the Citroen 2CV, introduced at the 1948 Paris Auto Show, and by 1950, the manufacturing was 6 years behind the orders, as the demand was unbelievable. The cost was too, only 200 pounds

Manufactured for about 40 years.

In the 1960s it cost about 1/2 as much as a VW Beetle  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_2CV

thanks Bruce! 

a chocolate Citroen 2 CV, 1200 kg of chocolate and 4000 hours of work from 11 students in "Chocolatier" from the lycée des métiers de l 'et de l' Restauration Sainte-Anne

https://www.facebook.com/groups/yachtclubdesavionsdelaroute/permalink/10156213870084556/

coffee and donuts video of the morning, fixing up a 2CV ( I like to watch a nice quiet documentary about fixing a car)

and it quickly sets me straight that it takes more than disassembly and reassembly with new parts to properly get one back to running right, and reliably.

This restoration was entrusted to the Atelier 2CV of Bareggio, the owner, Guido Wilhelm, has been in a 2CV since he was a boy and knows the model in every detail.

The starting point was not to modify a Citroën 2CV already in order, but to save a car that otherwise would have been scrapped: a 1982 2CV originally registered in the province of Turin.

http://www.autosupermarket.it/magazine/citroen-2cv-soleil
http://www.allaguida.it/articolo/citroen-2cv-soleil-un-sogno-lontano-vede-la-luce/110465/

was the designer of the 2CV inspired by a 3rd century Chinese carved jade horse?

thanks Phil!

the 2CV is literally translated to "deux chevaux" i.e. "deux chevaux-vapeur" = "two steam horses", was conceived by Citroën's Vice-President to help motorize the large number of farmers still using horses and carts in 1930s France.



The 2CV was designed to focus on low cost, simplicity of overall maintenance, an easily serviced air-cooled engine, low fuel consumption, and an extremely long-travel suspension offering a soft ride and light off-road capability.

Often called "an umbrella on wheels", the fixed-profile convertible bodywork featured a full-width, canvas, roll-back sunroof, which accommodated oversized loads and until 1955 reached almost to the car's rear bumper.

A 1953 technical review in Autocar described "the extraordinary ingenuity of this design, which is undoubtedly the most original since the Model T Ford". One design requirement was that the customer be able to drive eggs across a freshly ploughed field without breaking them.

The vice-president of Citroën and chief of engineering and design, sent the brief to his design team at the engineering department that with the TPV (Toute Petite Voiture — "Very Small Car") they were to reduce the weight and weigh every component and then redesign it, to make it lighter while still doing its job.

Michelin (Citroën's main shareholder) and Citroën managers decided to hide the project from the Nazis, and several TPVs were buried at secret locations; one was disguised as a pickup, the others were destroyed.

Until 1994, when three TPVs were discovered in a barn, it was believed that only two prototypes had survived. As of 2003 there were five known TPVs.

The Nazis had attempted to loot Citroën's press tools; this was frustrated after Boulanger got the French Resistance to re-label the rail cars containing them in the Paris marshalling yard. They ended up all over Europe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_2CV

British built 2CV 1955, used by the British Navy for pioneering helicopter carrier amphib ops in the late 1950s and early 1960s, because of the payload limitations of their helicopters

Slough-built pickups such as this were essentially the same as those built in France with the exception of British-supplied Lucas and Butler electrics.

Around 130 pickups were built, with half of these going to military use, the remainder being snapped up by country vets, doctors, midwives, priests, farmers and small businessmen.

This is an incredibly rare 2CV; of the 65 made for civilian use in the UK, only one other is known to survive. For the true Citroen enthusiast this really is the holy grail of 2CV ownership.

https://www.facebook.com/placido911/posts/974114642718149

6 year later update on the Citreon that was cannabilized to make a scooter to get out of the Sahara back in 1993

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/survival-of-innovator-broken-2cv-no.html  for the original story I posted in 2009

His ingenious engineering saw him convert the car's rear bumper into a rudimentary seat, shorten the chassis, and place the engine and gearbox in the middle to create a vehicle which somehow kept going long enough to transport him to safety.

The 43-year-old had been driving his Citroen 2CV across the desert from the Moroccan city of Tan-Tan.

The going was easy and he regularly fell off the seat, which was made from part of the car's rear bumper. After a day of riding Emile was picked up by the Moroccan police who drove him to the nearest village. They also handed him a hefty fine because the registration documents for his car no longer corresponded to what he was driving.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2168061/French-electrician-stranded-Moroccan-desert-rebuilt-wrecked-car-motorbike-drove-civilisation.html

original post http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/survival-of-innovator-broken-2cv-no.html

When you have no truck, but determination to get your motorcycle home after a break down

Found on https://www.facebook.com/danny.vansevern

tearing down a 2 CV in less than 2.1 minutes, and putting it back together in 3

I find this just astonishing that a car can be completely taken apart and put back together in about 6 minutes... can anyone verify that this is a typical build? Nothing trick about the hinges, connections, etc? If they designed this car to be this easy to tear apart then I'm more amazed.

1st 2CV I've seen as a kids pedal car, cute!

Found on https://www.facebook.com/antoine.demetz.3?fref=photo

Citroens can do about anything, even fly around corners

Found on http://vectorville.blogspot.com/

90% new!

how about that! Very cool. (of course, I'm a nut and want one) Have you seen how simple these are and easy to take apart? Photo from http://flaviogomes.warmup.com.br/2014/02/foto-do-dia-377/



a couple months ago I posted that a BMW something was about 95 % available from buying the parts to make it, and some motorcycle dealership proved that some model was 98% available off the shelf

cool shots from Megadeluxe's Pintrest page

all found among hundreds of cool images at http://pinterest.com/megadeluxe/pins/

the 1963 Citreon 2CV of Stephanie Vinatier and Barbara Treuiller

Festival of rolling kitchens in Amsterdam, some of the 70 gourmet food vendors

thanks to Mike V for letting me know, and sending me the link to his Picasa to share with all of you!