Citroen 2CV

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Citroen 2CV

One of the prime examples of how to make motoring accessible for the masses the Citroen 2CV stands out for its simple but very effective construction. Production started in 1948, although the original design started before WW2. In spite of lacking many of to-days cars features the car stayed in production until 1990. The honour of producing the last one went to Citroen’s Portuguese factory, which produced all cars after 1988.

The terms of reference for the car required a vehicle that was capable of making at least 65 kph and with such a comfort that a bucket full of eggs could be transported in the French countryside without any breakage.

All cars were fitted with a simple 2 cylinder air cooled boxer engine, initially with 375 cc and 9 BHP. The peculiar sound of the 2CV engine cannot be mistaken and is never overheard even at top speed driving. Over the years more “powerful” and more “luxurious” versions became available, culminating in a 602 cc engine with 33 bhp, at 7000 (!) RPM. In this way the car could reach 110 kph, but with favourable tailwinds 120 could be easily achieved. One of the nice feature of the earlier example was the speedometer, placed in left corner of the dash, close to the windshield. The cable driving the speedometer also drove the windshield wipers, meaning that the faster you went, the faster the wipers were working.

The suspension consisted of an ingenious system with all wheels linked to the chassis via trailing arms, linked to each other via a horizontal system of coils springs. The comfort was astonishing, and the spectacular overhang while cornering was not really dangerous, the inner rear wheel could be lifted easily and only vehement braking while cornering could result in toppling over of the car. For those who never experienced driving one, it is something out of the ordinary, also taking into account the horizontal gear shifter coming out of the dash.

Today well maintained examples are already commanding prices on par or over the original selling price. As almost 5 million of these cars were made, including 1.2 mln Van type versions, there are still many left, but good one are becoming much rarer. It is a very easy car to work on and parts supply is excellent

Here are shown a number of different cars, with the one with #1 being a participant in this year’s Tour Auto in France.