Big American Tries to Sit in a Small European Car🤣😅 (Citroen 2CV)
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- Опубликовано: 27 фев 2023
- Lane Museum in Nashville, Tennessee
1964 Citroen 2CV
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Think the 2CV was designed with very soft suspension so producers could get their eggs to market (over rough fields and roads) without breaking them. Apparently the suspension was simple, but ahead of it's time.
Citroen have produced wonderfully innovative cars from the post war Traction Avant right up until they were taken over by the conservative Peugeot Group. The 2CV was a brilliant solution to the original brief of a peoples car for France for minimum cost. Today, the 2CV is both hated and loved in equal measure. Its crash protection is dire and no sane parent would sanction its use on a daily basis. Its interesting though that they enjoy a magnificent reputation for fun motorsport.
It has a lot of travel and is very soft. when you take the car around tight turns, you can see, how much the wheels can drop down ^^
@@0megaming The soft suspension was a design solution to the brief that it had to be able to traverse a ploughed field (without breaking a basket of eggs) and to be cheap to buy and maintain for rural France. It was designed as a rural workhorse to support the typical French small holder farmers, allowing them to load up the rear with a bale of hay or a pig!. Irrespective of the soft suspension the car had good road holding so that it could be driven with a brick or a farmer's size 47 (UK12, US12.5) planted to the floorboards. Go watch any 2CV racing to see what its possible of.
@@clivewilliams3661 I know. And the slim tires actually help too, to find grip in loose ground like that.
Thanks to this suspension, the offroad capacities of the 2CV are remarkable. As a general rule, if you can drive a ath with a 4x4 Jeep, you will also be able to drive there with your 2CV. Maybe not at the same speed or with the same load - but if the Jeep doesn't get stuck, neither will the 2CV.
I had several 2CVs, but I as a slim European man fit in it wonderfully. Generally, I don't like it when people from foreign countries make fun of our 2CV, because they don't understand the car and its history and how it fits into the French landscape. The man in the example was impressed, after all.
That's a 60 years old car designed almost 80 years ago. Just stating that, we need to look at it with a different look. Et puis, quand cette voiture est conduite par une bonne soeur, Louis de Funes peut confirmer que c'est la voiture la plus rapide du monde 😉🤣
The name is basically "2 Cylinder Vehicle" = 2CV. The lever with the white ring cap is the Park brake. Yes, The plain black handled lever higher on the dash is the gear shifter for a "Dog Leg" layout. 1st is all the way to the left then Backwards, 2nd is where 1st would be on most modern cars then straight back for 3rd. These little cars were designed as a simple little workhorse that you could thrash and bash about in as a cheap little car. Despite there size they are surprisingly comfortable to use for distance driving.
The suspension was weird in that it was a pair of self contained suspension units mounted on the frame parallel to the sills. Each one provided suspension for the front AND rear wheel at the same time. One 'dual' unit on each side. A really interesting little 'post war' car to learn about. Every 2CV had a canvas roof from factory as it was cheaper than fitting a solid metal roof. Built from 1949 (375cc 8hp) until 1990 (602cc 30hp).
If you want a real laugh, check out the Peel P50. The smallest UK production car. A single seater tiny thing.
yeah that black knob is the gear shift sticks out of dashboard😅
My father had several 2CV Citroëns.
The most special one he had was the 2CV Sahara with 2 engines, one in the front (for the front wheels) and one in the back (for the rear wheels) so you have a 4x4 for the desert. It also has 2 petrol tanks under both front seats, a tank for its own engine.
The spare wheel is on the hood because there is no room in the trunk.
The gear lever is the black ball in the video next to the steering wheel, it only moves forward and backward and the black ball moves left or right to find the right gear.
In the Netherlands, the 2CV was also called "duck" or "Ugly Duck".
wow, the Sahara us really special. Less than 700 were built. If you were to sell one today, you may well fetch in excess of 70,000 Euros.
The same in Germany: "Ente"
2cv Sahara this is one of the rarest models , i'am french and never see one in my life
@@Spip-yt6dx no surprise it was so rare. Car was ridiculously expensive and at the same time impractical (no trunk as the space was used up for the 2nd engine; also basically the double fuel consumption when you drove in 4 wheel mode).
It is an absolute technological oddity, though. Even had 2 seaparate ignition keys, one for each engine.
Yes. We call this car a “Eend” in the Netherlands. It means duck
The cross country capabilities of the 2CV are legendary, I remember a report of an classic car rally , one of the stages was through Dakar, through the rock desert , apparently for the 2CV driver it was so fun that he did it twice.
