
Citroen Pieces USA
Company Profile
Rudy Heilig, the owner of Citroen Pieces USA, has been
involved in the Citroen parts and service industry since the late 1970s.
At one time, Rudy serviced and restored Citroens with his four brothers and his
father. The patriarch of the family, Hank Heilig, was educated
as a Citroen mechanic at a Citroen dealership outside of Amsterdam, The
Netherlands and has been continuously working on Citroens since 1949.
Hank moved his wife, five sons and single daughter to Vancouver, Canada
in 1970 and was promptly hired by Citroen Canada Ltd as their technical
representative for the Western provinces. When the Citroen SM was introduced
to North America in late 1971, Hank was the first in Western Canada to be
technically certified as an SM mechanic and he traveled througout the Western
Canadian provinces to train and certify the mechanics in each individual
Citroen dealership.
Hank bought his own Citroen dealership, Parthenon Motors - based in Vancouver
Canada, in late 1974 (unfortunately the last year for new Citroens in Canada)
and continued operating it until 1984 with the distant hope that Citroen
would eventually return to North America.
The Citroen Concours' facility in 1990
Meanwhile, Hank's oldest son, Paul, moved to San Diego, California in
1980 and bought Riviera Motors, San Diego's last remaining independent Citroen
service and parts facility. Meanwhile most of the Citroens in Canada were
succumbing to rust in Vancouver's cold and damp climate and business at
Heilig's Canadian Citroen-only business was slowly dwindling. Wanting to
continue their Citroen heritage, the rest of the Heilig clan eventually
followed Paul south to San Diego. California's warm dry weather is the perfect
climate for the preservation of antique cars and Citroens were still extremely
popular with San Diego's diverse ethnic population.
In 1987, the Heiligs changed the name of their Citroen business from
"Riviera Motors" to "Citroen Concours of America" to
ease identification and increase their recognition in the Citroen community.
After a succession of restorations for customers as far away as Japan, Mexico,
Guatemale, The Netherlands and throughout North America, Citroen Concours
of America is now universally recognized as one of the leading authorities
of post-1934 Citroens.
Eventually Rudy split off the parts business from his
brother and now is a parts supplier, sales broker and service consultant and is
located at the following address :
Rudy A Heilig dba Citroen
Pieces USA
2667 Camino Del Rio S
#301-6
San Diego, California 92108
Or phoning (858) 566-2860
Or e-mailing us at citroendsparts@yahoo.com
Citroen Concours of America's service area.
One of Citroen Concours of America's award-winning
restorations |