All about the 4x4 of the Gendarmerie

Continuation of the summer saga of L’argus, with a report in the reserves of the Gendarmerie museum to discover all the secrets of the 4 x 4 used by the institution.

L’argus takes you to the reserves of the Musée de la Gendarmerie for the rest of the summer saga. This time, discover all-terrain and all-road vehicles adapted for mountain policemen, but not only …

Our summer saga continues. After discovering the vehicles used by the BRI, as well as the unusual devices of the Gendarmerie, and after becoming incollables on the plates and the colors of the institution, let’s go today to meet the 4 x 4 hidden in the reserves of the museum. Jean-Yves Hardouin, referent to the mechanical memory of the place, accompanies us to reveal all the secrets of these all-terrain and all-terrain used by the gendarmes.

In the ranks of the Gendarmerie, there are some rare models 4 x 4. Their use is limited to certain mountain or relief troops. The Peugeot P4, one of the best known, was the successor to the aging Jeep Willys in the 1980s. It was itself replaced in 2019 by the Acmat VT4, a more modern vehicle designed on the basis of Ford Everest / Ranger. But he was not the only one! As Jean-Yves Hardouin explains to us, there were several attempts to reinforce the troops.

Models specifically designed for all-wheel drive

citroën a 4x4 gendarmerie — Citroën has received an order from the Army for its A 4 x 4, two of which have joined the ranks of the Gendarmerie.

Among them is the Citroën A (or FAF for “easy to manufacture, easy to finance”), of which the museum copy was used to protect the residence of President François Mitterrand. The preparer Heuliez meanwhile worked on a vehicle based on UMM 4 x 4, with a production of only twenty copies. Auverland, a small French brand of 4 x 4, has also supplied a few units of its A3, which will be shunned in front of the P4 more suited to the missions of the gendarmes.

mercedes vito gendarmerie — Gruau lengthened and raised this Mercedes Vito to transform it into the ideal 4 x 4 in the mountains.

On the preparers side, we can also mention Durisotti, Oatmeal which carried out the transformation of the lengthened and raised Mercedes Vito, or Dangel, who has transformed Peugeot 505 Breaks for the Gendarmerie and paramedics (with a raised roof), like our copy of the day.

Peugeot 206 and Renault Espace 4 x 4?

More conventional civilian vehicles were also used as 4 x 4 by the gendarmes. This is the case of the Renault 4L Sinpar or the Renault Espace Quadra, a special order for the Albertville Winter Olympics in 1992, now awaiting restoration. Surprisingly, a Peugeot 206 is also one of the vehicles mentioned, even if it is rather all-road. Slightly raised, it benefits from enhanced traction and was used to move on rugged terrain, especially overseas.