French Truck

1970-ish Citroen H Van

The H Van was a commercial cargo van offered by Citroen in the early postwar period. Debuting in 1947, it remained in production largely unchanged until 1981.

Unusual for a van, it was of unit-body construction, with no underlying ladder frame. This fact and the fact that it was front-wheel drive allowed it to have a long, low, unobstructed cargo floor, barely above axle-height. Supposedly the floor structure was strong enough to support a horse. The driveline was a longitudinal inline 4-cylinder above and ahead of the transaxle; basically a Traction Avant's powertrain rotated through 180 degrees. - View From The Porch

It's basically a blown up version of a mini-van, with the bonus of having the engine inline instead of crossways, which means simple repairs were quick and easy instead of being all day projects that cost $1,000. This would be the perfect vehicle for carrying a horse or a big, heavy motorcycle. Loading a Harley into the back of a modern pickup truck requires something more than a little push. 

I've been thinking that a minivan conversion designed for hauling motorcycles might be a viable business opportunity.

Here's a picture of a Traction Avant if, like me, you weren't quite sure what it is.

Traction Avant

A favorite of players in WW2 period movies.