A Spanish C15 that was born for the field and ended up running next to porch

Who has not ever felt the impulse to buy a Citroën C15. This mythical French van has been the pillar of the agricultural industry of Spain for 40 years, and at the same time it is Focus of memes and jokes to each more hilarious. I am sure that many have had that crush with a classic car and we have thought about “I buy it now.”

It happened to me with a Citroën Xantia Activabut I have not finished consummating. Gerard, a 20 -year -old Spanish boy, not only got carried away by a “heated” when buying a C15, but has put it in mythical nurburgring circuit. But his story began a couple of years ago, when he needed a car to participate in a Rally by Morocco.

And far from more exotic alternatives, he chose a C15 that already has little of his soul from C15: he set up a new engine that elevates its power above 100 hp. And, for a 1985 C15 whose most powerful original engine had 69 hp, that is, a lot. And has taken her to her new natural territory: Nurburgring.

A championship C15 for 200 euros … that reaches 200 km/h

In This video From Axel Espxnur we are presented to Gerard Casals. Now he is 20 years old, but at 18 he bought a C15 for just 200 euros, with just over 200,000 kilometers and got the impossible: break the engine.

This is curious because the C15 is the object of both jokes and admiration, precisely for its resistance and mechanical reliability. In fact, Gerard says that, with all that way behind him, he had not had Not an oil change. The reason that led him to buy this concrete model was the budget, but also because in conditions as hard as those of a rally in Morocco, reliability is needed and, above all, mechanical simplicity. If something breaks, You have to be able to fix it easily.

His model was the 60 hp, less than the most powerful that could be bought, but when breaking the engine, he thought to replace it with one that would raise the characteristics of the van. Which? A 1.900 CC 100 hp turbod. taken directly from a Corttoën Xsara.

In the axel video we can see that the engine has little to do with that of the original C15. It was not as simple as removing an engine and putting another, since some aspects of the interior had to be realistic, setting up the admission of a Nissan Terranonew sleeves, new water pump and more generous wiring.

With that new heart, and with its barely 750 kilos of weight, its C15 reaches a maximum speed of 200 km/h. “Everything moves, in the end it is a car that has nothing insulating and is more thought for the field than for the road,” he says. The gearbox is also Xsara, five -speed. Consumption? Less than six liters. In fact, he affirms that, from Barcelona to the Nurburgring circuit, he has not needed two deposits. They are 1,200 kilometers.

Apart from the engine, there are another series of modifications that make this C15 a real beast not to load melons, but for more demanding roads. The subbase is that of the original ‘van’, but has Koni shock absorbers, new brake tweezers and a 165/70/r14 tire for circuit.

To go somewhat more comfortable, it has bmw seats with electronic regulation, but the interior is a sheet, as in the original. Run.

“The French go crazy”

Casals states that the first round in the circuit woke up laughs. He saw how cars much more thought out for this environment, they spent the stickers, but have taken many photos and what “The French go crazy”.

And it is not for less, since the car draws a lot, a lot of attention. In the 7:47 minute of the Axel video we can see the van rolling in the asphalt of ‘Green Hell’.

In another video of the YouTuber Misha Charoudin, we can see another round with the C15, but with An interesting added: the speedometer. If you have ever ridden in a C15, you will know that the needle is not so agile when climbing, but in the case of this modified C15, it is a show.

There are times when you see the tires scream and give you a loose laugh because, obviously, it is out of its natural environment, but the truth is that Gerard’s, although very interesting in the modifications he has made It is not even the first C15 nor, above all, the first ‘weird’ vehicle that can be seen in Nurburgring.

For the German asphalt we have seen KARTSa DHL distribution van, caravans, limousines, a scooter and people who directly go with a BMW with Baca and a couple of bicycles coupled. Of everything except aerodynamic.

But for many oddities that we see in ‘Green Hell’, surely few reinvent a classic like Gerard’s C15.

Images | Axel Espxnur, Misha Charoudin

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