Visa Ville

	The photos on the left were mailed to me by Visa Man from Finland. Left you see his Heuliez Décapotable, one of only two known in Finland. The car in the picture on the right is his Visa 11 RE of 1985. Visa Man owns a large fleet of Visas and several other Citroëns (photos © Visa Man).
		The Visa 11 RE of Martijn van Riet broke down three times on a trip to Prague, where he planned to spend the turn of the year 2000/2001. He managed to get to Prague, though, albeit without Visa... The last we heard of Martijn is that he was looking for a good home for it in November 2002 (photos © Martijn van Riet).
The Visa Plein Air, once owned by Herbert Danioth from Switzerland. Herbert sold the car in 2002 (photo © Herbert Danioth).
	Shown left is the 1980 Visa Club owned by Malko Rech from Le Mans, France. Malko bought his Visa in February 2001. The car came very cheap, as the vendor supposed it to be in poor condition. The only things Malko had to change, however, were the clutch and the front tyres. Even more surprisingly, there was no rust. In six months time, the Visa covered more than 12.000 trouble free kilometers (photos © Malko Rech).
The 1988 Visa, owned by Andreas Mauroschat, who lives and works in The Netherlands. The Visa performed fine with Andreas, but he sold it anyway due to the need of a larger car (photo © Andreas Mauroschat).
		Darren Russell from England owns three GTis. Two of them are shown above. The car in the pictures at the left and in the middle are of his modified one. It has been lowered 60mm at the front and 45 at the back, lacks door handles except on the drivers door, and features a rather loud exhaust...Darren bought the car as specified, mainly because it was cheap and could yield some spares in the future. Until then, he drives it occasionally. The photo at the right is of Darren in his standard 115ch, going around the Lydden circuit in Kent, England during a sprint competition. These sprints or hillclimbs are timed runs against the clock. Darren's class is for standard production cars of 1400cc to 2000cc, so he ends up against 1.9 205 GTi's and new Clio Sports with 172bhp. Nontheless, Darren sometimes manages to beat some of the competition. See more of Darren's Visas at: http://www.visagti.co.uk (photos © Darren Russell).
Erwin Obourdin from Antwerp, Belgium, has fitted his 652cc two cylinder Visa of 1983 with a full length Webasto sunroof. In 2002, he sold it and bought another Visa. Look for details at Erwin's website. (photo © Erwin Obourdin).
		The rare 1982 Visa GT, formerly owned by Anita and Marko ten Klooster from Friesland, The Netherlands, covered less than 90.000 kms. Today, this silver beauty is in my own garage. Marko can do without it: he owns no less than 11 other Citroëns (photos © Marko ten Klooster).
	The 1985 C15E of Martijn van Well. Today, Martijn doesn't own this car any more: some years ago he swapped it in France for a rare 2CV AZU250. See much more of Martijn's cars and other Citroëns at Martijn's Citroënpage (photos © Martijn van Well).
		The immaculate 1982 Visa II Super E of Ian Dalziel. Ian drives several other cars, including 2 GSAs, a 2CV and a VW Camper (photos © Ian Dalziel).
Even today Visas are able to throw up some dust. The GTi of Kostas Sygounas from Ioannina (Greece) still competes in rally sprints. The photo was taken in October, 2001 (photo © Kostas Sygounas).
	The six pictures on the left were sent to me by Thomas Egli from Bern, Switzerland. The blue first series Club of 1981 (top left) was owned by Thomas (seen in the back of the car) from November 1987. Unfortunately, the car was wrecked during an accident in December 1988. The brown Visa II Club of 1982 (old dashboard) has been in Thomas' possession from 1997 until date. When Thomas bought it, it had covered only 6900 kms. Today the clock shows no more than 10.000 kms. The car is still in as new condition. The white Visa Club was bought by Thomas in 1996. He sold the car later that year, but not before he fitted a self made dashboard, made of cardboard, leather and denim. He also rearranged the buttons surrounding the steering column, and fitted denim upholstery to the seats as well. The inscription on the dash originates from the back of a 2CV (photos © Thomas Egli).


