American Learns About the Unique & Strange Citroen 2CV
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- Опубликовано: 1 мар 2023
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French citizen here. You can't fathom how beloved that car was. It was the car of the people. Which means it was used by people that had to use it everyday for everything on every terrain and in any circumstance and push it and push it and make it do a lot of things it wasn't supposed to do... And more often than not, it didn't let them down. Must be the most blessed and the less insulted car of all time.
Dutchie here. Once, our convoy of five parked in front of a cafe, the whole terrace stood up for a standing ovation. Not many in France anymore but the appreciation still is huge.
Haaaaa ... la deudeuche : trésor national ! :)
i'm from the UK. i had two of them. best cars ever mate. :)
@@tommyfred6180 I totally agree ! My father was workshop chief for Citröen in the 50's and the house car was an ID then a DS. My first personal car was an AMI 8. Very similar to the 2CV but I rode in one for quite some time as a friend had one too. As he used to say : "the cheapest world convertible !".
The AMI 8 was another wonder ; as easy to maintain and drive compared to the 2CV but for me, the main drawback to these two vehicles was you had to defrost the interior of the windshield during winter. It had the usual default to freeze from the inside (the heating system really was a joke !).
@@Onlyglooa 2cv with a heating system? nop my two never had that. ho don't get me wrong it had the bits you supposedly twiddled to get heat. they just did nothing. :)
My first car was a 2cv. A surprisingly good car. Two stories:
First, I was living in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, at the bottom of a steep hill next to the moors. Woke up one morning to thick snow. Every car on my street was struggling to get up the hill, including a guy in a 4X4. The 2CV made it up the hill first time. I guess due to the narrow wheels, front wheel drive and ALL the weight at the front. PLUS you can set off uphill very easily in second or even third gear.
Two:
Camping trip in the lake District. Arrived at the campsite late and in the pitch dark. I reversed the car in to a ditch. My gf at the time got into the driving seat and I got in to the ditch. There's next to no weight at the back of a 2CV so I lifted it whilst my gf put it in gear and drove it out.
One last thing - my clutch cable broke one day. I was near a small Halfords and they had NO parts that would fit a 2CV. The guy noticed that the clutch cable was not too different to a bicycle brake cable so he fitted that for me as a temporary fix until I could get to a Citroen dealer. It was still on when I sold the car two years later!
These are exactly the sort of things that make owning a 2cv memorable , it's like having an adventure. Even when they go wrong , they make you smile.
I never owned one personally but I worked on loads when I owned my garage business. I never met a miserable 2cv owner.
I happen to be the only one up a hill with my 2CV when the road was snow covered. All the other cars were stranded.
When I was at primary school the head mistress drove a 2CV for quite a few years. She was NEVER late or never made it in due to snow, and this part of Scotland back in the late 1980s/early 90s used to get some decent snow nearly every year!
@@douggreen9433 I remember a story of someone in a 2 cv who lost her engine waiting at a traffic light, it was one of the oldest models , so the engine suspension was done via leather straps, at some point ist just fell on the street. Or so at least the story goes.
Is it true that the front seats were easily removable so you could use them as seats?
I have one unforgettable memory of the 2CV. I grew up in East Africa where I spent the first 16 years of my life. At the time my father worked on different civil engineering projects there. In the 50s and 60s, 2CV and Land Rover were the African bush cars par excellence. When I was about 10 years old, my parents sent me to a summer camp in the bush, really in the middle of nowhere. I had an accident. I let myself drop from uneven bars, landed badly and couldn't get up. It took me a moment to realise that my left elbow and shoulder were dislocated. Panic at the camp, the bush doctor and the nurse accompanying us weren't around. They had gone in an emergency to help a sick old local man living miles away from the camp. The only solution was to take me to a hospital but the nearest city was 230 km away. So our camp leader had my arm encased in a big bamboo cane split in two and bandaged. Accompanied by 2 other guys, he opted to drive me with the 2CV of the camp, the shock absorbers were much softer than those of the Land Rover. It took us about 6 hours to cover 230 km of bush tracks. The guys were really afraid to give me a too-large dose of painkiller, so I can't say the trip was always pleasant, we had to stop very often because of the pain. But finally, it was fun with those 3 lovely guys trying to distract me from the pain and making me as comfortable as possible. They had put 2 narrow matrasses at the back with lots of pillows around my shoulder and elbow. I felt like the Princess with the Pea from Andersen's fairy tale.
Very interesting (& cool 😎) story. -Thanks for sharing. -And my best greetings here from Iceland 🇮🇸
@@karlbark Thank you. My best greetings from France and 🐇🐇🐇🐇Happy Easter
Whats been missed out here is a really usefull and wacky feature. You can take out the seats, even the front seats. The advantage here is, you can create extra storage space by taking out the back seats and the right side seat. Also, when picknicking or camping, you can use the seats as chairs and a bench (back seats), and just sit outside around a campfire on them. Of course it also makes it easier to repair those seats.
Been there, done that, many times!
Citroën is a icon in France, unfortunaly in a very bad shape currently inside STELLANTIS group. There was the 2CV the most simple car in the world but at the opposite also the DS the most sofisticate car in the world back in 50's/60's. This brend is unique and mythical.
We should break up that company. I don’t understand why they were allowed to go with it. And the CEO is an idiot 🙄
I think the SM was even more complicated than the DS.
The SM is the model they built when they buy Maserati back in 70's. It’s a sporty DS with Maserati engine. Legendary Citroën too you’re right.
That is the exact thing I want to write. The Traction Avant the 2cv the DS the SM far forward at its time
While watching this video, I realize that, if Citroën would have exported the 2CV in the USA, today, maybe they would be an independent car maker as important as VW.
I grew up in the french countryside in the early 80's. My dad was an ingeneer and worked in a big city and had normal cars. We though owned a 2CV (a beige one) for home, mom driving us to school and all those kinda stuffs. My dad always wanted us to go to vacations with the 2CV. ("la Deuche" as we say in french). Those memories of the family of 4 driving in all parts of France, visiting cool places with open roof are just incredible. tears are coming while thinking about this happy time. and the 2CV is full part of it.
But, the 2CV is not safe at all when engaged in accidents.
@@PaulaBean and ?
@@PaulaBean There wasn't any crash test at the time this car had been designed, even security belt was mandatory in on July 1st 1973 on front seats and October 1st 1990 for rear seats, Euro NCAP was in Febuary 1997!
The first protype was build just before WW2 and then been hide in a farm somewhere in Normandie if my memory is good. And CITROËN restarted to work on the prototype after the WW2.
ah ouai nous on disait la dodoche...
@@mybricology7388 I wish Citroën would develop a new 2CV, but with modern crash-proof cage construction (and airbags). The rest should stay the same, including the typical sound the motor makes!
As a long time 2CV owner, I can tell you that once you get past all the "strangeness" (aka brilliant solutions), you find out that a 2CV also is just a really good car!
Citroen was probably the most innovative car company in the world. Their DS21 was so far ahead of it's time it's like it was from a different planet. Great cars from a great car company.
Exactly right ! As a German, when I was a young guy, I often drove my mother's-in-law 2CV....very different to my Beetle and not the toque of the 4- cylinder engine, but nevertheless a safe FUN to drive with it's extrem long suspension travel an Front-wheel-drive!
You should remember that the specification (around 1938, stopped due to our invasion 1940 and continued 1946) was to carry 2 farmers at 60 km/h with some animal feed in the trunk and a range with 40 eggs (!) on the back seat over a country- lane without demaging the eggs (really true !) and all this with a fuel comsumption of 5 ltr / 100 km (the reson for the small engines).....by the way, the car weighs around 600 kg !
Is this real good and vise engineering the engineers at Citroen did ? - indeed, it is !
Sad to say it was. The hydropneumatic Suspension of the DS was build in different Citroen Cars (i had 3 of them over the Years because i love this Suspension), but just until 2018. I had to sell my 2008 C5 last Year because i couldn't get all needed Suspension-Parts... The Company Citroen is a Part of decided it is too expensive to have charming unique special Solutions like Citroen had before (Driver's Airbag not turning with the steering Wheel for Example) and now it's all the same.
