descriptions of the city’s attractions in a language of your choice. The top deck had room for 20 occupants while the transparent roof could be retracted – an essential fitting given the area of Plexiglass windows and the heat of a Paris summer. The U55 even offered on-board catering; visitors from London used to cuisine a la British Railways must have believed they had entered a parallel universe.

As the Cityrama was over 14 feet high, it inevitably dominated roads populated by Deux Cheavauxs, Simca Arondes, and Peugeot 403 taxis. One coach as immortalised in the 1960 Louis Malle film Zazie dans le Métro. The coachbuilder ceased trading in 1975, and the Cityrama buses were retired by the following decade. The YouTuber, The Tim Traveller, discovered what may be the sole survivor earlier this year, and the 1956 model did not look in the best of health. Yet even its dilapidated condition could not mask its sheer grandeur.

The Association Normande d’Anciens Utilitaires have embarked on the Cityrama’s refurbishment. Philippe Debasly of Normandy Classics believes the process will take around four years to complete. We hope to be there for the 70^th birthday of one of the most extraordinary post-war buses – and hopefully ride on the top deck. But, for now, here is a reminder of the remarkable U55 in its heyday -