From 1965
Robert Opron worked on the Citroën G-mini prototype and project EN101, a projected replacement for the
2CV using that car's flat twin engine. It was supposed to be launched in 1970. The advanced space-efficient designs, with very compact exterior dimensions and an aerodynamic drag co-efficient Cd of 0.32, were axed because of adverse feedback from potential clients. The more conservative final design has a Cd of 0.36 (for the Axel 12 TRS, 0.37 for the Axel 11). The early seventies
Citroën Prototype Y, intended to replace the 2CV-based
Citroën Ami which dated back to 1960, was developed in co-operation with
Fiat. It built on the lessons from the Citroën G-mini and EN101 projects. It used the then new and advanced
Fiat 127 platform, featuring a transversely mounted engine driving the front wheels, with an end-on gearbox layout that Fiat had pioneered in the 1960s. When cooperation with Fiat ended, a new Citroën-designed platform was planned. After the takeover of Citroën by
Peugeot in the wake of the 1974 oil crisis, the renamed "Projet VD (Voiture Diminuée)" became the
Citroën Visa, incorporating the floor pan of the
Peugeot 104 and using the advanced 104 engine with the (under-engine) transmission and chassis. It was the first new model under the platform-sharing policy of
PSA Peugeot Citroën that continues today. The earlier
Citroën LN was no more than a facelift of the Peugeot 104Z "Shortcut" with a re-engine and transmission from the
Citroën Dyane. Eventually, in 1981, the original Citroën platform design from "Project Y" emerged as an Oltcit in Romania, using a Citroën Visa flat-twin engine and
Citroën GS-based gearbox, and Citroën GS flat-four engine and gearbox. Like the GS, it also featured four wheel disc brakes, with the front ones mounted
inboard to lower
unsprung weight. Beginning in July 1984, it was also sold in Western Europe as the Citroën Axel. The four-cylinder Axel 11 was 10 percent cheaper than a two-cylinder Visa in the French market. It also had a particularly low rear loading height, which, with its sturdy, basic construction, contributed to being particularly well received by farmers and denizens of smaller towns. ==Production==