HISTORY:

I have searched for a very low mileage original ID ambulance for a longtime.
This is not easy, especially a genuine Citroen ambulance offered in the catalogue, not a conversion offered by coachbuilders like Tissier, Currus or Carrier. When I was contacted about this one, I was thrilled: it met all the criterias of the museum; moreover it is from the 1967 model year, the holy grail for collectors, the last year with the original front and the first with mineral hydraulic fluid (LHM).  

On arriving at the place of sale in the Tissot buildings in Podensac near Bordeaux, my heart leapt: I discovered a car lying under dust since 1984, well preserved in the dry. But there was a surprise, as the two brother owners did not want to sell it, as they were too attached to the car. Although disappointed, I could understand this. Their father, M. Tissot the creator of the boiler manufacturing company, had ordered this ambulance on consideration of the risks his 250 employees were subjected to at work. But in the end, the longest journey was made by the family doctor to Paris, to collect M Tissot himself who had suffered a heart attack there. 

I returned to Castellane with an empty trailer but did not despair. After eight years of regular contact, a deal is finally made: I would restore the car on their behalf and they will lend it to me for display in the museum, the only exhibit that I do not own.  

I took it for a drive before stripping the mechanical parts, and this identified a worn clutch. This undoubtedly showed the driver had a heavy foot on the pedal.