No, you’re not seeing double. This Citroen van has two front ends.
At least, it seems like it does.
First shared on Reddit by user _dansmith_, this double-ended Citroen Relay – a badge-engineered version of the Fiat Ducato – appears to be built for those who are afraid of reversing, or motorists with a penchant for optical illusions.
However, the real reason for its existence is much more straightforward.
The two front ends of the Citroen vans are bolted together at the chassis and shipped to third-party manufacturers of motorhomes, recovery vehicles and other cab-chassis-based vehicles which use custom rear attachments.
By forgoing the traditional cab-chassis rear end, this not only saves on shipping – with two vehicles effectively capable of being transported in the space of one – but it can also reduce costs for both businesses, with aftermarket companies not having to conform to the factory dimensions.
Because the van is front-wheel drive, there are no driveshafts to remove either, while its wiring harness is prepared to accept the addition of tail lights.
In the UK, it’s priced from £36,018 (A$68,385) drive-away and is powered by a 103kW turbo-diesel engine, mated to a six-speed manual transmission.
As it turns out, this trend isn’t new either, though it seems to have only been adopted by French brands.
Renault brought its Master van to a 2010 motorhome show by transporting the vehicles back-to-back, while the Peugeot Boxer – the Relay’s twin – is available in some markets in this configuration.