Citroën HY Van Food Truck On Campus

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Photo: Who is the Francophile

My brother let me know that the Citroën HY Van food truck was back on campus so I rushed over to take a gander. Good thing I rushed, as I managed to have a nice little chat with the owner before he left for a lunch break.

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According to Svend in the previous post, it was last registered in the UK in 2018. This backs up what the owner said. It’s a 1971 model with the 1911 cc engine. He said it was originally a flatbed that was retrofitted in England for food truck duty before being imported here. It makes sense as there is a wall between the driver’s seat and the cooking area.

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Photo: Who is the Francophile

I’ve never seen an HY van before, this being just my third Citroën I’ve seen, the previous two being 2CVs. I must say I was not disappointed. These things are quite striking in person. I especially love how the front tapers to a point. It’s just so effortlessly handsome despite almost no efforts being made whatsoever to style it.

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Photo: Who is the Francophile

Perhaps more surprising is how small the thing is. Specifically the Citroën is just so narrow!

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The owner said he likes it because it can fit in a normal parking spot while retaining almost as much interior room as a conventional step van. His donut making stuff fit nicely in the back while leaving room to move around.

Note the three part rear doors. Since it used to be a flatbed I imagine the roof of a regular HY was used since it uses the usual flip up rear hatch and license plate mounting position (the real Georgia plate is in the front window).

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Photo: Who is the Francophile

You can clearly see the cut line from where the flatbed was built upon. That wheelbase really leaves so much room for activities, doesn’t it?

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Photo: Who is the Francophile

Not too large of a menu but it’s also a small van. He said he thought about expanding into a gluten free menu but couldn’t fit another fryer in when I mentioned why I was chatting and not buying anything. I waited until there were no more customers so it’s ok. He was more than willing to talk about the van with someone who could appreciate it. The proprietor talked about how he was opening a permanent location next year though I can’t remember the city.

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Photo: Who is the Francophile

This angle of the HY Van is so iconic. The suicide doors swooping down to the step point on the fender actually didn’t give me the impression of easy ingress or egress but I also didn’t see them open. The interior was spartan as you might imagine but free of trash and very clean.

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I asked him if he though the unique van brought him any more business and he said yes. Apparently it is very popular at festivals as even people who don’t know what it is can recognize it for something special and out of the ordinary.

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Photo: Who is the Francophile
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I was told a story about how his mechanic rebuilt his first Citroën engine at 8 years old. Not sure how accurate that story is but clearly the van is well looked after. I didn’t get to hear it in action but I saw it drive by from the window of a dining hall a few minutes later. He had been getting ready to leave.

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Photo: Who is the Francophile
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I hope I see this plucky little Citroën around some more. He asked me about locations on the other end of campus and I told him about how the dining halls aren’t as good but there are also other restaurants close by. I might see him again every now and again as he has had some success here. In either case, the HY Van sure made my day.