My cousin went from France to Portugal and back twice a year for over 10 years in one of those. That little car was a beast!
The last units were put together in Portugal, Mangualde plant.
@@jmbpinto73 Sério? Não tinha ideia disso 😃
❤Portugal❤
@@bastet197 nen tu nem eu.
Oh, look at all the nice Tatras in the background...
first black stick you grabbed.. you slide it back and forward and rotate left or right.. the last one you touched, is handbrake..to unlock, pull a bit and rotate and push down..
My driving teacher always told a story that he once passed and left behind a Porsche on the Autobahn with his 2CV - in heavy rain! Because while the Porsche had to temper his horses to avoid sliding off the road, the 2CV could go full throttle since there's no aquaplaning with wheels that look like cut-off discs... 😂
In Germany the 2CV is called "Ente" (Duck)...my dad had one and a DS...with the 2CV we had a lot of fun drivin on 2 wheels through curves...🤣
Oh yeah, the 2CV. Unfortunately there were no windowpanes. You would love them. To open you just flick them up. This was in my early youth the second most sold car (after the beetle) in Europe.
This car is excellent for moving houses. One can even transport a three seater sofa by removing the car seats and opening the roof.
The "Ente" (Duck) with Krückstockschaltung (gearbox) 😀 The transmission is right from the steering wheel (speedometer). It looks like a walking stick. (with the black ball on the stick)
It's the thing in the dash. The manual transmission.
that 2CV has a Dutch plate!😂
Dutch people seem to love old school Citroens, it's not that rare to see old DS and CXs and so on there.
🤣
The plate is dutch and bild bj 1982
Lol ik zag het ook
Citroën’s grand father is dutch, and took the name Citroën from is job selling lemon. This connection makes that dutch are big fan of Citroën.
And it's a 2CV 'Club' - the luxurious version 😂
The design brief for the 2CV stated that a farmer had to be able to carry out simple repairs in the field using basic tools.
Fun fact, if you want to remove the doors you just slide them up. The same with the bonnet and boot (hood and trunk).
A single guy can replace the engine without mechanical lifting devices (not that heavy) the engine is a tiny flat twin like half a beetle engine driving the front wheels. It’s air cooled.
Simple cars to work on.
You could also take the seats out for a picnic.
i still love the fact the 2cv is called "ente" in germany wich translates to "duck". idk the reason for it i just call it like that ever since my family had one when i was a kid
Same in Dutch "Eend" or "Lelijk eendje" ugly duckling
if i am correct in england it was called ducky or duckling
@@eve-llblyat2576 thoght it was the tin snail.
In the Netherlands it is/was called "(Lelijke) eend(je)" which translates to " (ugly) duck(ling)"
Yes, _I fly Bleifrei_ ;-)
Elle vous va comme un gant.... 🤔 😁👌
This car was really popular with students back in the day...👍
My parents took me to France on occasional holidays from 1959 onwards, and I remember there being many of these there. They can be called "deux-chevaux" (two horses) (pronounced der-shuh-voh), which is where the abbreviation comes from. My mother thought they looked like coal-scuttles.
You must remember that many French roads at that time were cobbled, and these were designed for this. (This was even true in the North of England, and, remember, there was still bomb damage from the Second World War. My grandmother was going with my mother through, I think, Leeds, just after the War, and said to her, "Eileen, I've just seen daylight under all four wheels of the car in front!".)
In Spain was called "dos caballos" (two horses). It was my father firts car (later 60's).
What a nice car with Dutch number plates 😄 These plates and other specs of the car tell me this car is from 1981 or 1982, not 1964. Looking forward to see you driving one 👍
I agree, the 2CV6 Club model didn't exist in 1964.
Correct 👍
Er zijn geen gegevens gevonden voor het ingevulde kenteken HK-15-PK. = No data was found for the completed registration number HK-15-PK.
@@97bowie97 are licenceplates not erased from the system once the car is taken off the road? Also i think this is a pre-computer age plate, so they may have it on file in some old paper. I dont know i'm not sure how that works. Enlighten me if you know. ✌️❤️
@@97bowie97 Het kenteken bestaat uiteraard niet meer volgens de RDW, maar de HK-serie is eind 1981 uitgegeven, kun je gewoon terugvinden.
Yes, the gear shifter is the big knob in the dashboard. And you were lucky that they took the windows out, that helped a bit getting in.
