Also in my garage: Citroën Méhari

By Martin Buckley

| 14 Mar 2025

Classic & Sports Car – Also in my garage: Citroën Méhari

Ray Hillier was trained by Rolls-Royce at its Hythe Road works in London and subsequently travelled the world servicing the Crewe-built cars before teaming up with Tony Hill in 1985 to form Hillier Hill in Buckinghamshire, one of the most respected independent Rolls-Royce and Bentley experts in the UK.

Ray is one of the leading lights in the Rolls-Royce and Bentley Specialists’ Association, and prior to Hythe Road he cut his teeth building Aston Martins and Lagondas in Newport Pagnell – just up the road from his current location in Olney.

Hillier Hill has earned itself a superb reputation, not only for its servicing and repair work, but also for its nut-and-bolt restorations of mostly post-war cars, including the R- and S-type Continentals.

This Citroën Méhari was an impulse buy for some holiday fun, but it has stuck around

Given that he is dealing with Silver Shadows, Clouds, Spirits, Phantoms, Continentals and all the rest five or even six days a week, you can see how a little light relief may have been required when it came to restoring something for his own recreational purposes.

And it would be hard to conceive of a vehicle as diametrically opposed to everything Rolls-Royce stands for than a Citroën Méhari.

Though they are still occasionally spotted in the warmer parts of Continental Europe, these 2CV/Ami-based, plastic-bodied runabouts were never imported to the UK and have always had a certain cachet as a madcap alternative to a Mini Moke.

This Citroën Méhari was restored when it returned from Spain

More than 12,000 of the near 145,000 cars built were assembled in Spain, and that is where Ray found this one.

“I had been hankering after an Audi RS2,” he recalls, “and at the time they were about £8-9000. I had also fancied a Méhari for the sheer lunatic value, and they were slightly cheaper.

“I decided that the RS2 could wait, and did what I tell all my customers never to do by buying it sight-unseen from Spain, working on the basis that it would be in better nick because it was coming from a hotter and drier climate.

“I also told my wife we didn’t need to worry about car hire because I had got it covered!”

When it comes to restoring classic cars, Ray Hillier is much more familiar with old Bentleys and Rolls-Royces

“Having parted with the wonga by bank transfer from the UK, and travelled to Spain for our holiday, a transporter hove into view with my precious cargo on board,” he remembers.

“Suffice to say, the description didn’t quite match up to the reality.

“Yes, it drove – after a fashion – but the floor was clearly an optional extra that wasn’t included.”

Ray tried to make the best of the situation as he hurled the spartan little Citroën around La Manga for the remainder of the holiday, trying to explain to his family what a cracking decision it was: “My kids saw the funny side of it, anyway – even if my wife didn’t.”

The back-to-basics Citroën Méhari’s simple roof keeps you dry – mostly

After two weeks in Spain, Ray had the Citroën Méhari transported back to the UK: “I then sat with a furrowed brow, wondering what the bloody hell I had done.

“Two of my guys at Hillier Hill, Chris and Conor, took pity on me and with new parts, including a complete body and interior from the excellent The 2CV Shop, rebuilt the thing into what it is now: a very decent Méhari.

“A great deal of credit goes to those two.”

The Hillier family also has a Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible, and Ray is very keen on his superb Bentley Continental R.