@@ratman_flo7496 yes it's the same for all car companies. The economic necessity has killed innovation and uniqueness. I come from a Peugeot family and the things that made them great cars have been lost to the need to survive as a company. Maximizing profit is the only motivator/necessity. it's sad, but I feel privileged to have lived in an era where cars were different.
Elles peuvent vous conduire aux bout du monde par tous les temps tous les chemins avec la fleur aux dents!!!
The 2CV has such a low centre of gravity and that is its main reason that you won’t normally roll one …
Back in the old days, Citroen really were the "avant-garde" of the automobile. Not just the 2CV. At the other hand of the spectrum was the Citroen DS, their luxury car, which, too, was a very unique car.
And the Traction in 1934 before them and CS, SM & CX after them.
@@stephenberry8658 correct. The 2CV and the DS were clearly the most iconic ones, but the ones you mentioned were legends, too. The Traction Avant (which btw literally means "Front [Wheel] Drive") is particularly known for being a "gangster car". (And the gangsters had the 6 cylindes engine, which is why they could often outrun police, which only had the 4cyl version.)
Funny story, back in 1984 i was driving a 2 CV from Copenhagen to Nice in France. We were 3 guys going for a juhuu holiday. The car was old 15 years and max speed with us 3 dudes in it was 50 miles an hour, on the German autobahn we would go really close to the trucks and get sucked along, it raised the speed to almost 60 miles/h. It took us 42 hours to get there. Great memory.
about getting sucked along by a truck... my wife owned a 2CV as her first car. I remember once while driving on the Autobahn in Germany we were four (young) adults, including our exchange student from the USA. My wife hit the gas to the floor and suddently she said "Hey look, its going over 100km/h...." ...then she tried to overtake the bus in front of us... we made it about half of the length of the bus, when the draft didn't helped anymore...
It seems that all the passengers in the bus were sitting on the left side, and after a while the busdriver was a great chap, and he lifted the gas a little...
This car was a blast to drive, and when you turned it sharp and fast into a corner it would lift the inner of the rear wheels from the road.
Only downside was if you wanted to check or change the sparkplugs and the oilfilter. The sparkplugs a placed left and right on the cylinder and ther is very little spave for a wrench. You had to have a special short wrench for those. And to reach the oilfilter you had to grab through between the brake disk and the exhaust pipe, because from the underside there was a panel to protect the engine from below.. And since it is better to change oil when the engine isn't cold.... well it was always the least liked mechanic who had to do those jobs in the workshop.
I did this not too long ago. It doesn't really work with modern cars. because they are too aerodynamic, but I had two large metal boxes on the roof of my Peugeot 307. I couldn't go very fast because of the extra weight and bad aerodynamics, but I found the sweet spot right behind a truck doing 56mph and my fuel consumption indicated on the car's computer rose from 30mpg to 70mpg (I don't know what the conversion is to litres per 100Km). I expect the truck's fuel consumption dropped a bit to compensate.
Too much smoke😉
Got myself a cI city bug and it's a great little car😊
This brought back fantastic memories. My friend and I leased one for 45 days about 30 years ago. We drove it out of the factory.
We drove 10500 km, throughput Europe, over the alps. Had 2 hubcaps stolen while we were stuck in a traffic jam in Naples.
Overtaking trucks on the Autostrada in Italy was a procedure. Close windows and roof, wait for a downwards slope, tailgate the truck and then swing out. We would usually go ‘backwards’! 😅
But no worries… absolutely brilliant car and experience
Overtaking a truck was a little tricky: make speed in the slipstream, start overtaking and hope to pull ahead; often not possible haha. 1970s memories.
An old neighbour of mine had a 2CV when I was a kid, I always thought they were such a weird little car, but appreciate how simple they are. Oddly enough, Sir Roger Moore said his favourite car from the James Bond films he did was a Citroen 2CV. So if it’s good enough for 007… 🤷🏾♂️😂
My brother was the special affect contractor on that film, and I assisted with the transport of getting all the vehicles to Pinewood Studios. Five 2 Cvs were supplied by Citroen one would be the pretty camera car and not touched. Now at this point a french stunt crew came onboard and wanted the cars taken to their workshop in France, so to make sure this did not happen. Two guys per car stripped them down to bare chassis and engines out in just over an hour. There was just this pile of four cars in the middle of the workshop. So the rebuild was a roll cage, Citroen GS 4-cylinder engines VW clutches, Koni shocks and a hydraulic arm on the rear of one. this was to catch aircraft carrier arrester wires in the olive orchard. Which was on a steep hill.
On a Sunday at midday, we decided to go to a filling station with all four cars and then call into a pub for a pie and pint. Coming out of Pinewood is a dual carriageway we overtook several sports cars and GT saloons before pulling into fuel. The sports cars followed us in as they were so pissed off being left in the dust by not one but four 2Cvs. At the pub they attracted a huge crowd, and the landlord gave us an extra beer to stay longer.
My brother also ran the large Citroen Safari as a camera car the suspension was great for the cameras, he also had a LHD GS that could be rigged with the camera in the right seat for car chases etc. I owned a GS for many years, driving in snow was a doddle just raise the suspension and the front wheel drive just dragged the car through. Sadly, I did not go on location with that film, but did on The Spy Who Loved Me. Driving trucks to Sardina and to Egypt now that was an adventure. Roger Moore played the piano when the lights went off in Luxor and the crew sang Old London songs.
Previous to the Bond Films brother looked after the Saint cars, the white Volvo and Wolseley cop cars. Thanks for stirring my 77-year-old memory guys.
@@TheByard the 2cvs used in the film retained standard chassis with standard (at that time) drum brakes, the engine was 1015cc gs which revved soooo high, i had a 1015cc dyane on ami super chassis which then i changed for the 1299cc engine and five speed box. still had excellent road holding and on the way back from le mans one year a porsche 911 owner came over to me at a fuel station (i had passed him) and said ' i love that car'. happy days
@@babaganoush6106 The shocks were changed to Koni's and one had the cable catcher for added braking.
My brother used one to drop one of the films Stuntmen and partner off at the premier in London. While the rest of the limo fleet did a dignified pull up to the red carpet, brother came in the opposite direction and did a handbrake type turn to park.
PS: Rear wheel braking had been played with.
Hey ! That car is a true legend in France as every people know someone who had one especially older generations.
I wanted to share a story of my father haha, I’m french all the family live on the French Riviera near Monaco and back in the 80’s his first car was the 2cv Charleston edition which was dark red and black . (“la deuche” as a popular nickname here)
This car was the professional company car of my grand father and first time my dad got driving it he went on the highway to Monaco on a loooong downhill. He wanted to push flat out so when he reached 120km/h (75mph) just before taking the exit on Monaco which he was supposed to slow down as the speed limit required.
Just after the exit, Monaco police officers make him sign to park the car on the side of the road. He got scared af because he was clearly speeding but the 3 policemen were laughing and said to him “damn kid, we never saw la Deuche coming that fast in 30 years of work here. What’s in it ? A rocket engine ?”
After that they said to him to slow down when he would enter in the city but they let him go !!! He should have lost his driving license but yeah that made them laugh to see a 2cv flooring it in the 80’s as it became more a relic of the post war France already.
This car is still in the family now, we are working every weekend to give her back its best look and every time we go for a drive, it works as expected and people are truly happy to see it, even young people like me who didn’t live in that era !
The nickname was more deudeuche.
A friend had this old car as a first car when I was at school, and I wouldn't have liked to have one. The small wipers were manual and you had to move it yourself by hand with a lever in the middle of the windshield. Completely useless and not doable when driving. And the wind could bend the doors like if someone had pushed it. I was surprised it was still allowed to drive it at this time.
Vive la DEUDEUCHE !!!
@@YannR34 it gives it character, which modern car lacks a lot
and not only in France. In the Netherlands it is legendary as well :)
A German here. I bought a 2CV6 in frog green in 1977. In Germany, the car was affectionately called "Ente" (Duck). The car cost around $3,500 new at the time and was therefore very popular with students who had little money. In contrast to "normal" cars, the car still had a decisive advantage. In the winter of 1978/79 we had a snow catastrophe in northern Germany with more than 2 meters of snow and huge now drifs. For weeks the roads were hardly passable for "normal" cars, but for my 2CV that was no problem with its low weight, the narrow, large tires and the front-wheel drive. Another advantage was that the seats, tailgate, rear window could be removed in a few simple steps, making this vehicle a mini truck. When I moved to a new apartment I used my 2CV like this to transport all my furniture. I loved this car. Cheers to the French for inventing this legend of a car. It's a shame that you can't buy something like this anymore.