The 2CV was basically the french beetle. It was designed after WW2 to be cheap and easy to produce, affordable for many people but yet practical in use. The first ones only had 1 headlight, 3 bolts on each wheel ect., everthing they could do to cut cost. The engine was kind of a BMW flat 2 cylinder motorbike engine design with 500cc. Easy to maintain and low on fuel consumption.
If you really want to know what a small car feels like, try a Fiat 500 from the post war era. That was the italian version of the beetle and the 2CV. Just about half the size... :)
Just make sure the folding sun roof is open - you gonna need it.
Actually it isn't only the very first 2CVs that have 3 bolts in the weel. All of them have that, down to the very last one that was produced in 1991.
And yes, Fiat 500 and Nuova 500 are FAR smaller than the 2 CV.
I once saw a Nuova 500 parked next to a 2CV, and next to that was a VW Beetle. Pity I didn't have a camera with me. At any rate, the 2CV looked big next to the 500. And the Beetle looked HUGE.
Yeah, for me rhe Fiat 500 is a one seater. But it's so cool! I'm currently looking for a good one, but I want an Abarth...;)
@@stuborn-complaining-german Or buy a normal 500 and then get a Abarth wiper shield and the different lock for the rear flap - the rest nobody will notice anyway. :)
@@petebeatminister For me it's the inner values that are more relevant than the looks. The exterior will be completely overhauled anyways, but getting that engine, exhaust, aso. is way more difficult...
Cool thing about these is how much they roll in corners, coupled with the fact the handbrake was a disk mounted to the drive shaft, if you pulled the handbrake whilst wallowing in a corner you could stop the car and get out with it leaning at comedic angles
I had one in ’mellow yellow’ and I loved it. The cheapest convertible and airco ever😆. It has a Dutch plate btw. Shifter is on the dashboard.
My best memories with a 2CV are back in high school times at the early 80s: we had a teacher, a very pretty, relatively young lady, we all all loved her and she lived in the same village I and some of my friends were living and she gave us pretty often a ride home - so we were up to 4 hormone bursting teenagers with this lovely lady and she drove this thing like hell, she had one with the hinged windows and in summer they were not locked and flapping open and closed in every corner through which she raced... 🥰🥰🤩
My first car in the 80s.. lots of fun.. although I had to use the crank from time to time to start the engine.
My dad had a friend who was 6.2 ft tall and had a Fiat 600. Every time he struggled to get into his tiny car we joked that he was "wearing" the car.
It's a really clever car with an extremely clever suspension. It can be this comfortable because the front wheel being pushed up pushes the rear wheel down keeping the car level. Due trough how the front and rear suspension are connected this works perfectly at 62 km/h for a Dutch speed bump. Go a bit slower and you're going too fast for the speedbump.
It's a lovely car to drive, it was actually the first car I drove. It keeps you very much involved and you have to work to get any speed out of it, but any speed feels speedy in this car. It rolls a lot in the corners but it won't roll over or be otherwise unpredictable, only in reverse you can roll it. You can get a lot of stuff in it with the roof open, and you can take 3 tall friends and one person you don't like. You can fit that one in the middle of the rear seat and hit a bump.
this is a later 2cv where the interconnection was disconnected. Certainly in 1964 they were interconnected but this is a 'funny money' 2cv exported to USA where it took on a false identity to get around their rules.
My grandmother had a beloved Citroen for many years, but she was only 5'!! 😁
In bloody good condition it is. 👍🤠
I love the “Duck”, the “Two Horses ” the “Holy Car” who is going on its knees at every cross(ing)…
Hey, this is a thing for you as an American... The shifter is near under the dashboard and we European called it "Revolverschaltung" means revolver shifting
Here in Germany one of our teachers in the 80's had a 2CV for ages. It was however eventually replaced by a Fiat Uno which was of course lightyears ahead in terms of technology, refinement and economy.
A friend had it's competitor, the Renault R4 (1961 - 1994), for a short while. This was a spiritual successor and competitor to the Citroen 2CV, being more modern (4 door hatchback design), more powerful and capable of comfortable motorway travel.
It had a dash-mounted pistol-grip type manual gearchange and served a long time as entry-level french motoring.
He soon replaced it with an actual 80's era car 😉
The 2CV is a brilliant example for how customer requirements can be fulfilled. These requirements were to build a car that could carry four people and 50 kg of goods at 50 km/h (30 mph). It was also reqired to handle unpaved roads and that even eggs should be carried without breaking.
Finally, a very low "total cost of ownership" was required, long before anybody used that expression.
I would say, the 2CV satisfies these requirements pretty well.
