1/18 Maisto Citroen 15CV

[Junkman]

I never found an explanation as to why Citroen called these 15CV despite they actually have 16.
In France, the CVs used to be the taxable horsepower (puissance fiscale) and they were calculated with this simple formula.

n is the number of cylinders

D is the cylinder bore in centimetres

L is the stroke in centimetres

ω is the engine speed in revolutions per second

K is a coefficient depending on the number of cylinders (single-cylinder engine 0.00020 / two-cylinder engine 0.00017 / four-cylinder engine 0.00015 / six-cylinder engine and engine with more cylinders 0.00013)

You were then charged an annual tax for each and every CV. By the nature of the formula, cars with big bores and strokes were disproportionally higher taxed, which explains the French love for small cylinders.

It's this taxation system more than anything else that drove the big engined old French cars off the road. A French collector once told me that back in the 50s it was cheaper to buy an old Bugatti than to tax it for a year. It's no wonder so many where shoved across the weighbridge then, not least because of their high aluminium content.

 

But back to the model, shall we?

 

Like so many Maistos, it has all the potential to make something truly outstanding out of it.