You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's - Jalopnik Comments

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Euromobile — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:08:27 EST

@Meg2.0T: Woah, they are getting pricey. I had heard that they were getting rarer in France now.

I half wish you hadn't linked me to that site:

[www.motorlegend.com] WANT!

Euromobile

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

FЯeeMan — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:10:36 EST

@junkman: Where in OH? I want to stop by just to drool. (Will bring own rag for clean up.)

FЯeeMan

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Meg2.0T — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:09:45 EST

@Euromobile: Prices are rising also in France for these cars. Just take a look at [[www.motorlegend.com]] for prices in €!

Meg2.0T

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

the good dr zero — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 09:38:48 EST

@junkman: Car made by obscure German manufacturer. Junkman has one, no one is suprised. I want to be Junkman.

the good dr zero

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Elhigh — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:56:27 EST

A mom-and-pop kind of business in continuous operation for 90 years. You, my friend, are kin to a dying breed. Please don't fail to take up the mantle when your turn comes.

Citroen mechanics. A 50 (that's FIFTY!) year-old tow truck that has been in continuous use since it was built. Same business, same location for the last fifty years. And the owner's daily drivers are Citroens each boasting a quarter-mill on the dial.

Sweet fancy Moses.

I think you and I were supposed to be cousins or something.

Elhigh

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

amblito — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:43:16 EST

Here's some clips of the DS taken from various films: [www.enzods.com]

amblito

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Galaxie500 — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:25:08 EST

Matchbox also has a nice white Alfa out right now.

Galaxie500

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

SuperCarnitas — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:28:59 EST

I hella [heart] Oakland. And Jalopnik.

I happened by Hanzel's while parking in this very lot for a Paramount show. Most body shops don't have a Traction Avant calling out to the world...

SuperCarnitas

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Armand Bengle — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:28:30 EST

@VWMINISPEEDSTER: Your family seems to be even crazier than mine. Members of my extended family had at least fifteen Peugeots of various models, from the 203 to the 505. My grandfather had a DS21 wagon, just like in the picture. I suppose it's possible that he even purchased it at Hanzel's, although if there was a dealer in San Francisco he probably would have gone there instead. Still, using misunderstood French cars as daily drivers is totally hardcore, even if they're relatively reliable.

Armand Bengle

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

HoubaHouba! — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:11:41 EST

Nice stuff, thanks!

HoubaHouba!

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

junkman — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:27:41 EST

@pauln: Hey, that's just like my car, only tan and white with green fabric sunroof and upholstery.

@vwminispeedster: Sounds reasonable. The check is in the mail.

junkman

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

NovaloadMissesPolar — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:25:34 EST

@Schm: It's normal here!

NovaloadMissesPolar

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Schm is not particularly sure what he is ranting about. . . — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:20:54 EST

Seeing myself lusting after all these old Citroens makes me want to go buy one. Is this normal. . . Perhaps i need to go see the doc.

Schm is not particularly sure what he is ranting about. . .

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

CEman — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:15:50 EST

@vwminispeedster:
Your not joking. That thing is so sweet!!

CEman

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

SwapMeat — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:08:31 EST

That Hanzel's so hot right now

SwapMeat

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

pauln — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:45:45 EST

@smokeydog001: Here's my homage (and photo) to a Lloyd: [www.thetruthaboutcars.com]

pauln

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

vwminispeedster — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:31:24 EST

@junkman: once we recieve your $10,000 deposit ($1 per mile is reasonable) and the snow melts, we will dispatch the '52 immediately.

vwminispeedster

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

vwminispeedster — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:29:33 EST

@Euromobile: you simply replace the american ones with euro ones and as a CHP officer once said, "Don't blind anyone and I don't care".

US headlight laws were revised in 1985 and several times since then so they aren't a problem now.

Wimpy Lexuses only have 15 degrees of turning. I love the 180 degrees of high beam lighting.

vwminispeedster

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Mike the Dog — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:11:26 EST

@Kelly: I think LTDScott is onto something with his Dodgeabishi guess. I knew I recognized it, I just couldn't name it.