You still find good exaples of cars, that fulfill those basic customers needs. They just don't become very famous, many are not even build for the European or US market.
i'm french and this car is the coolest driving car in the world because when yopu drive it you can put your arm on the windowsill and if the weather isn't very good you can keep the bottom half of the window on your arm to protect it from rain.
In the old 2cv the wipers get faster when the car get faster so to improve their efficiency you have to drive faster (don't be affraid this car only can reach 50mph).
My father (who formerly had 2 2cv) love to say :"don't forget to check your coolant level" because the engine is aircooled...so there's no coolant...that's the joke.
One of my former colleague had about 6 2 cv in a barn and one of his uncle was really upseted when he discovered the price of a 2 cv "sahara" (with 2 engines) was over 100k € because he sold his one less than 10k (it's a really rare model with 1 engine in the front and another one in the back so twice the poweer and 4 wheel drive)
I'm 6'4" and there's a lot of room in this car compared to the british equivalent (the mini)
this car is the most amazing car ever made. Even my mother can fix it (and she did it in the middle of nowhere during the 70's while her 2cv was broken down she found a party where they gave her a screewdriver because she knew what the problem was and she knewn she could fix her car with only a single screewdriver, people at the party bet she wasn't able to repair her car with the help of a screewdriver but she did and they give her the screedriver...and she still have this screewdriver).
In France people transform these cars into limos, planes, boats (i saw a 2cv with the front grill from a Rolls Royce) etc...for frenches this is not a car this is as important as the baguette or as the Eiffel tower.
This car IS France
I had one of these back in the 1990s. It was so much fun. My kids refused to ride in it in case their friends saw them 🤪
The shifter is the 'anyone know what this would be for' with the round handle.
The shifter is that brilliant ball at the dash, left push inside is reverse, left pull outside is 1st gear, center inside 2nd, center outside 3rd and right inside 4th
In the early seventies I did the customs clearance of foreign parcels that had arrived a Brussels South Station and then regulary delivered them myself in the city center with a Citroen 2CV "van" version that I had from the company I worked for. You can find a photo of this "van"
version if you search Citroen 2CV CAMIONETTE. The gears worked by pushing the lever forward or backwards as someone explained below.
There was already a very modern version of air conditioning on this car ( ha ha ha ). Outside under the windscreen was an iron plate that you
could open by turning a knob. Underneath was a fly screen. When driving with the open plate you got the air from outside on you. When it started to rain you had to quickly close this plate because otherwise would get completly wet inside.
One of the most famous features is that the crank for the fitted car jack can double as a starting crank for the motor. Oh and you can remove the back seats easily so a farmer could fit a bale of hay in the back. The saying was that you could drive it on the farm in the week, then drive it to church on Sunday.
The gearshift was the small ball-topped black lever to the top right of the freeze frame. The majority of European cars are manual. Autos are only really popular in luxury sedans and for disabled drivers here!
My mom had one back in the 80's when I was a teen. I just pottered over the fields a little and never drove it on the road. Here in Germany it was hugely poupular among students and other folks who didn't have much money to spend and generally called "Ente" ("duck") for the chatter of the engine sound. However, the rusted through rather quickly, so in the 90's they were scrapped in droves and you could pick up a dozen ducks in need for some welding for a fiver. Now you can spot the occasional specimen which is usually restored and kept spotless.
I really enjoy the minimalism of European post-WW II cars. There was a real need to be clever and unorthodox when resources are limited to non-existent. Check out the BMW Isetta or Messerschmitt Kabinenroller for example.
Btw. this car is front-wheel driven. Citroen was pioneering front-wheel drive in the 30's with their "Traction Avant" (in Germany often called "Gangster-Citroen"; apparently a popular get-away-car). Back to the 2CV: since front- and rear-axles shared many parts, it was easy enough to produce a 4 wheel drive "Safari" version, which had a second complete engine and gearbox in the trunk.
Yup the shifter is the black ball sticking out the dash
When my uncle visited us back in 1979 we had a Dyane (the squarer, hatchback version of the 2cv). He laughed at it at first thinking he'll never fit in it, then absolutely loved driving it considering he was used to driving pick-up trucks and a Lincoln Town Car.
The first big car I bought was a Citroen CX25 GTi Turbo 2 which is as far removed from a 2cv as you could get - I also had a D Special (ID19B) which was a lovely car to drive and soaked up all the bumps on the road without a problem.
The gear shift pattern on 2cv/Dyane/Ami/Mehari/Bijou/etc. (and also Traction Avants) is the other way round compared to most manuals as it's R-2-4 on the top (push forwards) and 1-3 on the bottom (pull back) - neutral is the knurled mark on the gearstick.