Growing up in Europe this car brings back my childhood. In the 70's it was everywhere. It was a popular car for young people, especially young families, and for singles as it was affordable, could fit four people plus luggage, and do a decent speed for city living. They're still popular in a nostalgic sort of way, even though everyone knew it was a rather crap car- it was cheap for a reason, and now considered unsafe, they're widely beloved by many who would happily by a modern safer, even if more expensive, version. Many just like it exactly for that quirky style.
Until a few years ago my hometown in Germany held an annual vintage car race. A local Citroen-dealership always participated with their mechanics-crew in a 2CV.
There'd be four guys in the thing, and in the sharp turns they'd all lean into the turn because it seriously looked like the car was about to fall over^^
You should check out the Citroën DS. It launched in 1955 and for decades it was technologically superior to every other car on the market (compared to many it still is today). It‘s also one of the most beautiful cars ever made.
Agreed. Timeless car. Btw, I've seen some renders of the..new age DS, strongly, designwise, based on the original. Sweet mother Mary. If Citroen should decide....I wouldn't hesitate. In a blink of an eye. Personally I love Citroen and owned 2CV up to Cx Limousines.
Yes, a beautiful machine. Where I live (Serbia) it had a pet name "Ajkula" (Shark).
I was looking for this comment. Please check the Citoën DS Ian, another mythical car from Citroën !
Fun fact for « non-French-speakers »:
DS in french is pronounced « Day-Ess », which is the way to say « déesse », which is the french word for « goddess ».
And indeed, this car is a goddess among the cars !
Even De Gaulle was driven/drove in a DS - and he loved it.,🤓
There is a RUclipsr in the UK who goes under the name HubNut. He tests, fixes (breaks!) older cars, and is a big Citroen fan. You could look up his road trip to Croatia in his 2CV ( Ellie ) and have.a good picture of how these actually go.
Yeah, just watched his test of an early Xantia diesel. He loves 2CVs and old Citroëns.
@@PedroConejo1939 the xantia doesn’t have much more power than Elle.
Why?…….. because French.
Hub nut is brilliant especially for Citroën cars
Hub Nut is worth a sub.
Fun fact: Citroen was one of two major pioneers of front wheel drive in pre-WWII Europe (DKW being the other one, later resulting in Audi being known for its front wheel drive models). Many other brands indeed only switched to front wheel drive by the 1980's.
My Grandpa is a 2CV mechanic he worked in a Citroen workshop when those were new. He knows like every screw on these. He still has his one and my mothers first car was a 2CV and she still has it. I also drove it, its a very interesting and fun car to drive. I also know from my grandpa that there were events where people tried to roll them but nearly no one could. greetings from Austria!
It's called 'Ente' in Germany, which translates to 'duck'.
Here in the Netherland we call it "eend", Which also means duck.
Yes, I loved them. The green ones would have duck stickers on them saying " I fly bleifrei". 😊
@@emmasly123 and then there was a 'Sausss Ente' with huge stickers of a flying duck on the side panels..
@@gerrydilleburch6626 I didn't remember these. But google helped me. 😊
Jawhol
I'm French, and I own a 1974 Citroën 2cv, and I understand that, in the eyes of some, it's a weird car, and indeed its design (like many other Citroën models) is unique in the world and that's what makes its charm 😍🤩👍
My aunt from my fathers side had one, and ALL my 6 uncles from my mothers side of the family had a 2CV as their first car. Some owned multiple 2cv's. In the Netherlands they are called "lelijke eend" or ugly duck in english. The "bestel eend" was the van version of the 2cv.
Citroen also made the Dyane and Mehari (basically a beach buggy) based on the 2cv. I live in Wassenaar in the Netherlands, near the hague. there are surprisingly many old citroens around here! Also ID/DS are fairly common classics here, some are still being daily driven today!
Más que sencillo, un 2 caballos es original, todo es diferente y el motor es una gran obra de ingenieria. Llevo casi 25 años conduciendo uno y no puedo quitarme la sonrisa cuando lo uso, y la sonrisa de los niños cuando lo ven, no tiene precio.
If you have the opportunity to get a 2CV then take it. I'm from Northern Germany and owned one from 2003 to 2013. It has been one of the final 1,000 being produced in 1990. I never had more fun with any other car.
I used it as my everyday's car each year only from April to September (we've special regplates for that in Germany) to avoid rain, snow and ice. Every season I drove around 15,000 mls without any serious incidents. It took me across Europe from Sweden and Norway to Italy and Monaco.
As I'm 6'1" @ 280 lbs (seriously!) a friend lengthened the seat's mounting rails by 3" and I doubled and twisted the rubber rings being the seat's substructure. I never had that comfy seats in an other car. I never had an aching back, not even after driving 5 or 6 hours ... and when turning my head to the side I looked through the rear door's windows. They were tinted so I could hide in the car. This sometimes made others think there's no-one driving the car.
Unfortunatelly I had to sell it some day because I wasn't able to do the necessary work (exchange the car's frame) to renew the certificate of roadworthiness. But I'll never forget that time.
Many iconic European cars, Britain had the Mini, Germany had the Beatle, Italy had the Fiat 500 and France had the 2CV.
And Germany hat the Trabi, too😊. Even less steal.
Don't forget the Dutch Daf 33.
Fiat 124 - One of the most built cars in the world. Not built as a Fiat but under license under various names, e.g. Lada, Tofas, Asia, Premier, NSU, SEAT in Russia, Turkey, Korea, India, Germany and Spain.
As Lada was made from 1966-2013.
French guy who'd grown up in a snowy part of France : the 2CV (la deuche, pronounce it like a "duh" followed by a "sh") is very good on snow too because of it's high center of gravity and very narrow wheels. You could go on any snowy roads with it, especially on some mountain roads where any other cars would have had difficulties or be much more dangerous to drive.
I am lucky enough to have been a passenger in one of those.
I was very fun in the streets of Bayonne. We were 3 guys. It's quite impressive how spacious it is.
We were able to get it to 80km/h, I thought that I was in space ship at lift off from the amount of vibration and the noise of the motor, at some point we had to scream to each other!!
It was a blast!
My parents had 2CVs in the late 70s and early 80s. They went on vacation from Austria to Italy with my two brothers and me in the 2CV. I had to lie between the seats and the luggage was on the roof rack. Luckily it wasn't the other way round :)) There were even 2CV rallye events in Austria and other countries in Europe in the late 70s. A friend of my dad was a 2CV rallye driver and we went to some races to watch him.
We did about the same from Germany to Gibraltar. Also tock two dogs with us😅
In France (maybe in some other countries) there are competitions of disasembling/assembling 2cv, very impressive how fast the guys can do it!
Here in France the 2CV ( la deuche) is a real legend, you can even seen one in a James Bond 007 movie ! so fun to drive, indestructible, so easy to fix…their incredible suspensions and the lightness of this two-wheel drive make it a car that goes anywhere almost as efficient as a 4x4 !!!
I salute your curiosity and positive view on what from an American (or today's) perspective often looks odd. This car, as so many post-war models in Europe was purpose-built in a sense that it had to be functional and cheap in production and maintenance, since Europe had just gone through a devastating war. My parents had a Renault 4 (similar principle) which they drove all the way from the Netherlands to Moscow in 1970...
11:00 ooooh… You might wanna take a look at other models then. Citroën was quite the innovator in its day. It got its own quirky but quite big following because of it. ID/DS, SM, GS, CX, BX, XM… The Xantia is still feared on the Nordschleife. A luxury family car that handled so well, it put Porsches to shame. The key was the eccentric hydropneumatic suspension. I had a Xantia once, speedbumps disappeared like morning mist in the sun. And it cornered… oh dear. I miss that car
Xantia V6 Activa is a real beast. Still holds a record for fastest moose test ever. On a windy road there was no car that would beat it.
You should also have a look to the Renault 4. Another unique, lightly weird car.
