Love 2CV's but as with so many never owned one. Did officiate at a number of 24 2CV races which second only to a caravan endurance test for being deathly dull, probably nothing to do with the cars though!
Not too suitable for modern roads perhaps but fab beasties and good writing. Thanks.
Beautifully written.
My memory of 2cvs is from a similar era, as a student housemate had one in the mid 80s. As a household we had two cars, that and my mark 1 Capri. Sublime and ridiculous.
I can also verify that two tall men with megaphones standing up in a briskly-driven 2CV attracts a lot of attention. Not good attention, but attention nonetheless.
I had a number of 2cv's over the years, the last one left the fold about 7 years ago. Back in June I rented one for a day whilst on holiday on france.
Seriously, things have moved on! I felt really unsafe chugging up hills with big lorries careering down behind me. I'd forgotten just how tiring they are to drive!
After a full day I was sooooo pleased to get back behind the wheel of my Defender TDi, the landy felt like a racing car in comparison!
In summary, i'd never have another but everyone's different and that makes the world go round :-)
I think I've commented here before about the awesomeness of these cars in a British winter (as long as you dress for the occasion). I've had two (a 2CV6 and a Dyane) and I loved them both. I drove the shoovie through three East Yorkshire winters and it never once failed to get me to work. If I had a spare grand or so (and after I had satisfied all those dream motorbike fantasies) I would have one again in a heartbeat - and use it as a daily driver. Low-tech, slow, noisy - anti-everything I hate about modern cars and the things that make them so bland and unexciting.
+1 about keeping the pedal to the metal. I once toured Norfolk in mine, following an anti-car hippy friend who thought that going over 30 mph was, like, giving in to the Man, and the shoovie kept failing to start. It was fouling its plugs on a daily basis. I asked my Citroen garage about it afterwards, and was advised to thrash the pants off it at every opportunity. I did so, and the issue vanished. The words he said to me I have never forgotten: "Sir, just remember that the French are not known for under-driving their cars".
No safety features? Good - just drive more carefully. It's what we all used to do before ABS and airbags.
Long live the 2CV, and thanks for a great post.
Was raised in one of these - Red - remember it so well....The roll down roof, the lack of safety/security inside the car - and unless my memories lie, the plug in the bottom of the car that allowed for an internal wash!?
Even if this last item is a child dreaming - I loved that car. My sister, brother and I were stuffed in the back and off we went...
One day, when my three are slightly older, maybe I will get one....
Beautiful car!
Just what I think about using your 2CV (if you´ve got one). See mine at http://starostneradost.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/levak.jpg .
I also had a number of 2CVs over the years/decades - a Belgian Postal Services 1973 AK 400, a Dolly, a 16hp version dating from 1969, several standard saloons, and they always were at their best when driven hard. Nothing like the sense of achievement when having driven your 2CV to, say, Normandy, or Manchester (from Germany), except perhaps cycling there.
Gavin, you are quite wrong in your assertion that the car lacked a cigarette lighter.
Ensure car is in neutral and handbrake is on. Start engine. Lift bonnet. Jam throttle lever fully open by removing return spring and adding a twig. Wait 5 minutes. Light cigarette from one of the two exhaust manifolds.
I once chased a very clean maroon Austin 1800 across Leicestershire A-roads in my '71 Ami 8 Estate. After 12 miles, he pulled over in a lay-by and suggested that we call it a draw. He was a Police CID Officer.
More, please!
I was 18 and it was 1979. *sigh*...
Being CID, in an un-marked car, he had no power to enforce the Road Traffic Act. Lucky me.
Ami's extra space and sound-proofing made it good for the motorway (no-honestly!). Ami Van had 2bhp extra - a 36bhp lump - the weapon of choice for the 2CV-Cross nutters.
Love your blog!
My elder brother's first car in about 1997 was a 2CV - a Charleston - and I remember driving around with him we would often see a fellow 2CV driver and stop to let them out. I can't remember the last one I saw one in the UK when I've been back recently.
I'm living in France now though, and even there aren't loads of them around, but I see them occassionally. I haven't had the pleasure of driving one yet, but I always wanted to, especially for the funny gear stick. I think I'm more likely to succeed on a go with that if I drive an old Renault 4, there are plenty of those knocking about.
Great website by the way! Thank you.
I'd been taking time out in South of France (Recovering from an illness!) I was single then. I was driving a 2CV; loaned by my French friends. I absolutely loved it. When I returned to U.K. I went in search of a 2CV and found one at an auction (Bet you don't find many at auctions these days!) I drove my (plumbs & custard) 2CV up and down the motorway for 4-5 years.
I lived in Bath - lovely city - and would 'pose' around the streets looking terribly French!
I really, really miss that old 2CV. I threaten my children I'm going to get another one, one day. They've put it on record that they will have absolutely nothing to do with me if I do!
Great Blog and pics. Thanks for bringing back good, VERY GOOD memories.