It may be slow and underpowered but has one of the best suspensions ever created. 🤗
If you really want one, it is cheaper to import them because scalpers charge nearly 20 grand for a decent example on American shores.
My wife and I have 2 of them. We use them as daily driver. Fantastic car. If you're in the Netherlands you're welcome to take a spin!
For an American, accustomed to the spaciousness of his cars… the 2CV must be really fun
The shifter basically comes out of the dashboard towards you (in the middle, the black ball thing). My mom had one when we were kids. Loved that thing. (Mom loved it and hated it at the same time.)
I spent much of the 1960s and 70s on the French autoroutes due to my Father being a complete Francophile and having a small farm there. The 2CVs with their tiny engines but clever gearing would pant up the hills in the slow lane then overtake you wildly on the way down - their hinged windows floating in the wind. Utterly mad - and effective.
The road to the farm house was steep rutted and really difficult. The only car that could get there in all weathers was the post van - a 2CV Fourgonette - the one like corrugated iron. The large thin tyres and high suspension cut through any amount of mud. No Range Rover needed
True fact:
The Chrysler company in the USA was so intrigued by the 2CV design that they tried to have a designerteam redesign a vehicle of similar weight (some 600kg!!) and dimension,even with help of computers they couldn’t do it.....
In the end they purchased a 2CV in France and had it sent to the USA in order to take it apart to solve the mystery..... this was in the 90’s..... over 30 years after the production of the 2CV started!!!
For anyone with technical interest:there are several books written about this amazing design;it’s geniosity is unmatched to this day....
The license plates are from the Netherlands
the shifter is the one with the ball, the other one with the button is the parking break
the red button is the starter, that tweaks the carburettor setting
“How ya goin’”? Sounded VERY natural
In the Netherlands we used to call these Citroen cars 'Lelijk Eendje' back in the day, which means 'Ugly Duck'. Once in while you'll see them on the roads, often driven by a car collector.
That's basicaly a french postwar simplified jeep for farmers, until it became a legend built until the 90 with dozens of variants.
French manuals are pretty simple: For making the carriage walking at the first speed, take back the drag of the wheel backward crowbar of the right completely and progressively, while you hurl the mover till his starting. For taking the second speed, push rapidly at the crowbar forward without brutality and engage all its strength.
For stopping, though, you're on your own.
🤣
I'm pretty sure standing up and spreading your arms like some sort of air brake is the correct procedure for stopping.
😂🎉
@@laupstad this is a car built by aeronautical and race car engineers the brakes are inboard to reduce unsprung weight, the suspension system is designed to keep the maximum of tyre tread on the road. all in all its a car designed for the purpose of transporting people and things cheaply and in the maximum comfort. its a magnificent study in minimalism using design and engineering. it is fantastic evidence of the capabilities of french car design with italian help (styled by Bertone and engine and gearbox designed by walter becchia). altogther a master piece of european co-operation.
El Patito Feo 😍(2cv) how many memories
I know you can drive a manual but I dare you figure out how to operate this one even after being told which lever is the shifter tbh.
Very envious of you visit though. Lane is an incredibly diverse collection/interactive museum and I have only had the pleasure of seeing it online.
I got super distracted by the 300ZX pacecar in the background lol
A friend of my father's had still a 2CV at the beginning of the 2000s, affectionately called a "duck" in Germany. He asked me once if I wanted to go for a ride, I was 16 years old. I didn't had a driver's license back then, the earliest you can get one here is 17. So I sat in the passenger seat and we drove along a particularly winding road and I almost got seasick, but never had so much fear and fun at the same time in my life. Awesome car! Has only one enemy: Poor sheet metal quality and rust, so needs a lot of love, but then the car is indestructible!
These Citroens are amazing. They were in production from 1948 to 1990.
I love that car! Especially the colour. It looks really neat!
That was actually the shifter. You touched it! 😂 Nice vid, we can actually feel your pleasure 😍
the suspension of this car was legendary its nearly impossible to turn that over cause it has such a long suspension hahaha, i remember driven some of them froem friends and they barely needed gasoline at all and had the speedgaining of a wandering dune and if you were about to go for a longer trip you better took a picknick basket cause it was hard to reach 100km/h but fun to fdrive specially with the roof, but the worsed part of it it had the shock absorbance of paper when in a crash... but they were fun i think there were some of the early 50ies which only had 24 horsepowers and just needed 3 liters of gasoline at 100 km. but its to the french what the beetle is for us here
Actually, the 2CV6 isn't particularly energy efficient considering its engine power. Mine used between 6 and 7 litres / 100 km. (33-40 mpg). That's OK, but less than impressive. The problem is that when driving on normal roads, you basically always need to drive pedal on the metal if you want to avoid being a hindrance in traffic all the time.
