Citroen Acadiane

Sunday 20 September 2009
The Citroën Acadiane is a small commercial vehicle derived from the Dyane and only available in left hand drive, produced from 1978 to 1987. Production totalled 253,393. The Visa-based C15 van eventually replaced the Acadiane.
Citroen had already used the prefix AK for its light commercials, so it was an obvious pun to name the AK Dyane "Acadiane" (similar pronunciation in French). There was no connection beyond the pun with the French-speaking region of Louisiana that is home to Cajun (Acadiane) cooking. The Acadiane differed from the Dyane on which it was based in having heavier-duty suspension, a slightly altered chassis and a rear-brake limiter whose action was dependent on the load. I believe one or more of the gear ratios may also have been lower to help with heavy loads. The Acadiane was also fitted with wind-down windows in the driver's and passenger's doors. This was seen as one luxury too many by some. The Dyane car had horizontally-sliding windows.
The payload was approximately 500 kg, but handling was amusing when fully loaded. Too few vehicles these days offer amusing handling as standard.

Technical data:
- engine: 2 cylinders
- capacity: 425 cc
- horsepower: 18 HP
- gearbox: 4+1
- top speed: 95 km/h