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The Paris-Kaboul Raid : 1970
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Paris-Kaboul Raid
At the end of the 1960s, with the arrival of the baby-boom generation, Citroën was suddenly confronted with an unprecedented situation : here were thousands of youngsters dreaming of the Black Cruise and wanting a share of the Citroën adventure. At the time, the "deudeuche" (2CV) was the symbol of a laid-back and care-free young generation, convinced that the world was all theirs. Citroën replied with the Paris-Kabul Rallye, open to all owners of standard 2CVs, Dyanes or Méharis and aged between 18 and 30.
Citroën had hoped for 200 entries... but they had to make a shortlist to select no more than 1,300 youngsters, from all over Europe, spread over 494 vehicles. The goal of the rallye was to reach Kabul, the Afghan capital, via Switzerland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan : 80,000 litres of fuel and 12,000 litres of oil were used to cover the 16,500 kilometres of the course.
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Paris-Kaboul
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Paris-Kaboul
To add a little spice to the event, the course included a competition : each team had to bring back a colour slide of Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, a feature report of no more than 5 pages or a tape of 54 minutes, and 6 illustrations. Road penalties were provided in some cases, and adding the two together helped to establish the winning positions. The winners received a 2CV 6 and a cheque for FF 5,000.
With this rallye, Citroën extended the tradition of great car expeditions, fifty years after the first African crossings made by Haardt and Dubreuil. To quote the rallye organizers, this event helped to show a whole generation that the "finest victories are not those gained over other people, but those gained over oneself". It also succeeded in assembling young people in order to "build something together, a piece of life, a moment of excitement, of comradeship and solidarity that they will never forget".In actual fact, on August 29, 1970, the two young winners expressed a wish to enter a new Citroën rallye, a wish that was met the following year with the Paris-Persepolis-Paris event.