The earlier, even weaker 2CV4 engines are more fuel efficient - but obviously even slower.
@@arthur_p_dent hoi arthur and yes i may belive that if you try to drive fast the 2cv will need more gasoline but i somehow doubt that you got one of the early models which had the low power engine, as they later added a few horsepowers more and that added fuel consume... but like with the beagles most of the time quiet a high procentage of the gas consume was a result of poor maintenance as both the beagle and the 2cv were running for ages even the engine wasnt serviced at all. i do remember the first car i ever bought well, it was a 1303 beagle with 44 horsepowers and it needed 14!!!!! liters on 100 km when i got it than after giving the engine a service including new sparkplugs cables and sparkbox the need for gas went down to 5-7 liters.and yes i know that you could drive a 2cv with 3 liters cause a dear friend of mine still has one build back in 1952 which has i think 16 or 18 horsepowers. ok you cant hit the 100 km/h with it at all i think the max speed is 90 km or so but it still today needs between 3 and 4 liters
@@bendjohans3863 no, I had one with 28 hp. Still required pedal to the metal most of the time outside of built-up areas. Took forever to get to 100 km/h. And yes, of course more power = more fuel consumption and the _early_ 2CVs were much more effiecient than the later ones.
@@arthur_p_dent well at least yours reached a 100 km /h i will never forget we once drove to a 2cv meeting in strassbourg and that were about 350km so we needed nearly 6 hours and a huge picknik basket but it was a fun ride
Citroen is a very special marque in the motoring world, unfortunately it's historic contributions are often overlooked or forgotten as their main focus is always middle of the road small to medium sized cars. To those who enjoy quirky design, Citroen has always been ahead of the crowd, often to their detriment, but never for those who appreciate the unusual & futuristic. Citroen is probably most famous for it's hydropneumatic suspension (not air), first available to buy on it's super futuristic DS in 1955. It was so impressive that Rolls Royce licensed the design & to this day the fluid for the system will often say on the bottle 'for Citroen & Rolls Royce' ;-). They have made some amazing executive cars over the years, in order they are the DS, SM, CX, XM & C6. Sadly for now at least, the C6 was the last of the hydropneumatic models & was truly incredible to drive, I describe it as a tank crossed with a hovercraft, it was rather beautiful with sweeping lines & quirky detailing, arguably Citroens best overall luxury car. Where they have often gone wrong over the years, damaging their reputation with many drivers, is by using sub-par materials, implementing poor electrics & overall being somewhat unreliable with low resale values. However, if you can find a well looked after classic, with everything fixed & with nothing left to do, you'll be in for a treat & with many admiring looks from other drivers. My 1987 CX Safari is a cracker, when all is going well ;-).
Very true. But since they were ahead of their time, a lot of teething problems damaged their image from time to time. The hydropneumatic suspension was the example for later hydropneumatic sysems in luxury cars that we still drive today.
La première voiture à suspension hydropneumatique est la traction avant de Citroën. Elle été installée sur les DS ou ID juste après. Charles DeGaulle ne jurait que par la DS, d’ailleur, elle lui a sauvé la vie ainsi qu’a son épouse lors de l’attentat du Petit Clamart sans oublier la dextérité de son chauffeur. On peut faire rouler une DS sur trois roues en mettant la suspension en position haute.
Citroen 2CV, was maybe the best car ever build. As a fieldtechnichican by the Belgian Nationale Telecom (RTT - Belgacom - Proximus) my service car was a 2CV for many years.
The 2CV is really a very special car, with a incredibly suspension. It is difficult to explain, but once you have had a ride with this car you wil be wondered.
And the strange shift patter is wel designed. The idea behind is really inventive. Backwards and 1st gear in one line, easy by parking the car. Forward and backwart in one movement. Second and third gear also in one line, ideal for normal driving under most conditions.
The fourth gear beside in another line was for driving on greater trips (like highway etc) where you don't need to shift many times.
PS it's also know as The Ugly Eend, when you drive it, it almost waddles like a duck but super comfy!
black round ball was the gear lever- push me / pull you gear system :) Hockey stick was handbrake x
There's an episode of Top Gear where Clarkson goes racing in one, he spends most of the lap laughing his head off
If you want to put a smile on your face you need to check out 2CVs being raced and rallyed.
