Ooh la la! Travel back to 1950s France with this pastiche Ami kit

In one fell swoop, Caselani – maker of retro Citroen bodykits for yonks now – has fixed everything you could possibly dislike about the Ami.

Rather than double down on the quadricycle’s fugly looks a la the incoming facelift that was revealed last year, the French firm has gone in completely the opposite direction by a measure of seven or eight decades.

Count the nods to history: rectangular, chevron-infused nose, check; corrugated body panels, check; cute silver steelies, check.

The Type-Ami, as it’s called, falls into line with Caselani’s other (superb) work, chiefly its modern-day Citroen H van, Fourgonette van and Type HG. Yep, that too is a van.

And, er, who would want such a thing? Well, the van kits can all be had as food trucks, so think mobile artisan coffee sellers. Or in the case of the Ami, maybe just espressos.

Which brings us nicely to pricing. Hope you’re sitting down, because all in the Type-Ami – inclusive of donor car – costs €11,390. Plus VAT. So in the UK that’d be somewhere north of £11k, or about three-and-a-half grand more than a standard Ami. How badly do you want to fix those looks?

If you’ve already got an Ami then Caselani can simply sell you the kit Ikea-style for €4,440 (£3,700 ish) or with assembly and painting thrown in for €6,040 (about £5k).

Options include an opening hood, leather interior and a roof box (!), and while the orange above is one of six standard pastel colours, you can also choose grey, yellow or green in a metallic finish for a bit extra. Oh, and you can have the roof and rims painted too.

Magnifique, right?

Images: Caselani