And the famous Citroen Mehari
Oh yes for sure, especially its own spec-racing series! It was called "Coupe de France Renault Cross Elf". Folks would corner so hard in those 4s they would be driving on three wheels while taking corners and the same would happen with its successor, the Renault 5.
My Citroën Ami Super Break of March 1973 is built on the same simple principles. Only difference being a slightly sturdier undercarriage, a floor shifter to the 1015cc 54HP air-cooled flat 4-cylinder engine, like in the early Citroën GS (two models appearing in your Citroën suspension video). Extremely practical, weighs only 805kg, enabling a top speed of 140km/h.
My family used to have a Citroën Dyane 6 (an evolution of the classic 2CV following the same concept) and it's crazy how difficult to roll it is. We had a house in the country (Spain) and one of the turns in the path had a 25 degree inclination; I swear i could see my face couple of feet from the ground and the 4 weels still were completely grounded. Driving both cars looks like driving boats, but once you get used to it they're funny as hell.
the way to roll it is reverse at as high speed as your nerves can stand. then sling the steering wheel hard over it will go spectacularly.
The 2CV is legend. Not only in France, but also here in Germany. In fact driving in a 2CV felt like riding a vivid machine kinda thing. And the name is an abbreviation for "deux chevaux" = 2 horses. And that's exactly what this car was able to bring: 2 PS.
It has 2 cilinders, but 9 HP/PS.
Wasn't there some sort of weird tax convention in France that had "CV" (i.e. pretty much "HP") ratings completely different to what the cars actually made? Quite a few other earlier Citroens had "CV" in their name too, including the bigger more complicated ones like the 7CV Traction Avant. Other French manufacturer Renault also made a 4CV.
Is it not 2 Chevaux Vapeur / deux chevaux vapeur? Directly translated "two horses steam"!
@@jarls5890 Nope, it is the french fiscal power. In France, car taxes categories are in CV (chevaux). That is totally different of the cheval-vapeur(ch). The 2CV was designed to be in the 2CV category (it is the only car that I know which is in this category). But the first models wasn't enough powerful. So the cylinder capacity was raised, and the car finally was in the 3CV category.
Although in Germany no one called it "deux chevaux". We lovingly called it "Die Ente" (The Duck) 😁
The 2CV was during '70s and '80s not used as a car, but as a lifestyle. In the german speaking part of Europ it was called "Ente" (duck). There are many books about this Car and the adventures it tackled. From driving thru the Sahara Desert to driving to the far East jungles or around the World.
Here in Slovenia we have 2cv fan clubs and the local club went on a month long trip through Australia (mostly outback) and they all come back without any major issues. If I remember correctly, this happened in mid 00s, so every car was quite old at that point. And as you said, it was lifestyle. No one bought it because they couldn't afford better car.
In Holland the car is called : lelijke eend,Ugly duck.
@@ceeserkelens6884 referring to the fairy tale of H.Chr. Anderson ?
@@imano8265 Nope, you just might not believe it, but the indicator (usually just a soft clicking or beeping sound) sounded like a quacking duck.
It got it's nickname 'duck' because of the sound of the engine. It sounds like a chattering duck.
This car has _so_ much character and quirkiness to it!! I absolutely _adore_ vehicles like this! And you're totally right - super cars only really get fun towards their more powerful, high-speed top end, or squealing their tyres around track corners. Cars like the 2CV get fun the moment the engine starts up. And bonus you don't need stupid levels of insurance, or to wear an awkward racing helmet or need a team of people to help get and keep the vehicle track-worthy. You can just go out and have a blast in your regular commute to work or to the local store. And anything that makes those kinds of mundane trips fun is a plus in my book! Fun cars equals happy motorists which equals less road rage, less added stress for not just the car owner but everyone else around them, and we all have just that bit of a better day because of it. Can't go wrong with that! I think that's part of the reason I'm always attracted to quirky or character-full cars and unusual models that generally are on the smaller size to the average modern vehicle.
I’m a 97 kid and I remember seeing still quite a few of these in the early 2000s, especially in the countryside. Some people still use them as collection car now though !
The two-tone variants were delivered from 1981 and had the designation 2CV "Charleston". First in red and black, then in 1982 in yellow and black and in 1983 in gray and black.
The 2CV even had the honor of being James Bond's vehicle. Namely in the movie "For Your Eyes Only"
The scene in For your eyes only with the 2CV is superb! The movie is a really good Bond movie!
the 2CV in the Bond movie was swapped with a 4 cylinder from the GSA, it had twice as much power so they could better do the vehicle stunts.
Technically it wasn’t Bonds car but his lady friends as the Burglar alarm went off in the Esprit that Bond was using and had locked down the hill. Pity we can’t use the same deterrent legally today ….
Roger Moore was asked which was his favorite Bond Car, & he said the 2CV 😂
If anybody has driven from Huddersfield to Leeds on the M62, you will know there's a long downward section. I can tell you that you can get 70mph out of a 2CV on that section. It feels, however, like driving a tent!
Best description of a 2CV ever "feels like driving a tent"...
In my country there are microcars that weigh max 350kg and you can drive them at age of 16. Some teens tune them so they can go over 90mph. I always thought they were really stupid.
I had one as my first car when I was 17 in 1999, fastest I ever got it was a mystery as the speedo needle went all the way round and hit the limiter peg!
You can easily get those small cars airborne. Not really to be recommended.😵💫
I drove a 2CV4 this is with a 400 cube motor for 2 years and there is almost no car which gave me such a pleasure. The sound of the motor, simple mechanics, very soft suspension , a really no nonsense car , big fun to drive in hot weather with the top open. Always start, never fails, air cooled motor, and never gets stuck in the snow.
My old man had one of these when I was about 10, it was about 14 years old at the time (so about 45 years old now). I loved it. Got stolen one day, they got in, broke the steering lock.... rolled it to the bottom of the road but ran off as they could not work out how to drive it :)
Before my old man got it, his best mate owned it, and his fav story is heading along a country lane and drove passed a rangerover stuck in the mud, he did give the guy a wave, but said he was unable to offer a toe :)
They build an All Wheel Drive Version of the 2 CV too, The 2 CV Sahara, with two Engines, one in the Front and one in the Back. 😄
My favourite version of the 2cv thanks to colin mcrae rally 03 and 04 for the ps2 xD
I cannot find much about them sadly
@@aitor9158 they dont Made many of them, so they are pretty rare and expensive.
@@marcbaur677 here in spain they where pretty popular but most of them either rusted away or are in private colections from some info that i gathered
I wish i could find more about the hole 2 engine system, same as the seat marvella bimotor
nice video! Many many years ago I lived on Jersey (the island between France & England - not the one next to New York :-)). I drove a very basic first-generation FIAT Panda (903cc engine - and yes it was black & white) and another colleague drove a CV Charleston (maroon & black).. The story is that one morning it snowed overnight, several inches (we started work early early). The two of us in the two under-powered cars with our skinny wheels made it into work at the airport on time... hardly anyone else did! FIAT Panda, Citroen CV, Volkswagen beetle... these cars were designed to work! Yes, they have felt like like tacking a yacht in a force 5 but the rubber bits did stick to the road (usually :-))
TFL Classics did another video with a Beetle in the snow to test if the "myth" was true or not. And it wasn't in a normal road covered in snow, it was in a snow covered field with some hills! 😄
@@module79l28
Edit: Just went and watched that and it was good, thanks for recommending that!
Car with engine at the back and driving rear wheels SHOULD be able to find some pretty good traction!
There is some guy around here who has one of the old VW vans that had the Beetle layout with the engine in the back, but it's actually a crew cab pickup type thing and is a 4WD! That combination, 5 seat pickup and 4x4, must have been pretty rare when they were new and must be incredibly rare now, but I bet it is probably on a pretty huge level of capable in mud and snow too!
I actually like those old Panda's that the OP said he owned too! They're very rare in this country now also...
Great video ! Thank you ! It's amazing I had to learn how to shift the gearbox of my national car by an American ! By the way, the dashboard may look simple to save money, but during its last years of production, the 2CV had shifted from an economical to an "exotic retro" car, and costed 50 000 francs (10 000 $) in 1990 !
Another feature not explained in the video was that you could find a nice spot in the countryside, take the seats off the car, and enjoy a comfortable picnic with the whole family.
I have a real nostalgia, it was my grandfather's car, a petrol blue 1952 model.
