Citroën Méhari Eden Sorbet Hôtel Martinez 2023 White Norev 1:18

The Citroën Méhari spent twenty years — from 1968 to 1988 — as France's definitive open leisure vehicle, and nowhere did it feel more at home than on the French Riviera. Norev's 2023 Eden Sorbet release captures the Méhari in a white livery linked to the Hôtel Martinez, one of Cannes's most iconic palace hotels, reconnecting a celebrated car with the sun-soaked backdrop that made it a cultural fixture.

The Méhari: a French Original Built for Freedom

Launched in 1968 on a modified 2CV and Dyane platform, the Citroën Méhari was unusual from the outset: its bodywork was formed from thermoplastic ABS panels, a material choice that kept weight low and maintenance simple. Powered by the 2CV-derived 602 cc air-cooled flat-twin producing around 28 hp, it was never quick, but that was never the point. By the time production ended in 1988, approximately 144,953 units had been built — a figure that testifies to sustained demand across two decades for something genuinely unconventional.

La Croisette Livery: the Hôtel Martinez Connection

The Hôtel Martinez — officially Le Grand Hyatt Cannes Hôtel Martinez — stands on La Croisette and has long been synonymous with the Cannes Film Festival and the French Riviera's luxury hospitality culture. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Méhari served routinely as a hotel shuttle and beach runabout along this coastline, making the pairing of car and hotel both historically plausible and culturally resonant. Norev's Eden Sorbet series uses these hotel associations to anchor each livery in a specific moment and place, the white finish here reading as crisp and fitting against the Mediterranean context.

Norev's 1:18 Die-Cast Rendering

This model is produced by Norev in die-cast metal at 1:18 — a scale that suits the Méhari's compact proportions well, translating its 3,530 mm real-car length into a form that reads as substantial on the shelf without demanding excessive space. The Méhari's distinctive open body, flat surfaces and period-correct details are rendered at this larger scale with a clarity that smaller formats cannot match. Norev's Eden Sorbet hotel editions at 1:18 are a relatively uncommon format for this model, giving the series a particular appeal among collectors working at this scale.

In the Display Cabinet

This Hôtel Martinez edition pairs naturally with other Norev Eden Sorbet Méhari releases bearing different hotel liveries — building the series creates a coherent tableau of French Riviera hospitality culture. It also complements Norev's broader 1:18 French car range, sitting well alongside models of the Citroën 2CV and Dyane that share the Méhari's platform heritage. For collectors focused on French automotive culture or mid-century leisure vehicles, the white finish and the Cannes association make this a focused, self-contained piece.