Italian coachbuilder recreates classic French trucks
Food trucks have never looked this good, and it’s all thanks to Italian engineer and life-long Citroën fan Fabrizio Caselani.
Having specialized in composite components for the yacht industry while collecting and racing Citroën 2CV is his spare time, Caselani decided he wanted to bring back the classic Citroën H-series trucks—beloved of street food vendors throughout Europe—but with modern-day functionality and reliability.
Rather than taking old vehicles and trying to restomod them to today’s standards, Caselani produced a retro styling pack for the latest Citroën trucks. Penned by Hungarian yacht designer David Obendorfer, the conversions turn the Citroën Jumper and Jumpy vans into replicas of the H and HY trucks which were built from 1947 to 1981. The cool corrugations are made from composite materials, rather than the cheap, thin-gauge metal of the post-war era.
For the larger, Jumper-based, Type H there are wide range of conversions from straight panel van to minibus, food truck, camper, RV and—our favorite—car carrier.
New to the range is the HG model based on the Citroën Jumpy and you can have a panel van, crew van or passenger van, and you can even opt for an all-electric powertrain from Citroën’s ë-Jumpy or ë-SpaceTourer.
The conversion is carried out at Carrosserie Caselani in Italy, with prices starting at €29,400 plus taxes ($35,000). That’s about the same as you’d pay for an original model in good condition in Europe, but without any creature comforts, or 21st century performance.
Unfortunately, these cool Citroëns are not available this side of the Atlantic, although we did find a few original imports starting at $45,000. Go ahead and start that escargot-on-the-go business.