I was going on vacation to his place in the Pyrenees mountains.
When a tractor blocked the road, no problem we went through the fields.
One thing that only the owners of the oldest 2 cv know is that you can completely disassemble the body with ... With the crick key to change the wheel, all the bolts are only one size.
Fun stuff : the h pattern of the gears presented on the picture is actually often used in old sports cars, you only need the 1st gear to get rollin', in drivin' you have the 2nd and the 3rd gear in one line, which was very useful in races with sharp corners.
Thiss pattern was the most common, tho not standard, in pre WWII France. It was also used in the Citroën Traction Avant.
Gear pattern didn't really got standardised until the 60's, my father recall at his work that some Renault vans had the older shift pattern and some more recent (but identical looking) had the «more usual» shift pattern. So every now and then someone would bend a bumper because they would not pay attention, and start the vehicle in reverse instead of 1st gear.
In fact even up to the 90's there were different shift pattern on the Reverse position, with Peugeot putting it at the end of the pattern (in the 6th gear position) but Renault (and Citroën on their post-war models up to the Peugeot takeover) putting the Reverse speed up next to the 1st gear, with a physical lock to pull or push to go to Reverse.
I had a Renault Super 5 that had this lock broken so every now and then I would put the car in reverse instead of 1st gear, especially at red lights.
2CV had a interesting guarantee in Germany - They promised you couldn't roll over a 2CV in a 90° curve with city speed of 50kph ( about 31mph). They said if you are able to do it you get a new one. The video didn't show how it drives from the outside, but it tilted very far when you drove around a corner.
Urban legend - but a nice story that suits the 2CV well
My 2 sister, one boyfriend, my mom and me went for a drive in my sister's 2CV once.
Mom was in the backseat in the middle, and underway we started singing -no radio...
We started singing this Dutch children's song -van voor naar achter, van links naar rechts. Don't know if there is an english version, but on the song you move your body 'van voor naar achter' (front to back) and 'van links naar rechts' (left to right) Off course all 4 of, in sync and as fast and far as we could in the confined space of the car.
Believe me, doing this in a fully laden 2CV is FUN!!! It's like pulling away in a sportscar and you get wheelspin, only this baby gave us wheel........lift! I think we hit at least 30 degrees tilt sideways.
Mommy dearest did not like that, not at all...
The 2CV was built so a farmer could go to the farmers market in the heart of winter, even with 50cm of snow, and ride about 50km/h over speed bumps with about 20 boxes/crates of eggs on the parcel shelf, and the eggs would not even crack or slide.
This car is one of the simplest but most engineered car on a budget. I love them, had a few in the shop recently (i work as a mechanic), easy to work on, easy to maintain. i just love them
My dad bought one in about '72 and spent a year restoring it for my mom, she loved it but didn't like to drive much, so I got to use it for school and weekend excursions, even took my license in it, the examiner was blown away, I passed my test, he got to drive it :P The car~ I believe it was a '63 or '64, horizontally opposed, air-cooled twin pumping out a roaring 17-19hp, a blistering top end of 57mph (unless drafting behind a semi on the 401), 54-57mpg, with four people in it, and on those wintry days where everything was stuck or in a ditch I'd just wave and beep the horn as I drove by. If I had a buddy with me we could park it in spots an inch longer than it by carrying the ass end over. Had a tonne of fun in wee beast and many stories of its adventures. The last one Pops had was a pumpkin orange '74-ish 2-CV he obtained around 1990, I had the pleasure to drive it on many occasions, once losing my brakes going over a huge bridge with my new bride and a picnic basket in fast rush-hour traffic, E-braked and geared it to a stop several miles later, popped the hood and stared for a while/let it cool down, I believe it was a loose hose on the vacume brake booster or something stupid, but ten minutes later and still alive (both shaking) it fired up and it drove/stopped, turned it around and drove back to dad's at about 30kmh, it was an experience I wish never to repeat.
I believe there is still a company in California that rebuilds/restores them to better than new specs, they do a Charleston model which is two-tone grey and burgundy, they are funky beauties imho., not cheap anymore:(
Love seeing people discover oddities for the first time, almost like music reaction vids :P Cheers from PNW Canada!
No vacuum assistance to the brakes. Unnecessary complication for such a light car.
You may have had a loose pipe from a brake caliper or if there was a slow leak maybe at the rear and never checked the fluid level you could have lost brakes.
German University car park in the seventies and eighties: a 2CV was the students’ car if the parents were teachers, architects or artists. The others drove beetles. The kids of lawyers and doctors had a Porsche 356 or 914. No Opel Mantas, although they’re pretty collectible nowadays. But the 2CV was the only car where a 6’8 could sit comfortably. And then it was a pretty silent ride, because the guy’s knees levelled his ears 😂 If you want to learn more about Citroen check out Jay Leno’s video on the Citroen DS.
My dad was 6.4 and always said that the Fiat 500 they had in the 70s was the roomiest car he ever drove. He had the drivers seat duct (die Schiene zum Verstellen) changed, so the seat went back until it touched the back seats.
And CX and SM
There where a lot of R4 too.
@@arnolsi You're absolutely right, what a shame I forgot them in my list! They weren't collectible at that time, "weight reduction" aka rust ate them all. So I guess only a handful of them survived. But I was a beetle guy, as my dad recommended: "..don't buy cars that start win an "F"..." He meant "Ford, Fiat, French cars ..."
Yes, so true! Mom a teacher dad 198 cm tall. We went on a road trip in the 70s about 7000km from Germany to Gibraltar. Two adults, two kids in primary school and two small dogs. What a fun it was!
On July 27, 1990, at 4:30 pm, the last 2CV, one of the most iconic models of the brand and also one of the most iconic cars ever, rolled off the assembly line in Mangualde, Portugal.
There was even a band to mark such a solemn moment, the end of a long commercial career that started in the distant year 1948, and that resulted in the production of more than 5.1 million units.
There were 9 million built
I was theorie with a dutch journalist and two french guys one known under the name Batron.
Oh man! That took me back a couple of years. They were everywhere here in Belgium in the late seventies and early eighties. I remember being ten years old together with my friend in the back of his mom Citroen 2CV somewhere in the fall of 1983. We were going to see 'The Return Of The Jedi'. It was like we were on some fairground attraction. Bumping up and down all excited. 😆
When I was little my family had a Citroën Dyane, which was basically a "high end" 2CV. Same basic construction, many shared parts, just a bit more "beefed up": slightly more horsepower (and I mean _slightly_, the top model had 32hp), more angular body, ...
Very fond memories, but also some traumatizing for little 5-year-old me: one night we got into a heavy hailstorm, and the hailstones just ripped right through the canvas roof - but the next day my Mum just had a go at it with some leather patches :-)
The Dianes if I recall had opera windows too :)
@@Ogsonofgroo some models, yes. Their body was basically just a "modernized" (and slightly stretched, IIRC) version of the 2CV.
So many stories and tidbits about 2CVs, too many to mention really. How it only had one headlight originally (cost!), how it was a movie star, how my sister and I would slap each other when we saw a green one (can you tell we're Gen X yet), how in Dutch and German they're nicknamed "Duck", etc etc! Pure nostalgia these things
I was at the Citroën 90 year anniversary event at the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans. They organized a by model parade around the circuit. And when it was the turn of the 2CV, they filled up the 2.6 mile circuit 4 cars wide, bumper to bumper (all of them honking). And when the first 2CVs had completed their round around the circuit and were leaving the track, there were still more 2CV's waiting to get on the track to start their round. At the circuit camping, where we were staying, a group of 2CV club members had turned a field into a makeshift 2CV rally track where they raced into the night. It was kind of magical.
Sir, I've owned various Volvos, 2 Sports cars & THREE 2CVs. I've driven benders (18 wheelers) for a living and still the most fun I've had was in the 2CVs. Using maximum revs & chucking them into bends is hilarious. Utterly practical & so much fun! Another bonus is that there are no electronics to go wrong & you don't need much more than a knife and fork to work on them! Keep up the good work.
Affectionately known in the UK as as the 'tin snail' or 'flying dustbin' (on account of the bonnet (hood) stiffening ridges). Others have described the logic-defying cornering, remarkable usability in snow etc. but no-one has mentioned the seats! These are little more than tubular steel framed beach chairs. Totally minimalist but absolutely functional. I'd love to own one.