The gear shifter does indeed come out of the dash.
It was the Rod with the shiny black ball on it.
You can see it on the right of the screen when you froze the video.
It’s an unusual gear pattern.
If memory serves me correctly, you pull the lever towards the driver and pull back for first, over to the right and forward for second, straight back for third and push to the right and forward into forth.
Reverse is toward the driver and forward ( marked as AR on the gear selector diagram).
😂It has a dutch licenseplate and the black knott is gear, the Red is the Choke to start and the handle is the hand brake
The lever protruding from the dash is indeed the gear shifter, twist left and pull out to engage first
With so many comments it's probably been mentioned, but that foreign plate is a Dutch plate.
My father had multiple of these before I was born. He bought them new, but they were pretty much disposable. Honestly, they were very well engineered (in the 1930's) for the French countryside or even Belgian motorways (haha). But they were still being made in the second half of the '80's. In a time when there were so many better small cars on the market. Like the Peugeot 205, the Citroën Visa, the Toyota Starlet, the Ford Fiesta, the Fiat Panda, and the VW Polo. By those standards, the 2CV was a horrible antique death trap.
This car was developed for the rural France. The aim was to be able to drive approximately 50 km’s/hrs over rural roads (potholes) with a basket eggs not cracked. It has to be payable for the really poor rural. If you are not in a hurry, don’t need a lot of luxurious things and don’t mind a bit of noise, they are marvelous. We owned the luxurious version ( Diane6) 600cc and it was great in simplicity.
My grandparents owned an ugly duckling and a peugeot 404. First time i sat in one of these i was sure it would tip over in the corners coz of it leaned so much with that soft suspension. Over the years i've grown to respect them so much more, they can take some serious abuse. The 2 CV and the peugeot 404 are french post war icons. They helped rebuild france, and were very popular cars in african nations because, well France's influence ofcourse, but mainly because they could take a beating ,were easy to work on and could cross any terrain. ✌️❤️
2:40
The upper lever where you went "what is this for" is the shifter.
No 0-60 mph time ever recorded, 44 s on the quarter mile. But the most fun on a dirt road you can think of. Love them😊
When I was a little kid I drove one time in the backseat of the "Ente" (Duck). The father of my best friend in primary school had this model, but I think with a little bit more horsepower (between 30 and 40?!?). However, this car is famous for his speed around the corner. You can do whatever you want, it won´t fell over. Riding in the backseat felt like in a rollercoaster.
Btw, you can see this model still driving on the streets in Europe. I have seen one a few days ago.
I've travelled in a friends 2CV, the front passenger space reminds me of a Cessna 152.
Great little car.
The gear shifter is indeed "that thing coming out from the dashboard". There's a very good video, made by an American, explaining every quirk of that car, including the shifter. The name of the video is:
The Citroen 2CV Looks Like A Snail & Drives Like A Water Bed But Here’s Why It’s Awesome
by TFLclassics
Jump to 9:00 on that video for the shifter.
link ruclips.net/video/QfjQw7rBgsw/видео.html
in germany they are called duck (Ente)🙃🙂
Yes. The gear shifter is the black lever with the ball on top. And the handbrake is the lever with the white button. Notice the position of the first gear. The 2CV was designed to be very affordable. The first prototype was built before WW2 in the early 30’s. Production was cancelled by the war. It was built until the early 80’s’ the 2CV6 being the most powerfull and « modern » one. Something like 28 hp. That’s not a lot, but the car is very light. It can drive at 125kph (80 mph) and has disk brakes on the front wheels. They are pretty rare nowadays in France but German and Dutch love them. I think the plates on the car are from the Netherlands. There was even a 4x4 version with 2 engines. One on the front, one on the rear.
@@justhouz I'd never heard of a 4x4 2CV, with two engines! Sounds fun.
Very rare here in Portugal too, nowadays, but you may still see one on the road, ever so often.
@@jeanackle It's the 2CV Sahara. It's pretty rare. Look at this video. It's in french but you'll see what it looks like and how it runs. ruclips.net/video/jKP9My_0NxE/видео.html
Those Tatras though!
Renault sold way way more R4s than Citroën did with their 2CV though
Lol, brilliant. Well done Ian, you wore that car haha.