The Visa Chrono, owned by Freek Vermeeren in 1984/85. The little boy posing besides the car is his son, who will probably be much taller by now. Freek, being a Citroën mechanic, was able to acquire the Chrono at an attractive price, after it had been driven for a few months by a representative of the Dutch importer. After 1,5 years of use, Freek sold the Chrono for a good price and bought a BX. Today he wishes he had kept it... (photo © Freek Vermeeren).
	The 1984 Visa 11 RE of Ulrik Yntema is fitted with smart TRX-style wheelcaps. Some problems forced Ulrik to sell the car, a sale he now somehow regrets... (photos © Ulrik Yntema).
	Thijs van de Bles from Noordwolde in Friesland, The Netherlands, owns this 1986 Visa 11 RE, which will be transformed to a cabriolet of his own design. Thijs uses a 1982 Visa Super E as his daily transport (photos © Thijs van de Bles).
		Age Maat from The Netherlands sent in these photos of his white C15D. The pictures above were taken during a summer holiday in Sweden. The photo on the right was taken during the Broekrock pop festival in Broekland, The Netherlands, and shows the C15 of Age together with a congener. Age writes that, apart from rust, the C15 remains a fairly trouble free car (photos © Age Maat).
The 1984 11 RE Décapotable of Andrea Forte from Italy. Andrea also owns a two cylinder Visa, which served as holiday transport to Scandinavia and eastern Europe (photo © Andrea Forte).
The rather wild Visa two cylinder (1987) of Lefteris Rigopoulos from Athens, Greece. It serves as a basis for a pseudo Mille Pistes. Besides this project car, Lefteris owns a second Visa (photos © Lefteris Rigopoulos).
	The Visa GT Spirit 330 and the silver Découvrable shown above belong to the France based Dutchman Hans von Meijenfeldt. The GT Spirit (a Dutch market only version, this one being number 321 out of 330 examples) was bought by Hans in 1993. Hans used the car as his daily transport until 2002. By then, the doors had become badly inflicted by rust, so it was laid up for future restauration. Near the car is Hans daughter. The picture was taken in Orne, Normandy, in 1996. The 11 RE Découvrable in the picture on the right (taken in the Ardêche during the summer of 1984) was bought new by Hans' mother in 1984. Because it was a 1983 model, and the selling concessionaire had no ordinairy Visas in stock, the car was sold for the price of a normal 11 RE. During the next year, convertible sales started booming in Europe, and the dealer was eager to buy the car back...without success. In 2002 Hans took the Découvrable over from his mother. The car is in as new condition, with only 74.000 kms on the clock, and no rust whatsoever. The French CT official was amazed by the rust proofing to which the car had been treated. The photos below were taken in September 1989. The brown Décapotable is the one then owned by well known Citrophile Wouter Jansen, the man behind the Dutch magazine Citroexpert. The house is where Hans lives. The sight of it makes us realize why we all should move to France (photos © Hans von Meijenfeldt).

	The Visa 17 D Leader, formerly owned by Bjorn Hondelink, might be the only Diesel engined Leader in the Netherlands. The car is a 1986 model, although it was registered in early 1988 (photos © Bjorn Hondelink).
		This Visa GTi, owned by Frank Collet from the Netherlands, has been upgraded with a 1.9 engine from a Citroën BX GTi. (photos © Frank Collet).
This is the 1988 Visa 11 RE once owned by Edwin Thuijs. He bought it as a temporary car for the time his 2CV is being restored, but he put quite some effort in tidying it up (photo © Edwin Thuijs).

			João Paulo Ferreira de Freitas, from the city of Paredes, near Porto (Portugal), sent me photos of his Visa Club, first registered in March1981. The car was bought as a two year old car by João Paulo's father in 1983 (top left), and was sold in November 1993. João Paulo found the car, with a broken engine, in February 2002, and bought it back. (top centre). After a slight restauration (top right), he was able to put it back on the road (below right). But this is not a ordinary 1981 Club. João's car has the front of a Visa II, but the rear end and some other details are more like an old series one model! When João's father bought it, it already was just like this. It seems to be one of the last first series models, partly converted into a Visa II (photos © João Paulo Ferreira de Freitas).

The 1992 C15 D of Ruben Sinselmeijer from the Netherlands. After many years of service, Ruben has been tempted to buy a Volvo (how could he ever do such a thing!!), so he sold his trusty pal (photo © Ruben Sinselmeijer).