In Germany the car is known as "Ente" which means Duck in english.
@@Mullewarp haha in dutch lelijk eendje or just eend, wich translates to ugly duckling, because it waddles when cornering for those who dont know
They launched a van version in the UK. In white, and in red, called the Vin Blanc and the Vin Rouge.
@Alan_Mumford= These seats had an unexpected characteristic: they were so flexible that when the driver put his foot on the accelerator pedal his body (and foot) would be sent back from the acceleration, thereby slowing the car; thus a series of hickups in the speed of the car.
It took some training to get accustomed to gently pushing the accelerator pedal to get a continuous acceleration. The 2CV was definitely not a dragster!
Hitchhiked thousands of miles in those. On one ride I travelled 200 miles on the autobahn and thought my legs would be severed off at the thighs. Also, like many French cars, they had very bouncy suspension. When in France, most villages had cobbled streets; French drivers did not slow down for villages, and this was before the days of seat belts. You had to guard your head, invariably you would hit the tubular roof supports. Fond memories!!
late models were 32hp... just enough to reach 55...60 mph if you were lucky
my first car had one of these engine (1976 citroën LN...older than me) and i reached 90....downhill, impossible to pass a truck uphill and as i said 50mph was the average max speed for these cars
first 2cv had opposite doors to save costs because there was only one hinge on each side holding both the front door and the rear door
the 2cv was imagined in the 30's under the name of TPV (très petite voiture very small car) and some units were burried during ww2. A guy found 2 of these prototypes in his attic after he buyed an big old house. Nobody knew how the cars had been putted into this attic so they had to cut the house's roof to retrieve the cars (one was fully restored the other has been kept in its conditions and both of these TPV are in Citroën's museum)
Not wright! Latest models of 2cv reached 113 km/h what means 70 mph. I had a '84 Charleston in red/black colour and it reached 120 km/h on speedo without problem!😊
@@Astons_Martin In addition there where upgrade kits to install to increase the bore of the engine. I think it was, up to 800ccm something like that. Quite an increase from the 6hp or 9hp engine it started out with.
@@Astons_Martin i reached 140kph with a 2cv engine in my first car (don't forget gears ratio were probably differents) and to reach 110 kph you must be on a flat road (uphill you wait patientely behind trucks at 70 or 80kph if the road is under 5% 50 60kph over 5% and downhill you can expect 130, you can expect...)
most of 2cv have difficulties to reach 90 100 kph because roads aren't flat
I'm Dutch and when I was a kid in the 80s these were still very common on the road. Check out the estate version, also pretty awesome and there was also a slightly different version called the Diane. They are not fast (or safe) but even today it is hard to beat their gas mileage. French cars from the 60s and 70s, Citroën in particular, were unique and very different from anything around. The 2cv might be all about utility and simplicity, its big sister the DS (nicknamed the goddess) was and still is appreciated as the most comfortable ride in the world, famous for its unique suspension which makes the car float like a flying carpet. Like you I was surprised to see the gearshift pattern in the 2cv but that pattern is familiar to me, it is similar to that of the now rare and collectible race spec gearbox that was available in late 70s and 80s BMW 5 and 6 series known as a dogleg gearbox, shifting up goes way faster with this pattern, but that was probably not why the 2cv had it ;-)
They’re brilliant fun - real constant foot to the floor driving. And you have to anticipate stuff like hills and slopes; take a run up, and downshift early on to make it to the top of a really long slope.
They’re excellent off-roaders, especially the rare 4WD version. Same engine, same low power output, but it’s next to unstoppable. Brilliant on ice snd snow as well.
I used to own a 2CV - 4 club. Basically the same car, but with double the HP. Yes, it was a quirky car, but it always brought smiles to people’s faces. I used to work for a software company and clients were always thrilled if I came in my 2CV (or Lelijke Eend - Dutch for Ugly Duckling). Oh, and it was easy to fix, even for a non-mechanic like me
Those ducks (As they're called in Germany duck transl. "Ente") are the funniest driving experience you can have. Especially if you take a corner and the entire duck except the axis tilts to side. I get goosebumps every time is see a duck or its little VW vintage counterpart beetle. Great memories 👍🏽
2cv4 possibly one of the greatest 2cv engines in my opinion. no oil filter, revs to 5750 rpm an absolute joy with a heady 26 bhp on offer.
Hi from germany. I had one of the last produced 2CV (Ente in german, wich means duck in english) as my first car in 1990. A new one in white. Such a great car. Me and my friends had sooo much fun with it! No way you could roll it over. With 60 km/h in a 90 degree curve/turn. Or just as a little offroad car. In winter on the Autobahn no problem when all the big cars literally had to stop in a snowstorm.
In germany it is called a revolver-shift. So much wonderful memories.
Thanks for your great reaction 👍🏼
Hope you kept it. In collectible shape it must be worth a fortune now.
@@ralf-peterberg1083 unfortunately not 😞 I had to give it away after 3 years. You know I was young and needed the money.
Btw the new one had cost 9999 DM back in the day.
Here in the Flemish part of Belgium we call them eend or geit wich basically translates to duck or goat and if you saw a red one you punched your friend on the arm. 😉✌
@@MrKhushrenada The same game is played when seeing a VW beetle... it's called Punch Buggy. (Not played in Germany)
@@missfit1536 is that a lot ? In France we had the Franc which was weaker than the DM if I remember as you German people came on holidays here all the time 😂
I love cars from this period, you drive them for the quirkiness of them and there's no comforts or distractions.
I've got a 1967 Wolseley Hornet I'm fixing up, basically a Mini but with a lengthened trunk, more chrome, leather seats and a marque badge that lights up when the headlights are on, it'll turn heads when I drive it.
8:05 fun fact regarding cheap convertibles: the Fiat Nuova 500, one of the 2CV's competitors on the micro car market, came in closed and convertible versions. The non-convertible version was actually the more expensive one - a metal roof was considere a luxury back then.
Btw, the roof of the 2CV in the clip is a textile version, the luxury edition if you will. The standard roof was made of plastic. The textile one is more durable, and also offers better insulation in winter (heating the car is a bit of a problem when it's freezing cold outside and a better roof makes a big difference).
There's a 2CV rental near where I live, I see them quite often. The sound of the air cooled boxer engine is very characteristic and hearing one actually lifts my spirits! My dad had a 2CV back in the 1970s so I have childhood memories of that iconic car.
Where can you rent a 2CV?
Loved our 2CV. 😀 You could take it anywhere, but they were rust buckets. 😆 Our 2CV was bright green and covered in orange antirust paint. The floor was also full of holes on the passenger side - you could see the road, so we ended up pouring concrete in it. Citroën used to have amazing/fun cars, 2CV, Ami, DS, CX (which had an amazing dash),... I had a BX for years myself. My granddad used to have a Citroën H (ruclips.net/video/XnGuTQR8ClY/видео.html) which he used to go landscape painting in France. Then he'd smuggle wine back in a secret compartment (before the EU existed).
Hello from France.
In fact, "2 CV" is the abreviation of "2 CheVaux". "Chevaux" means "Horses" en english.
That's why, french people prononce it a "2 chevaux" and not "2 CV" when they talk about this car.
So, if you speak english you can technically name this car a "2 horses" when you speak about it 😊
And the nickname in france for the 2CV is "dodoche" 😊
Ian, I imagine the 2CV as a great car to drive Route 66, being so well sprung & a leisurely car to drive. Absolutely love the paint job on that one. Thanks again for this 👍
Hey Ian, this might just be the car that makes the driver feel the most alive, ever. It's just brilliantly engineered and *cute* af. I also just wanted to give you some positive feedback on this format of reacting to someone else introducing a topic to you and your audience.
This. Is. Brilliant.
I seriously wanna encourage you to also do this kind of content where *we both* watch someone explain something together. It's informative, entertaining, wholesome and with the added bonus of having someone else to introduce you to the topic you're watching makes your contribution to the stuff we watch *together* even better.
I hope you got to enjoy your trip to Nashville with the whole family and keep making this kind of content!