This was my first car which I learned to drive in (my driving examiner was a bit dubious about it before he got in). Then I had a couple more before moving on to a real car. I loved them! My favorite memory is of returning to my green 2CV in a car park after shopping. I opened the locked boot and couldn't understand why somebody had dumped a load of rubbish inside MY car! Turns out it was somebody else's green 2CV, but my key had opened the boot no problem! Perhaps they had just made the same key for all 2CVs?!
This was my first car, which I learned to drive in (my driving examiner was a bit dubious about it before he got in). Then I had a couple more before moving on to a real car. I loved them! My favorite memory is of returning to my green 2CV in a car park after shopping. I opened the locked boot and couldn't understand why somebody had dumped a load of rubbish inside MY car! Turns out it was somebody else's green 2CV, but my key had opened the boot no problem! Perhaps they had just made the same key for all 2CVs?!
Great article. Being that I am a yank in the U.S. I am probably one of the few people here that even know about this strange and funky auto. I did get to drive one once and was amazed at the seats. I love small cars, too bad here in the states everyone wants a friggin land yacht. Cheers to you. Bob
Hah! That's an excellent story. It's very possible that Citroen only made a certain different number of key/lock combinations. As late as the early 1990s even Ford only had a finite number of keys, so there was every chance if you had a Fiesta your key would also open a Sierra somewhere in the supermarket carpark...
Knowing what my mum's old Citroen Visa was like, I'm surprised it needed a key to get into in the first place!
Excellent read. It's interesting reading your debate about whether you could drive one today... in many ways, I feel cars from the recent past come across worse in contrast to modern cars than classic cars do. Cars from ten years ago often feel curiously unaccomplished next to modern vehicles, where classics feel different enough to forgive them their foibles, and appreciate them as something different.
Of course, if it's an image thing then I can understand, but I'm absolutely the wrong person to talk about image...
Fantastic evocative post about a car that brings back many happy memories from my childhood, my mother had a second hand Citroen Dyane then a 2CV from brand new during my school years, though looking back I think she just had a penchant for driving something a bit different having previously had an original Fiat 500.
Re the Burnham Market crowd, and the likelihood that these now infest North Norfolk driven by Melissas and Tobys I can concur, mainly because I live in Burnham Market (and am a local not a weekender) and as an example, my next door neighbour when he rocks up from his London life arrives with all the smooth uncluttered grace that only his beautiful (and immaculately preserved) Citroen DS can give.
I lived in Pau in Southwest France during the late 70's. These "were" the car of our generation. There were no bounds. We once packed 12 grown men into two of these, and drove up into the mountains to get plastered at a shepherd's pub that sold homemade wine for 1 franc a liter. . We got totally plastered, then drove back down. The car in front went off the road and plunged 100 meters down a grassy embankment to the creek below. The car was in perfect condition. Someone joked we should pick it up and carry it up the hill. After laughing for three seconds, we all serendipitously at the same moment thought: why not? The twelve of us put it over our heads and marched up the mountain, setting it down gently and continuing or journey without further incident. It truly is a great car.
after 20 years 2CV ownership I gave up my beloved 2CV earlier this year (I'm now the somewhat less proud owner of a Pluriel - mod cons, far less charm but importantly a convertible I can get a sofa into). This article brought back many memories of drives to Berlin, Prague, John O'Groats, across the Lake District and Peaks in a blizzard and over 30% passes etc. The 2CV to a degree has paralleled my marriage so it is really part of me.
Agree with the driving tips - I used to unnerve petrol headed friends with that smooth right/left swerve to get the car to what felt like 45 degrees, and 80 mph on that steep hill on the M4 just before you get into Bristol with everything feeling just on the edge of control gave the best adrenaline hit.
As an engineer I loved the perfection of the thing - so few things to break, so easy to mend on the roadside (I mean to watch ADAC take the starter motor apart and fix it by the side of the autobahn).
Came across this post by accident. You've made my day!
'Would I buy another?' you ask! YES!! We did!
Our first 2CV, Charlie, was our much loved only car, in our years as a young couple. He wasn't always well behaved, and seemed to need quite a bit of welding, but gave great joy. We parted company when ubber sensible-ness struck, with the pregnacy of our first child, and the nerotic feeling as parents-to-be that a car that is all crumple zone might not be good enough for our beloved child.
Now we have come full-circle, and the beloved child is an awkward teenager with a pre-teen brother. We are blessed to have practical (boring) transport options, but my very wise husband bought me another red 2CV for a special zero birthday. (Who wants jewellry when there are 2CVs?!) The child for whom we parted with Charlie for looks on derision, but son 2 is warming to the joys of 2CV-dom. I get to commute with a massive grin on my face, and husband is spending spare time he doesn't have getting oily making my wonderful Vikram (who has his own blog!) younger by the week.
On a practical note, we paid the same in 2012 for B reg Vikram as we got for E reg Charlie in 1997. The insurance already has him valued at double that (although we have spent that sum again on the handsome boy). With the seat covers we have ordered on and other such details, he'll be worth quite a bit more. That free motoring folks! No depreciation on these babies! So if we ever go crazy and see the world from the teenager's point of view and sell up, we should get back what we have paid, at least.
