Love affair with classic French van becomes a business for couple

Andrew and Anne Bennett fell in love with Citroen HY vans when they lived in France for six months.

The couple from Llansilin, near Oswestry, bought their first one – a 1972 model – to use as a camper van and have not stopped since – now proudly owning 25 of the distinctively shaped vehicles.

They are now working on a plan to restore all the vans, which they store in large premises near Oswestry, and rent them out either as working vehicles or static vans.

The oldest one they own dates back to 1956 – nine years after the first Citroen HY vans were made.

The couple say the vans' shape and high headroom, which allows people to fully stand up in the vehicles, opens up limitless business opportunities.

Mr Bennett, a 46-year-old lorry driver, said: "We already have one rented out to Harvey Nichols in Manchester.

"They take it to shows to promote their food and business.

"I think the vans are an ideal way to promote your business or to use as a static base for your business.

"I think they would be ideal for florists or would make a great stall at farmers markets or as a bottle bar in a pub beer garden.

"They would even be an attraction in themselves at local shows.

"We have been building up our collection over five years after falling in love with the vehicle when we lived in France.

"It started as a hobby but over the years we are treating it as more of a business.

"We have a contact over in France who can supply us with them.

"We enjoy restoring them and bringing them back into life. We just really like them.

"We just think they are really special. The design allows people to stand up in them so they are ideal for cooking in or working from.

"We decided to go down the rental route to help us meet the cost of restoring the vehicles in our fleet."

Mr Bennett said he hoped the appearance of two of the couple's vans on a BBC TV show would raise the profile of the vehicles and allow them to grow their business and rent out some of them to local firms.

The couple supplied the vans to the producers of BBC2's Country Show Cook Off which sees celebrity chefs compete to win cookery prizes at rural shows up and down the country.

The pair were approached by the programme makers after producers heard they had built up a fleet of the French vans.

Mr Bennett said: "We rented out a blue 1975 van and a red 1979 van to STV who made the programme. They had them for two months last year as they filmed the series. It was great to know that we had all these celebrity chefs using our vans."

Mrs Bennett, a 45-year-old midwife, said she was delighted the couple's beloved van collection had opened up a new business for them.

She said: "Hopefully people who have seen Country Show Cook Off will be interested in these iconic French vehicles.

"The show is running on BBC2 every evening for a month so it is great to see our vans on national television.

"Half a million were built between 1947 and 1981 but many just sit in sheds or are not looked after. They are great utility vehicle and you just don't see many of them on the roads in this country.

"They are great to work from and people love to see them. One business idea we are working on is to use one as an oyster bar at weddings. Another idea is to take one to food festivals."

The Citroen HY van was used in France, Belgium and Netherlands as a light truck or is a light truck delivery van.

The distinctive corrugated body work was said to have been inspired by German Junkers aircraft of the 1930s.

To rent a van e-mail classicfrenchvans@gmail.com