Couple of worthy mentions: French cars such as the DS are a fantastic path to go down since you've just got started on this grandad of French mass mobility. Your comparison to the VW Bug was spot on, these were cars for the masses in the post war times of resource scarcity. There's a whole story to this car intertwined with the beginnings of WW2 and the French reacting to the events of 1939. When Germany invaded France during the Blitzkrieg, there already was a prototype which had to be hidden from the invading Germans so it could not fall into enemy hands which is a whole other story in itself.
Cheers, hope you and yours are doing well.
Thank you 🙏 this was a joy to read 🎉
@@IWrocker my wife said that after 15 years of driving; it taught her to drive properly.
That was a very nice vid to watch!
Since you are interested in peculiar European cars and you mentioned that you like to drive a basic car on the limit:
There was a second French car with a similar concept back then, namely the Renault 4 ("R4" for short), which was built from 1961 to 1992.
The R4 was a comparable size as the 2CV, was slightly heavier and also had a slightly more powerful 4-cylinder in-line engine (even then front-wheel drive) and a better chassis. Otherwise, the concept was also cheap to manufacture, easy to maintain and very low fuel consumption for the time (approx. 6.5l/100km compared to the Beetle with approx. 9-10l/100km).
Because the car was originally also designed for French farmers, it also had a lot of ground clearance like the 2CV, you could drive over any dirt road without any problems.
In the 1970s, my family went on holiday in the panel van variant ("Fourgonnette"), including a tent trailer and roof rack with boat etc.
In some cases, almost 10,000 km were driven during a holiday (with three children on the back seat). It was relatively slow (max. 120-130 km/h) compared to today's speeds on German autobahns, but with speed limits common in the rest of Europe or the US, it wouldn't be a big problem to keep up with the traffic even today. However, the acceleration was extremely slow due to the small engine, which is why overtaking maneuvers had to be planned well in advance.
Later in the 90s as a student I drove an R4 again, it was super cheap to buy, you could repair almost everything on it yourself, and spare parts could be removed from decommissioned vehicles for very little money at the junkyard.
The driving experience was very immediate, you could lean into the corner with squealing tires even at relatively low speeds and the interior was a hell of a noise if you drove faster than 100km/h. As with the 2CV, it had a shifter with an umbrella handle, but with a usual shift pattern.
There was only a rudimentary interior paneling, the sheet metal roared and the whole instrument panel was very rudimentary, though well readable, similar to the 2CV.
But it was for shure great fun to drive the car despite, or perhaps because of, this spartan equipment. And even as a student, I could easily afford my own car with very little money.
The biggest problem was corrosion, if you didn't seal the car body with cavity protection early on, you had to keep repairing rust holes.
It would be super interesting if you could also make a video about this vehicle.
Cheers from Germany!
I really enjoyed your enthusiasm over this cute little car.
My dad used to have one, he claims to have made a full engine replacement on a lunchbrake, in a parking lot.
You should definitely check out the Citroën DS.
Possibly the strangest mass-produced car ever.
The Citroen badge with the double chevrons represents double helical gear mesh which was patented by citroen before the war. Interesting that Citroen not only produced the most simple car in the world but also some of the most complex like the awesome looking Traction Avant (fwd as of 1934!!), the DS, CX, SM and XM. Check out Hub Nut on RUclips, he's into the quirkiest and most affordable old cars in europe😃
My dad had a Mercedes 207 D when I was a kid. The gear pattern was the same as on this car and it made a lot of sense since 1st was very low and you could easily take off in 2nd when the van was not loaded. That was the vehicle that I learned to drive on, so later when I encountered the "standard pattern" I had to readjust my brain and thought that it was weird
I just sold my 207D a couple of years ago, brilliant machine that just wouldn't die...except on a hill😆 proper drivers vehicle.
@@DomingoDeSantaClara My dad sold ours about 15 years ago, but I remember so vividly just how nice it was. SUPER easy to drive and completely relentless. Also that solid clunk of the closing door cannot be found anywhere today, except on a G Wagon, which costs as much as an apartment. That alone has to mean something
@@gladiusthrax4941 mine was a motorhome so it had a lot of extra weight, I took it down to Spain regularly, it never let me down although it was probably faster to walk over the Pyrenees😄 Rust was the biggest killer but otherwise as you say they were solid!
@@DomingoDeSantaClara Maybe you should have restored it. I would, if I was good at that kind of things. It would be nice to drive on which is in a shape close to brand new
That brings me so much lovely memories 😊
I never had one but that car was part of the landscape, and i travelled in it of course (i just didnt have my own)
This represents an art of life with no hurry and having time to look for the Journey itself, so great times ❤
I had one, back in the UK in the eighties. As you say a fun little car, my kids loved it. One point he didn't mention is ALL the panels bolt on .If you crash one you just unbolt the damaged part and either beat it out or replace it. Also front brake pad replacement, Lift the bonnet, lean in take the pins out ,remove old pads replace with new, close the bonnet. A pair of pliers and 20 minutes.
My grandmother had an old 1930/40s maroon Citroen Avant in Southern Tasmania, it was so unique and comfortable when I was a child but she was tiny too - once you sank into the thick leather seats it was hard to see out! It really looked odd next to the modern sleek cars, but it was a special experience driving with Nana! It was sold to an eccentric local politician when she gave up driving and moved interstate, I believe it still runs! 😁👍
Tasmania must attract old Citroen cars. A test of an originally Victorian registered 1955 model 2CV that is now in Tasmania:
ruclips.net/video/5GSTZceciTo/видео.html
The Hubnut presenter owns his own newer 2CV in Wales and has also tested a Traction Avant but not in Tasmania unlike quite a few Australian cars he covered on his visit to Australia and New Zealand.
@@johnd8892 👍😁
The next combined Citroen Car
Clubs of Australia CITIN gathering will be hosted in Tasmania in Devonport in Late March 2024.
Was that politician Ted Mack of North Sydney. He had a Traction with a ID motor and gearbox plus air-conditioning. I had my 2CV6 Serviced by the same Citroen mechanic John Vanechop who has a large collection of Citroens including an SM, GS Birotor (only RHD one in the world), 2 X Traction Coupes. Many Ds and Tractions outside of Sydney
@@stephenberry8658 YES, he bought it from my Aunt in Northbridge, Sydney! "One little old lady owner"! 😄 I think he may have changed the colour from Maroon! Small world! 👍
I remember as a little kid, my uncle had one of these, and it was definitely the charm of this weird little snailmobile that drew people in. That and the black mustang painted in the cloth cover! Definitely not the most useful car, but a real pleasure to ride in. I don't know why but the Saab 900 always reminded me of this lil thing. It has that similar kind of weird but endearing looks and strange decisions, like the engine installed backwards.
My first car!!!
Secondhand Red 2CV6 Club from 1984!
Done a lot of maintenance on it, fun holidays and Citroën Meetings, including Paris 1998 (Plaque 550 still in my possession) Czech Republic, England and Scotland (2000) and the World Meeting at the Island of Maurik in NL, 3550 equipes!
Fun to drive with the roof open and good at taking a lot of stuff with you.
Have crank started it several times 😉
Sadly had to sell it, lost access to a garage, couldn't maintain it properly and too much rust in the bodywork.
It's still on the road, APK / MOT still valid as I just looked up!
There's a whole culture here in Europe, and some places you can rent them for fun or occasions.
If you get the chance to drive one, just do!!!
And a reminder, the indicator lever dies not spring back in the off position after a turn!
And in Dutch, it's known as a Lelijke Eend! 😉
2 CV = in french, we say : "deux CheVaux" (in english : "two horses"). French nicknames : "deux pattes", "deuche" or "deudeuche".
Most popular cheap little car in the world with WV "coccinelle" (Volkswagen type 1) and Austin "mini".
About ‘front wheel drive’.... it exists from way before WWII.... Citroen introduced the ‘Traction Avant’ (meaning front wheel drive) in 1934... but it realy took of after the Morris Mini(1959) many smaller European cars adopted the idea in the late sixties and early seventies (Fiat 127/128,Simca 1100,Renault 4/5/6,Citroen 2CV,Ami,Dyane,GS,Peugeot 204/304/104)
I love your vid about the 2CV.... but much of it’s geniousity is not in the details.... the chassis,suspension and drive unit is an absolute masterpiece in cheap,durable,leightweight transport;hardly matched by any other design.... definitely worth looking into!!
