Some time ago we started la Nouvelle Opération M35. 16 M35's in racks against the wall, what should be their future? One observation of many was they all had not been used for about 35 years; they should be enjoyed again.
In 1970 Citroën initiated the original Opération M35 to learn from the use of the rotary engine in a dedicated car by a group of selected users. La Nouvelle Opération M35 was also started to learn, from each other and the gathered documentation. Every sold M35 left with a significant amount of digitalised articles, workshop manuals, pictures and other documentation.
They stayed in Holland, went to Belgium, Germany, Japan and returned to France. Most of them are prepared or in preparation for the road. Several owners are in contact with us and each other, to share knowledge, history and fun. I've initiated a website and filled it with a lot of info, so it will be available to all. It would be lovely to see this grow further.
Often we heard that the M35 technique was not easy to conquer. Luckily together we proved the contrary, up till now every issue has had a solution. Cars came back on the road with the production of new windscreens, engines ran better with improved spark plugs. With contacts in the world called NSU Ro80, several parts became available, and also a lot of parts turned out to be lend from other types of Citroëns and were therefore widely available. Recently ignition modules were made, in Holland and France, soon more on these. And of course there are several desires: new exhausts would be welcome and could possibly be produced in the UK. Also there's an initiative on reproduction of manuals and other booklets.
From the early eighties on a collector found M35's and took them with him to the north of Holland. From the start of this century several of these cars, 25 at the top of the collection, found new owners. The 16 M35 that we, a friend of mine and me, had under our wings are largely distributed, only one is still available for a new owner. One damaged car will stay with us for parts, my friend will keep the first car of the collection and I will keep the first M35 imported in Holland. Both cars will still need restoration.
I've put quite some energy in what's mentioned above and I'm planning to keep on doing so. It would be even nicer if la Nouvelle Opération would be carried further by others among us, resulting in more initiatives for projects, an intensified community and maybe even a proper presentation at the 2016 ICCR in Holland. We'd love to hear from you!