			In Australia, only six Visas are known to exist. Two of then are pictured in the special gallery. The other four are owned by Leigh Miles. The 1983 Visa Décapotable he owns was upgraded to GT-specification by its former UK based owner, after it had been involved in an accident. When Leigh bought it, he drove it around Europe for three months, and then took it with him to Australia. During Leigh's ownership it caught fire, after which it was completely renovated. Top left, you see some of the damage done to the bodywork. Top centre, you see the massive harm the engine bay suffered. Top right, the engine bay during the rebuild. The joyful scene second row left shows the day Leigh got his car back from his mechanic (who owns the CX parked behind) after the rebuild. The photo in the centre on the second row is another one of the GT Convertible in its current condition. Leigh's second Visa is a 1980 Club, which is also in very good condition. You see this car second row right and third row left. This car too was first registered in the UK. Leigh's third Visa (third row right) is a 1984 GTi, imported in Australia by an English couple. After they found out how hot it can get inside in a non airconditioned car on this continent, they decided the Visa was not the place to be for their new born baby. So lucky Leigh was able to buy this immaculate car as well. Below left and centre you see the GT Challenger, bought by Leigh in 2003 when he was living in the UK. The Challenger is one of 300 UK examples built, of wich only three survive. Sadly, the Challenger of Leigh is far from perfect, and chances are big its engine will some day propell the Décapotable. The photo below right shows Leigh's complete fleet of Visas. Other cars owned by Leigh are a 1978 Dyane (bought new by Leigh's parents when living in the UK), a 1954 Light Fifteen, a 1988 CX GTi Turbo II Automatic and a 1983 GSA Pallas C-Matic (photos © Leigh Miles).

The 1985 Visa Club, formerly owned by B. Kleijnen from the Netherlands. Kleijnen sold the car in 2002 (photo © B. Kleijnen).

The Visa 11 RE of 1987, once driven by Menno Jansen from Tilburg, the Netherlands. When in 2001 a company car came in, the Visa had to go (photo © Menno Jansen).

The 1986 Visa 11 E of Deborah Snoeren from the Netherlands, sold by her in 2002 (photo © Deborah Snoeren).

Dutch Joris Schulte and his Visa GT, photographed in September, 1996. Before the GT came, Joris and his mother drove a black 1981 Club (with red striping). Joris was very happy owning the GT, and has fond memories of it (photo © Joris Schulte).

		The Visa Décapotable of Peter van Embden from Krimpen aan den IJssel (the Netherlands), mildly modified and christened GTA (top and bottom left), and the result of a clash with the guard-rail in April, 2004 (photos © Peter van Embden).

		The 1986 Visa 14 RS of Sabastian Forss from Örebro, Sweden. The 14 RS is a Scandinavia only version, roughly speaking combining a single carburettor 1.4 engine with the standard equipment of the 11 RE. Sebastian bought the car from his neighbour for only € 90 (in the picture on the left the car is shown as bought). It has been fitted with a special Ëtoile package, including an leather steering wheel, striping and a grill with additional front lights. Not much work was needed to bring the car back in its present condition (right). Sebastian bought the car at the young age of 15. The photos in the top row were made in 2002, the two pictures below date from 2006 (photos © Sebastian Forss).

Far left: the Visa Super Carte Noire, once owned by Harry Prins from the Netherlands. The car was finally scrapped in 2001. After the black one came an all white Visa GT Spirit 330 (left), which is believed to have survived until the late nineties (photos © Harry Prins).

The Visa II Super X of Matt Smith from the UK. Not extremely beautiful, but quick and very rare (photos © Matt Smith).

The 1988 Visa 11 RE, once owned by Wim Engels (photo © Wim Engels).

The Visa 11 E Leader of Menno Houwert from the Netherlands clocked up nearly 250.000 kms since its birth in 1986. Menno bought the car in 1998, the photo was taken in 2000 (photo © Menno Houwert).

The 1986 Visa 11 RE of Jan Hendrik Duursma from the Netherlands (left), photographed together with a neglected 17 D in the region of Verdun (France) in the summer of 2001 (photo © Jan Hendrik Duursma).

