The Michelin PLR, internal name ''Citroën DS PLR Break'', ''Poids Lourd Rapide'' reakmeans "fast heavyweight" tation wagon nicknamed as ''Mille Pattes'', the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

word for

centipede Centipedes (from Neo-Latin , "hundred", and Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', "lip", and Neo-Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, ...

, is a tire evaluation test car. The single-item based on a ''

Citroën DS The Citroën DS () is a Front-mid-engine, front-wheel-drive layout, front mid-engined, front-wheel drive executive car manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1955 to 1975, in fastback/sedan, wagon/estate, and convertible body configurations ...

Break.'', built in 1972 by French tire manufacturer

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

, when Michelin was a shareholder of

car manufacturer The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, repairing, and modification of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by ...

Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

. The PLR was used on the Test Track Ladoux, in

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

. Michelin no longer uses the vehicle for evaluation, but instead as promotional vehicle at fairs and exhibitions. Most of the time, it is parked in the Michelin Museum in Clermont-Ferrand.

Construction

The ten-wheeler uses the

hydropneumatic suspension Hydropneumatic suspension is a type of motor vehicle suspension system, invented by Paul Magès, produced by Citroën, and fitted to Citroën cars, as well as being used under licence by other car manufacturers. Similar systems are also widely u ...

design, based on the Citroën DS platform. The

steering Steering is the control of the direction of motion or the components that enable its control. Steering is achieved through various arrangements, among them ailerons for airplanes, rudders for boats, cylic tilting of rotors for helicopters, ...

controls all the four front wheels. Tyres to wheel hubs are parts of the

Citroën H Van The Citroën H-Type vans (most commonly the Citroën HY), are a series of panel vans and light trucks, produced by France, French automaker Citroën for 34 years – from 1947 through 1981. They are notable for their industrial design, using man ...

. Two 350 Chevrolet Small-Block engines are installed in the tail of the PLR, one for driving the vehicle, the other driving the sample tyre, located in the middle of the PLR. Air intake for cooling the engines are located both sides of the PLR, windows had been replaced by grids. The PLR is wide and long. Installed lead raised the weight to . In the center part of the stretched vehicle, the sample tyre unit is installed. Controlled by hydraulics, the sample can be lowered and aligned in various positions. Evaluating tyres for commercial vehicles was feasible. The PLR reaches up to top speed. Two fuel tanks are installed, each.PRL Michelin Mille – Pattes 1972
retrieved 5 September 2013

Literature

* Björn Marek and Immo Mikloweit: ''Citroën DS. Das Leben einer Göttin.'' Komet Verlag, Köln, , P. 82–85 (German)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MICHELIN PLR Citroën Individual cars Michelin Cars of France Cars introduced in 1972

Construction

Literature

Further reading

References