Mike the Dog

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

smokeydog001 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:01:50 EST

Thanks guys, that's a new one for me. With a Welsh name, I would have never associated it with Borgward. Thought maybe it was the carpenter who built Morgan frames. ;) I had a neighbor once that owned both an Isetta and a Messerschmitt. I'll have to check out this place and see if they have a Lloyd [www.lanemotormuseum.org] .

smokeydog001

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

bzrchero GT — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:57:22 EST

Are you guys hiring? Hell, I'd drop out of school and move across the country to work on old French cars. Might make for an interesting novel someday.

bzrchero GT

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

racerx — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:56:51 EST

So cool!

racerx

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Maxichamp — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:54:31 EST

I heart the East Bay!

Maxichamp

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

junkman — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:31:38 EST

@vwminispeedster: Awesome; what a great heritage! Can you send your tow truck to Ohio to pick up my Lloyd LS 600 for its 10,000 mile service?

junkman

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

ranwhenparked — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:28:42 EST

@smokeydog001:

A small German automaker that eventually folded into Borgward. Had no idea they ever tried to sell them in the US though. That must have taken some guts, especially in the 50s.

ranwhenparked

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

vwminispeedster — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:21:56 EST

@smokeydog001: [en.wikipedia.org]) Lloyd: a German car that was only slightly less successful than VW. And by slightly I mean not even close. But dang wouldn't one of Lloyd LT 600's have been cool!!

vwminispeedster

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

smokeydog001 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:15:29 EST

@VWMINISPEEDSTER

There was a similar garage in a town near me that specialized in Studebakers. Unfortunately, it has closed. BTW, what is a Lloyd?

smokeydog001

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Euromobile — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:02:07 EST

@vwminispeedster: I notice that one or two of those DSes have Euro-spec head lights. How did you pull that off?

Euromobile

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

altdude — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:59:40 EST

CA seems to be a great place for a shop like that. All the Citröens here in the Northeast rusted out within the first 10 years.

My mom had a '68 DS ID19, I think it lasted about 6 years before the frame had rusted through... which, considering she keeps her cars for 15 years on average, she was not happy about. Loved the car, but, they didn't know how to rustproof them for the bad weather. Shame really, since it was a unique design and mechanically it was relatively reliable.

altdude

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

smokeydog001 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:56:22 EST

What is a Lloyd?

smokeydog001

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

BSAKat — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:48:51 EST

That is really, really cool. I love a family owned business, and if they're a good one I'll go out of my way to use their product/services.

BSAKat

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Euromobile — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:48:21 EST

@LTDScott: Fair play. I appreciate the rarity of the Colt wagon, but it still looks a bit ordinary next to four DSes.

Euromobile

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:38:15 EST

@Euromobile: In my defense, I have seen way more SMs than Colt wagons since my friend used to work next to a Citroen shop here in San Diego.

LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Euromobile — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:37:48 EST

@vwminispeedster: Ok, now the HanzLift; that's cool!

Euromobile

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

vwminispeedster — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:35:46 EST

@UDMAN: The shop is actually my dad's (he is standing next to the towtruck in the photo) and is the 3rd generation owner. The towtruck lift portion was designed, patented and fabricated by my grandfather under his other company, HanzLift. He did all sorts of conversions on American trucks of the period.

The 912 engine will eventually go in the Intermeccanica Speedster there in the garage. It had a broken crankshaft and is slooooowly being put back together. Right now its a beautiful conversation piece in the garage.

vwminispeedster

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

charles_barrett — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:31:08 EST

I, too, am in awe over that white-over-blue Ford wrecker with the family signage. The whole photo collection provides a museum of interesting artifacts (including the old matchbook). What a cool family to grow up in...!

charles_barrett

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

vwminispeedster — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:30:24 EST

@Armand4: Dad daily drives both his sedan and wagon, both are running smoothly and both have nearly 300,000 miles each. We don't need any extras. :)

vwminispeedster

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Euromobile — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:29:34 EST

@LTDScott: Yes.