The Visa Challenger, bought by reg Moule as a daily runabout for his wive. However, the 80 HP horsepower was a bit too wild for that purpose. Nobody else seemed to want the Visa, so Reg was finally glad to sell the car to Leigh Miles (see above), who will have the engine fitted in his Décapotable (photos © Reg Moule).

Paul Jansen from Nistelrode in the Netherlands with a very smart Visa 11 RE of 1987. In the summer of 2002, he and his girl friend travelled from north to south across the coast of France. The picture far right was taken in Saint Tropez, where Paul's Visa was "by far the cheapest car around". In 2003, Paul bought a new C15 in Belgium, and was therefore forced to sell his Visa (photos © Paul Jansen).

From left: The 1985 Visa 14 S of Sander Middendorp from Gouderak, the Netherlands. Sander was so lucky to buy this rare version (only 300 ex. sold in the Netherlands, only a handful left) for only a small sum, after he had had his eyes on it for some time. It still is in remarkable good condition. The car in the middle is a 1986 Visa 11 RE Sander owned for some time, but which he sold to another Visa minded person in 2002. On the right a Visa Chrono Sander bought in 2003 (photos © Sander Middendorp).

The Visa 11 RE Décapotable of Stephan Bernath from Beringen, Switzerland. It's the same car, formerly owned by Herbert Danioth (see above). Stephan bought the car in the spring of 2002. Although not perfect, it is in good overall condition. The photo was made in September, 2002 (photo © Stephan Bernath).

			The Visa 17 RD of Dani Villas Nieto from Spain. Dani upgraded his car with parts of a Visa GTi, like the front spoiler and grille, and some other parts of a Peugeot 205 GTi. It certainly looks quite special this way (photos © Dani Villas Nieto).

These photos of a 1982 Visa Special were sent to me by Anita from the UK. The car once belonged to her mother, and only covered some 31.000 miles from new when she sold it more than ten years later.

The Visa Chrono, owned by Dr. Patrick Deller, who lives in München.

		The photos shown here were generously sent to me by John Gliniadakis from the Greek capital Athens. The car featured is a 1985 Visa Club, given by him as a present to his mother in 1995 . Since then, the car has had a professional respray (1997), and is still in immaculate condition. John took great pain in taking the Visa on a photo tour for Visavision. He also sent me pictures of some other Visas (to be seen in the special gallery), and some colour copies of a selection of rare Greek Visa brochures. Thank you very much, John! (photos © John Gliniadakis).

		Shown here is the 1983 Visa GT of Laurent Tessier. Laurent, born in France, moved to Spain recently. He writes that he is the fourth owner of his GT. It is not in perfect condition, but still running fine anyway. After his establishment in Spain, Laurent encountered difficulties in registering the car, but in the end problems were solved. Laurent was lucky to find a garage with a caring patron, who even keeps a large amount of parts for the Visa. Interested? The garage's address is: Francisco Manuel Morato Ramos, Talleres RAPOSO Citroën, Huertas no. 8, Valencia de Alcantara 10500, Provincia de Caceres, ESPANA (tel. 927-580260, mobile 908-705771 (photos © Laurent Tessier).

This nice 1984 Visa Club in blue romantique was once owned by Dutch photographer Nico Bick (photo © Nico Bick).

Maurizio Fulvi from Terni, Italy, owns this nice 1984 Visa Club, which has covered over 240.000 km (photo © Maurizio Fulvi)

This is the Visa 11 RE of Helena, Jonas and Victoria Torboli from Finland. They bought the car in Helsinki in 2002, and although the winters are very harsh in Finland, it came totally rust free. Until now, 96.000 kms are on the clock (photo © Jonas Torboli).

		Leonardo Bicchierai, from Montevideo, Uruguay, owns this Visa Club of 1981. The first two pictures show the Visa with Leonardo and his two dogs Hans and Kala and with his fiancé in the Punta del Este. The third and fourth picture show work carried out on the Visa, involving an engine swap from a 652 two cylinder to 1.4 80HP four cylinder! Leonardo will soon send more pictures of the finished car (photos © Leonardo Bicchierai).

			The Visa 11 RE of Edward Williamson from England. Through the years, Edward carried out many jobs on the car. Some of the things done were an engine replant from a Visa 11 E and various repairs of the bodywork. One summer he even repainted the car with minimal equipment in the open in rainy Scotland. Well done, Edward, it takes bravery to undertake such an exercise! (photos © Edward Williamson).

