Fun in Antibes

When the sun is shining cabriolets come into their own, and pictured here in Antibes on the French Riviera, two young men about town in their charming Panhard Dyna Juniors are taking some lovely young ladies for a spin around the waterfront.

As always, these model cars are 1:43 scale. The yellow one is made by Bizarre, from resin,
and the red one is a traditional metal diecast model made by the Spanish firm, IXO. There aren't
that many times when I bother to buy the same model car in two colours, but I do have a soft
spot for Panhard Dyna Juniors. I just love their cuteness, and also the way they managed
to offer drivers all the pleasures of a soft-top car without asking a fortune to buy one. As the
You Tube video below points out, the cabriolet Dyna cost less than the sedan.

I told a friend recently about how cheap the various Panhard models have been to buy, and fairly accurately he observed that perhaps that's because almost no-one outside France, and under 55 years of age, has heard of them. And so I hope to set the record straight, to some small degree, with this posting.

Panhard had something in common with Citroen, who eventually took them over. Both were marvellously innovative car-making companies which were not afraid to be different. (Vive la France!). Panhard, unfortunately, went broke being innovative, while it took a couple of decades longer before Citroen, too wobbled down onto its financial knees. Fortunately, Citroen managed to survive and they still produce excellent cars, while Panhard, alas, only lives on thanks to the efforts of the enthusiasts who restore and maintain the great old ones from times gone by.

And so onto our video, which includes (at 4.44) some Panhard Dyna Junior content, but either side of that moment there's a good little history of Post-War Panhards, and especiallya good look at the Dyna, which is mechanically very similar to the Dyna Junior Cabriolet. A mere 850cc flat twin engine produced a lot of pleasure for its owners, it seems. The Panhard enthusiasts are also worth the price of admission as well.