The five K1 half-tracks of the first motor crossing of the Sahara, from Touggourt to Timbuktu between 17 December 1922 and 7 January 1923, and back by 6 March: Scarabée d’Or, Croissant d’Argent, Tortue Volante, Chenille Rampante and Bœuf Apis, led by Georges-Marie Haardt and Louis Audouin-Dubreuil.
BASE VEHICLEKégresse K1 and P4 T (10 HP B2, 1921–26)BUILT BYCitroënIN SERVICE1922OPERATED INAlgeria, MaliPRODUCTION5LAYOUT2 wheels · 88.6″
The record
The cars were given two extra side radiators, a steam condenser and louvred bonnets after trials in North Africa. The mission studied fast links between France’s African territories; André Citroën drove out with three more half-tracks to meet it on its return in February 1923, and Scarabée d’Or was afterwards shown at the Musée de l’Armée in the Invalides.
Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.