The 1983 Visa GT of Heidi Nieminen from Tuusula, Finland. The photo above shows the car as found in Ikaalinen in summer 2002, the photo below shows the car during the winter of 2002/2003, reliably operating with 32 degrees C below zero. For the summer of 2003, the GT will receive some new doors. For spare parts, Heidi and her husband are in the posession of another (silver) GT and a (Scandinavia only) 14 RS (photos © Heidi Nieminen).

Someone in Nice sent me pictures of a nice 1984 Décapotable he wanted to sell.

		At Citromobile 2003, I saw a German Visa Club in a condition that quite impressed me. It appeared in the 2003 gallery, and shortly afterwards its owner Knut Rothstein sent me some pictures and additional information. Knut bought the car in 2001 to be used by his daughter Dana. It was built on 1 July 1985, has had 3 previous owners, and was purchased with only 83.000 kms on the clock for less than € 500 from a local Toyota dealer. " Our Visa is called Oscar - these 5 letters were sticked on the boot, we do not know anything about the meaning - so we took it as the name. Unfortunately the adhesive letters were removed during the final preparation of the car by the dealer (included in the price!)", writes Knut. Another charming detail of the car is the number plate "DA-NA 7605" , which shows the first name of Knuth's daughter (photos © Knut Rothstein).

The 1985 Anglo-French Visa GTi (fitted with BX 1.9 GTi machinery) of Philip Chidlow (photo © Philip Chidlow).

This is Capucine, the 1986 Visa two cylinder in rouge delage of François Julien from Rennes, Bretagne. François is doing his best to keep the car in a as good as possible condition. Next thing he plans is changing doors and front wings (photos © François Julien).

The 1996 C15 E of Bral®. He writes me that it has 154.000 kms on the clock and runs on LPG. Many parts were renewed, and after the photo was taken wide alloys were fitted and flames were painted on the bonnet (photo © Bral®).

Erwin Vroegop from Eindhoven sent me a photo of two Visas Club of 1978/1979 he once owned. Both were early examples of the type. The red car was scrapped in 1991, the blue one is still in Erwin's posession but laid up at the moment . and might be the eldest Visa surviving in the Netherlands. Erwin hopes to restore it one day and bring it back on the road (photo © Erwin Vroegop).

John Brugge from Belgium drives the last C15 1.1i (1995) in active service within the Belgian metering company Indexis. In this photo it is accompanied by his girlfriend's 650cc Visa of ’85 (photo © John Brugge).

			These photos, sent to me by Jasminka Majdandzic from The Netherlands, show the Visas owned by her and her boy friend Wouter. First one was the 11 RE in rouge délage, seen on the photos above left and centre and below left. When this car was about to be replaced, Jasminka and Wouter went looking for another one. They found two, both 11 RE versions, one in red and in quite reasonable condition, and a white one, which was worse, but cheap, and turned out to be worth saving. As you can see, some parts were interchanged between the three. Their first Visa ended in a scrap yard, but not before Jasminka and Wouter took off a considerable amount of memorabilia (photos © Jasminka Majdandzic).

			The Visa Challenger (Spanish version) of Andréu Saurina (photos © Andréu Saurina).

The 1985 Visa GT of Cserey László from Hungary, which he uses as his everyday car, next to a Skoda Forman Silver Line. The GT was imported from Switzerland in 1994. At some stage, it was repainted from silver to white (photo © Cserey László).

One of the few left Visa 14 S's was once owned by Constantijn Jansen op de Haar from the Netherlands. The car was in fine condition, just the interior being in less good shape. He sold the car in 2006 (photos © Constantijn Jansen op de Haar).

This nice 11 RE Décapotable of 1984 was owned for several years by Natasha Jones from Bristol, UK (photo © Natasha Jones).

Alan Gold sent me these photos of the Visa 17 RD, bought new by his late father in 1987, and driven for ten years by both of them. It was sold to someone who left a note under the wiper, asking if it was for sale (photos © Alan Gold).

The two Visas GTi of Lee Angus. Lee bought the first one (left), a 115 HP version, in 2001 from an elderly gentleman who had had it from new. It has covered 85000 miles and is in very good condition for it's age. The car on the right is another GTi Lee bought in 2006. This one is the earlier 105 HP model. It was also in an amazing good condition. Lee has been told there are only a few left on the road in Britain (photos © Lee Angus).