I recommend you look up the history of Citroën, such an amazing subject. One of Citroën's most innovative cars was the DS from 1955 especially the hydropneumatic suspension, that could be raised and would always keep the car level despite what weight was in the car. The citroen flat twin engine sounds amazing
I'm French. Just a bit of history here, on Citroën and the 2CV :
Citroën focus has always been on tech. Other comments told you about the DS, with its hydraulic suspension and all its elements ahead of its time when it came out in 1955.
The DS was, as well as the 2CV, a front wheel drive car. In fact, Citroën was the first car brand to introduce front wheel drive on production cars, in 1934. At the time, it was a revolution and they were so proud of it it and it was so innovative that the brand did not look any further to find a name for this model, it was the Traction.
The 2CV was the French answer to the post WWII situation in Europe. Every country had a car compagny that handled the problem of mobility and industry during the rebuild of European countries. In Germany, it was VW with the Beetle, in Italy it was Fiat with the 500, in Great Britain it was Austin with the Mini and in France it was Citroën with the 2CV. Other car compagnies, such as BMW, Alfa Romeo, Triumph or Renault would produce more expansive cars, but some compagnies built small, cheap to produce and purchase cars for the majority of the population, and these cars helped putting back Europe on track right after WWII.
French here, it was my first car, and it was marvellous, of course it isn't fast, but there are many cool things, the transmission pattern is very clever because you have first and backward in front of each other so it's really useful when you park. The disc breaks are only on the later version, but the cool thing is that you can change the break pads without removing the wheel (one inconvenience was that the discs are close to the engine so in hot days in mountain where you use the break often, it can overheat and not break very well, but the engine break is really strong due to short box, so you just put the first and stop the car with your feet by the open door). You can start the car with a dead battery with the crank. You can also on sunny days just remove every doors. The suspension and the fact that all wheels are independent (no linkage) make the 2cv pretty dope off-road (with the traction system, no propulsion, it's a Citroën). It was really easy to fix pretty anything with what you have in your pocket. One time I break the park break, and I just fix it with a Allen key and a hose clamp, I never had to fix it again for years. It's the car that motorised the after war France, and it's beloved by every french who had one. There is still many people who keep and take care of them. It's simple and working just fine, and it barely need any fuel to run.
Another fun fact is that the early models had really simple seats. They were basically fabric lawn chairs in the front and a bench seat version of the front seats in the back.
Check two other historical cars made by Citroën : DS ID19, and CX. It might satisfy yours being curious about the brand ;)
As for the 2CV, they raced it hard! Like dirt track racing, and even desert races from France to Africa. One special model was the 4x4, with two engines: one for front wheels, and the other one for the back. The funny thing on that "desert model" was the fact that you could use one engine or both depending on the situation you were facing.
As for the gear stick, the H pattern with first gear down left was very common in race cars, and you can find the same pattern on Ferraris from the 80s. For the reason described in your video: the most commonly used gears say 2nd and 3rd were aligned, which was very convenient while cornering tight.
Have fun discovering all of that!
In Germany, we called the deux cheveaux "duck" at the time because it was so ugly. and the two-tone paint job "Charlston," meaning Charlston duck, based on the style of the 1920s. The duck was so popular that it was even used in a James Bond movie. After that, you could buy a Bond duck with bullet holes painted on the trunk lid.
What about the SM!
Traction avant la C15! SM! HY en taule ondulé! du pur génie Citroën
The 4x4's were called a Mahari, my dad picked up one that had been in a fire and was going to restore it, never found the time, its a way-back memory but I think the body was plastic, pretty odd duck tho, sort of like a poor man's VW thing :)
@@Ogsonofgroo the mehari was the fiberglass body, same engine and chassis than 2cv, not the same body though. Excellent tropical car!
The 4x4 I was refering to was the "Sahara" dual engine version. ;)
I had one for few yrs-great cars...fun & simple to drive/fix. Once broke the drivers seat & drove round on an up-turned plasterer's bucket whilst waiting for new seat!! Drove fine🤣🤣
I've had 8 of these and they are tremendous fun, more fun than my current 1972 Beetle! I was inspired to buy my first after one of my mates came back from a holiday in France and his Opel Manta GT was overtaken by 4 Nuns in a 2CV. My entry drug into these was the Dyane which was basically a hatchback update of the original to compete with the Renault 6, this was an update of the Renault 4 which was introduced to compete with the 2CV. Both originals outlasted their intended replacements. I also drove Mehari's a fibreglass 'Jeep' style body, a 'Mirage' and 'Sidewinder' conversions with Citroen 4 cylinder GS engines installed, real 'Q' cars! There was also a 4x4 version with an extra engine in the rear. Really wish I'd kept my last one instead I traded it in for a Xantia once the kids arrived, safety concerns took precedence over fun!
My parents had 3 2 cv’s. One very old when they bought it. Same basics but there was only a speedometer. After they sold it and bought two new 70’s 2 cv which did look like the one they had in that museum.
You can watch two video’s on Jay Leon’s garage where you can discover two other iconic Citroën cars: the ‘traction avant’ and the DS.
Twenty years ago i owned an ‘83 Dyane, the car that was intended to be the successor of the 2cv but in the end the 2cv (built from 1948 to 1990) survived the Dyane (built from 1967 to 1983). The 2cv had many sisters, based on the same base: Dyane, Ami (a little bit bigger) and the Méhari, a very funny off-road car. There were also vans: 2cv Fourgonette and Acadiane.
Don’t forget the Citroën Visa, it also came with the flat 2 cylinder engine (besides inline 4 gas and diesel engines).
@@thorstenstuker9044 indeed but it was technically based on the Peugeot 104, so not a real member of the 2cv-family.
You could add up the Citroën 3CV and later the AMI6. The engine was from the 2CV, the body looked more like an Anglia Ford with a weird rear windscreen, and the interior was roughly reminiscent of the Citroën DS.
I'm french and proud of it, front wheel drive was created by citroën in 30's with the citroën traction.
My dad got one of these in 1974. It was our daily commuter and it’d take us on our every year vacation trip of 2400 miles to the north of my country (Argentina) for like 20 years. Even a mountain/camping trip along a big stretch of the Route 40, that goes thru the whole lenght of the country. Plus I started lesrning to drive in that car in my teen years. We really loved the dang thing. I’d get one for myself if I could find a good/cheap one no doubt!!
At 17:49 you can see the license plate. FÜ-AN 718. It's an old German license plate from Fürth, Germany. Hearing the sound of the engine, I got goosebumps all over because it's such a calming sound. Imagine when you are at a meeting and there are several hundred cars starting at the same time. 😁
The sticker on the side is from 2cv Worldmeeting , which will be held every 4 years. In 2009 it was in Czech Republic. This year the 24th Worldmeeting is in Switzerland. There is also the ICCCR (International Citroen Car Club Rally). In 2002 the 12th ICCCR was in Massachusetts USA. In 2024 it will be held in Torun Poland. More than tens of thousands of Citroëns from all over the world come to that.
There are a lot of Citroën clubs in Europe, here in the Netherlands there are more than 30.
A good example of the ICCCR is the 15th ICCCR in Harrogate UK in 2012.
ruclips.net/video/kD-TaCfqbbc/видео.html
And then there is also the Annual Citroën Rendezvous at Saratoga Springs NY.
There were 2 of these in my high-school-early uni group of friends. Every weekend we used to go catching waves and hanging out the nights at the near towns. Glorious days.
I'm french and i own a 1960 2cv. It is even simpler than the 2cv in the video, for exemple wipers are manual !! it is a very unique car, and i really love driving it ! We return to the basics, just enjoying a ride the landscape of the French countryside with a beautiful sun and take our time... We have a huge feeling of liberty. And I have my best memories with this car.
In France, 2CV enthusiasts have a catchphrase: "The 2CV... This is not a car, it's a way of life!", and I think that perfectly sums up the personality of this car
Nice, my teacher in french had one which we could lift with 4 students and put it on crates so he couldn't leave the campus. You can race pretty well with these cars. That brings me to an other fun thing we had in the Netherlands. Racing in reverse. Really funny
Instant thumbs up but you should watch the Car Wizard video on the Citroen DS
That is an unique car too. Looked like a future car at the time and was just as intelligently designed.