As prosperity continued to roll across France through the late ’50s, a smaller sister to the DS was conceived.
Using the same basic mechanicals as the 2CV, but with an engine expanded to 602cc, the Ami’s styling was the work of Flaminio Bertoni, also responsible for the DS, with which it shared many details. It might not have been conventional – but it very quickly became the best selling car in France.
For 1970, the Ami 6 was replaced by the Ami 8, which toned the styling down and replaced the saloon’s distinctive reverse-rake rear window with a smooth fastback. Within a couple of years, the Ami 8 was the first of the A-series to gain luxuries as winding front door windows. It remained in production until replacement in 1978 with the Visa.
The Ami 8 also provided the basis for the Ami Super, using the flat four from the GS. ‘France’s Mini Cooper’ is now extremely rare, not only because so few were produced (only around three times as many as SMs), but the rust endemic to all Amis meant they provided a great basis for building fast 2CVs.