The Visa 14S, bought in the summer of 2004 by Warner Schuring from the Netherlands. The car is in good condition, but the striping is incomplete. Who knows of or is in the possession of a set of fresh stickers for Warner? (photo © Warner Schuring).

The 1984 Visa 11 RE Décapotable of L. Schreinemachers (photos © L. Schreinemachers).

			The spectacular Visa GTi of Varga Balázs from Hungary, which proves to be a competent drag racer. Varga's car has been fitted with a tuned 147 HP 1.9 16V engine, taken from a BX (photos © Varga Balázs/Gyorsulas).

The Visa II Super E of 1982, owned by Konstantin Zabakas from Austria. When Konstantin bought it in late 2004, it had only covered 44.000 km. (photos © Konstantin Zabakas).

The 1983 French registered Visa GT of T. Gaudin from Belgium has in some stage of its life been repainted metallic blue (photos © T. Gaudin).

This very good Visa Chrono of 1983 came to surface in 2005 after years of storage in the Netherlands. It was bought from its first owner by lucky new owner Frank Collet (photo © Frank Collet).

In June 2003, Marc Leperrier of France bought this 1985 Visa 17 RD with 133.000 km on the clock (photos © Marc Leperrier).

The Visas of Martin Oblak from Slovenia. The two photos left show his 1981 Visa Super E. This car was picked up for free at a junkyard by friends of Martin. The car was in solid shape, but the engine didn't work, so he installed a new one. He drove it for two years, but then rust came out and it was time to give her more attention. The body work was done by an old car specialist, the upholstery was done by himself. The car on the right is Martin's '84 11 RE (photos © Martin Oblak).

The two Visas of Fabrice Pierron from France: a Visa Chrono from1982 and a Visa GTi 115 ch from1986 (photos © Fabrice Pierron).

Around 2005, this special C15, suited for wheelchairs and built by Smulders Systems from Eindhoven, was owned by Marc Wapstra (photo © Marc Wapstra).

The 1984 Visa Club of Kai Dzaack from Germany has been fitted with a large sunroof. Probably it was marketed as a special series, named Sun Air, by the German importer (photos © Kai Dzaack).

Hubert Mismaque owns the very special Visa Luxor, based on a Visa GT and presented as a show model at the 1983 Salon de l'Automobile in Paris (photo © Hubert Mismaque).

One of the Visas in the fleet of Maarten van den Eijnde is this 11 RE, earlier owned by his father (photo © Maarten van den Eijnde).

		Johan Habex from Belgium restored a C15 D, which had covered more than 250.000 km (photos © Johan Habex).

Leaonardo Santo, who lives in the region of Venice, bought this Visa Club of 1981 from a local Citroën dealer. The engine has run more than 210.000 km, but is still in good shape (photo © Leonardo Santo).

Andy Maddams from Britain bought a new C15 in March 2006. He writes: "I did not realise that they were about to be discontinued by Citroen and only just got one in time. There don't seem to be that many left on the road here now. I think the Berlingo has been too popular for too long. Personally I think the C15 is a great machine. I work with livestock and sometimes need to drive along rough tracks or across fields. What a shame they didn't still make the 4x4 version! The main reason for buying the C15 was cost. At only £6800 on the road, with ply-wood lining fitted inside, it was the cheapest new van by about £2000. I hope that by looking after it I will get many years of service from the C15." (photo © Andy Maddams).

José Avides Moreira from Porto, Portugal, sent me a photo of his very nice 1982 Visa II Club. It had 4 owners before me, the last of them an old man who bought it in 1986. José is understandably lyrical about his car: "It has a lovely colour, very fashioned back in 1982, unusual these days!
I hope to keep it in 'good health' and improve its looks and overall condition!" (photo © José Avides Moreira).

Lefteris Rigopoulos from Athens sent me photos of a former two cilinder Visa he converted to 1.1 spec. Lefteris plans to sell it. Contact the webmaster if you are interested. (photos © Lefteris L. Rigopoulos).

		Martino from Bologna sent me photos of his four restored Visas. Apart from these, he owns four other examples which await restoration (photos ©* Martino).*

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