@thatguy01: I hope that's a joke. If not, it's one of the most misguided (or downright foolish) things I've ever heard. In the UK, a really good DS costs around £12,000 ($24,000). Bank on somewhere in the region of £20,000 ($40,000) for an SM and if you need to ask about a genuine DS Chapron convertible, don't, because you can't afford it. Far from worthless, far from 'shitboxes'.

@UDMAN: The Ford's nice, but the highpoint!? Come on man! Are you a Jalop or what?

Euromobile

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

UDMan — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:08:52 EST

@vwminispeedster: What a great business you have there. Citroens are the least understood car in the US. But the real highpoint of the photos was the Ford Wrecker. That this is in incredible shape. And what's the story with the Porsche?

UDMan

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

vwminispeedster — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:03:00 EST

Thanks Murilee for the post!! While we love (and repair) Citroens of all types we will also fix any car from any country; England, Italy, France, Germany, Japan and even America!! It just happened to be a full house of Citroens and other non-EFI cars the day I shot those. While I do not own a Citroen of my own I had the pleasure of driving Dad's blue sedan "PLUSH" in highschool in the late 90's. Thanks Dad!! As for the Colt/Lancer wagon that is one of out painter's cars and he is currently repainting his other project car: the then mint green/now pearl white DS. It is looking awesome. With talent like that it is no surprise we've been around for 90 years!

vwminispeedster

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

turbonico — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:01:10 EST

that's rad. I'm going there tomorrow. I want the white DS.

turbonico

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Kelly — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:59:53 EST

The red wagon, the one in the middle-top picture, I swore, for the first 2.4 seconds looking at it, was some lost wagon version of the '73 Gremlin.

AMC...Citroen...there are more connections than I thought.

Is it bad I see a $500 1990 740 Volvo as being a decent daily driver instead of a LeMons entry? I always liked the refrigerator look of it, all slab-sided and whatnot.

Kelly

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

kfdave — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:37:01 EST

@LTDScott: Hell,I'm lusting after the tow truck.....

kfdave

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

franzouse — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:33:46 EST

There's a Traction Avant in there, awesome post!

franzouse

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

thatguy01 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:33:08 EST

By default, all French cars are eligible for LeMons, because they *all* have a maximum book value of 500 USD, according to the Shitbox Market Letter.

thatguy01

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

PeteJayhawk — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:30:00 EST

@LTDScott: Is that what that is? I was wondering.

PeteJayhawk

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

NovaloadMissesPolar — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:26:24 EST

I totally forgot about the Citroen wagons. Total mutant. Wonder how many francs--sorry--Euros that would set me back.

NovaloadMissesPolar

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Armand Bengle — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:25:42 EST

This is incredibly, mind-blowingly awesome, and I might have to make a trip to the East Bay to visit. However, it's another example of the old rule that the only people who can handle French cars as daily drivers are mechanics-- usually mechanics who specialize in French cars. And this guy, bless him, still needs an extra DS for when his primary car is being troublesome. That's hardcore. The fact that this place also sold Panhards is even more hardcore. Those babies are almost as spaceship-like as DSs and SMs.

So, VWMiniSpeedster, do you have a Citroen too?

Armand Bengle

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

crazygutgut — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:22:52 EST

at least the matchbox will be easy to repair...

crazygutgut

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

lascauxcaveman — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:19:40 EST

I'll take that Traction-Avant, pretty please.

lascauxcaveman

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:14:11 EST

Is it bad that I'm more fascinated with the Colt/Lancer wagon?

LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

Indiana Bento and the lost Temple of Citroens — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:05:32 EST

They put "Grettle's" out of business!

Indiana Bento and the lost Temple of Citroens

You Can Bring Your Crumpled Citroens To Hanzel's

bswinfor — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:05:25 EST

Matchbox is selling a DS. It's all I can have. I love it.

bswinfor