And yes, Vikram is practical. He is more reliable that the 04 plate Ford Ka we sold recently, and being old folks we can afford to garage him (and save 6 months road tax!) every winter whilst we drive warmer vehicles.
I haven't seen any 2CVs, never mind Mellisas and Tobys, since we got Vikram, and I finally feel I am being true to who I am as a human being, not a sheep. And true to myself as a primary teacher. If you remember the unique sound of a 2CV engine with joy and don't feel able to rediscovering it, you have my sympathy.
You forgot to mention that James Bond even drove one.
I used to carpool in a 400 cc version, that one really had no power whatsoever, I was always looking for the pedals to give it a bit more speed.
My brother had one that for a while seemed to have lost power: it would just not move above 20mph, but revved just fine out of gear. The nice guy at the garage did not blink an eye, just raised the bonnet, reconnected the sparkplug, and send us on our way.
The funniest thing was that in the 80s, this was the car of choice for the antinuclear protesters. Did they not know that these cars are built by nuclear-generated electricity, as most things in France?
Beautiful. Reminds me of my white 2CV purchased in 1966 from a junk yard for 100 swiss francs (at the time that was US $25). I drove the car all over Europe. On the autobahn i used a brick placed on the accelerator to keep the car going at top speed, about 80-90 km/h (I think?) and it was always a good idea to draft behind a large truck and pick up a bit of speed. Sweet memories.
Nice post, brought back a lot of memories. From when I was born, up until the age of 15 we always had a 2cv in the family, my mum refused anything modern and my dad loved how easy they were to fix.
Haven't had one since about 2006 and prices for them seem to have sky rocketed which is a shame. Still thinking about getting one as a project for me and my old man, think it would be a lot different to drive than the cars I learnt in though!
If you love the 2CV you are either completely irrational, insane, or French. Speaking as some one who grew up with his dad's [French] two DS's and an SM, I know what is possible for a Citroën - over engineered, expensive to maintain, but my first experience going over 220km/hr. The 2CV is a complete piece of junk, its single virtue is that it was cheap. Its secondary major characteristic is that it was so underpowered it simply couldn't burn gas fast enough to be considered a gas guzzler [but on a kilo per kilo basis its fuel economy probably isn't that great]. Not half the car of the VW.
Dangerous? Ah! In the late sixties my older brother (then 20 y.o.) used to drive one as to help my mother in her business. One day he crossed in a hurry into a double way avenue and got caught from the side by a sturdy Ford Falcon. The 2CV just lifted and jumped to his side with a big bump in the middle, but my brother went off without a scratch! Now, beat that!
After two years of fun, summer camps and beaches, we changed to a 3CV with added power. Our first trip with the new car was a trans-continental from Buenos Aires to Valparaíso and back across the Andes mountains without a single problem.
I just can remember one fault: at 190 cm tall each, the windshield was a bit low for our needs. And that's the sole reason I wouldn't buy one again.
I have driven cars that take work to drive - skill and concentration. I like the idea, specially as its good to know what to do when a gadget fails in the newer cars. The 2CV is an ideal starter car - I have mentioned it to my son. My starter was a Renault 4. I loved the lean on the bends, the economy and the need to put up an umbrella when it rained. It never had a handbrake worth a damn so I started as a natural for hill starts. When you move on from something like that, other cars are appreciated more. Best way to learn the basics.
Some of us 2CV owners are still hippies you know. ;-)
I love people who slag off the 2CV. They just don't understand it. To compare it with a Beetle is to compare champagne with a bucket of slops. The Beetle is a car, but not a very good one. The 2CV is so entertaining to drive that it should be a prescription drug. I've driven over 100,000 miles in my little snail, have had it airborne on several occasions, have driven it mercilessly hard and it broke down last week for the first time (that couldn't be fixed roadside with a bit of garden twine and gaffer tape). It is a simple car packed with clever engineering with handling that is simply sublime.
They are a little gem, from the outrageous suspension to the glorious roof. It's only tinworm, safety legislation and aggressive PR promoting 'aspirational' cars that hastened it's demise.
The selfsame media types that sold us the bland and willfully dull cars on our roads today spend £8K for a 2CV that they may pose near it.
*wipes away flecks of spittle*
I had the only serious accident of my driving career in one of these and walked away from it. A car pulled out from the central reservation of a dual carriageway into my path and we met head-on (and I've been nervous of that scenario ever since). Luckily it was snow/slush on the ground and I was travelling at a modest speed. The impact bent the floorpan downwards until it touched the ground, and the bonnet, wings and cooling fan assembly were toast. The other car was a write-off. It was recovered to a main dealer who had it back on the road in a week. They simply unbolted the body from the floor, lifted it up, rolled a new floorpan underneath and bolted it back together. Total cost was £1100, IIRC.
Hell, safety is over-rated anyway. What's life if there isn't a bit of risk involved?
Wonderful car. I once drove one from Glasgow to Stuttgart non-stop (apart from when on the boat of course). Probably the most comfortable long journey I ever made, flapping side windows aside! 25 years later would I drive one? Probably not since I saw a video of one crash tested at 30mph. Nasty :(