Originally used for carrying fresh eggs across French farms, well according to Jeremy Clarkson on top gear anyways.
not sure if anyone told, but in Germany they are known as "Ente/ Duck", there´s a big fan base
That black lever is your gear shifter its simple but it was made for farmers so they would have something to take their family to town kinda like the international scout or the Australian UTEs
Car from France, in Nashville, with Dutch number plates 🤣
The thing that Americans really need to understand is that first 2CV's where designed around steel, rubber, oil, coal and even decent paved road shortages, that's why you've got that extremely barebone, softly sprung, simplistic design, like the air cooled flat twin engine, the single vent above the dashboard that directly open to the front of the car or the fabric roof. Early 2CV's even had a fabric trunk lid and the "heater" was just something that would radiate heat from the exhaust pipe to the cabin, just because it was simpler, cheaper and allowed for a more reliable and economical design at a time where France had to rebuild itself after the war.
My uncle used to have one and both my uncle and dad were broad shouldered, muscular men and they couldn't sit and the front seat together and close the doors.
The top speed was also pretty low. On the Belgium motorways you are allowed to do to 120 km/h (75 mph) but the Citroën 2CV barely made it to 100 (62 mph). Above 80 km/h (50 mph) it was a very bumpy uncomfortable ride.
In French they call them a "Deux Chevaux", which means "Two Horses"... because that they only had 2 fiscal horsepower. That motor was also very loud and because the windows weren't roll down but flipped up it so it wasn't 100% air tight it was a very noise ride too.
But they were so much fun too see on the road!
That car is so cute! It reminds me of the modern 'smart' cars. Very compact! Thank you for the video!
Those cars were the backbone of the rebuilding of France after WW2, they were cheap to build and maintain and were built to drive through a field with a basket full of eggs on the passenger seat and the eggs should not be broken, it was literally in the Citroën's specifications. The gear lever is where wipers would be now btw ;) Cheers from Provence :)
And I believe they made the prototypes of the car, before the war. And kept them i hiding during the war.
@@E_Dtl It might be, I'm not a Citroën's expert :)
@@E_Dtl in fact the story is insane.
they did hide it. Citroen R&D went to work on the 2cv as a military car but when the German were 10km away they called the local military leader to ask for divisions to fight to gain time to destroy documents, prototype, technologies etc..
The french army being outflank with speed the division defending Citroen h.q. fought until the last man to buy time for everyone working to hide and destroy everything.
3 engineers and 10 workers went to burn 3 2cv prototypes and the last one they took it part by part and hide it in the wall, in the roof, in the garden of the factory just before the German went to occupy the company.
Louis Renault has kind the same story with the Renault 4cv
@@E_Dtl yes, about 250 prototypes were hidden sometimes in pieces all over the country, to avoid the war oponents to find them.
I can confirm the Dutch license plate on it is from around 1981. The model also looks from around that time. The model plates on the back are also more modern than 1964 and confirm it's a 600cc model, not a 425. What probably happened is that the exhibition plaque was just copied from when they (or another museum) had an older 2CV.
I still want one off these a friend hade one way back in 70' i hade mini .... 2cv realy fantastic
According to the Dutch license plate and the big dashboard, the car is not from 1964, but from 1981. And yes, the shifter is that thing in the dashboard. Very handy, close to the steering wheel.
Yeah, the grille looks too modern.
And thanks to a video I watched some time ago, I know those round headlights at the time were offered for the retro look.
Rear lights look way too modern for 1964 or even the 1970s too.
You are Wright its a Dutch number plate
It's defenitely from the 80’s. A lot of differences compared to 60's models. The shifter is a sort of a push/pull/twist kinda thing. 🙂
You are right... It's an 80's car, and that is in line with the 80's Dutch license plate..
And such a shifter was back in the days used in many other cars like the Renault 4.
Too much sausage rolls Ian 😀😂🤣
The first blue Cit' was called the Mountain Goat as it would go anywhere lol..
I never drove it in the mountains but according to a friend it was excellent because of it's weight. His girlfriend was tiny and it would be different with four big guys I assume, but he had vacation luggage too.
The only car with more doors than horsepower😅
Lol not entirely true it has like 15hp, the name is just how the insurance HP rating works.
@@bluej511 yeah I know. I just like doing the gag.
In Germany we gave the 2CV the nickname "the Duck".
in Austria as well
@@tristanvoltaire2058 as kid my sister and I played a game when we were driving with our parents.. For every green Ente first spotted you were allowed to pinch your sibling. 3 pinches for a red 2CV.
@@kevinblankenburg4816 well, my mother with her brother as well. Not too long ago I saw one of them in green and in not a good shape.
The machine was indestructable and unless there was no force from outside , the whole car was