Students’ 1920s half-track on display
Historic project was finished in 2019 but Covid restrictions prevented a proper display – until now
A replica Citroën B2 Kégresse half-track car named ‘Scarabée d’or’ built by French students is finally being displayed for the world to see, with the car making its debut outside of France at Techno Classica Essen on 23 March.
Citroën developed the half-tracked ‘autochenille’ in the 1920s based on the system of the inventor Adolphe Kégresse using continuous rubber tracks. Its aim was simple – conquer every spot on earth by automobile. The Scarabée d’or and five other autochenilles were the first cars ever to cross the Sahara during the winter of 1922-23. The original vehicle now forms part of Citroën’s famous historical collection.
A scheme was set up by the association ‘des voitures & des hommes’ to have students re-build the Scarabée d’or from scratch. Chairman, Olivier Masi, said: ‘It was the first car that ever crossed a continent and more specifically the Sahara. This desert and the 1922 expedition evoke a technical and human adventure, the will to push the limits.’
The students of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Arts et Métiers and those of the Lycée du Château d’epluches did most of the work, which took 50,000 hours, starting with partially dismantling and digitising the original car. Supported by Citroën and Glasurit – among others – the work took more than three years from 2016 to 2019. The students have also created a video of the build.
Olivier Masi said: ‘Students were extremely motivated by the fact that their work would produce and reconstitute a real object, totally and fully operational.’