| |
|
|
|
| A Legend
is Born |
| |
|
|
| |
| The 2CV is probably the
best known and most instantly recognisable Citroen of all
time. It sold in its millions during its 40+ years of
production, yet many people still think of it as a bit of a
joke, typically driven by teachers and hippies.
In fact the 2CV, for all the jokes, was utterly
revolutionary and fully deserves its status as one of the
most important motoring icons of all time. It's not a
question of "You either love the 2CV or you hate it", but
"You either love the 2CV or you don't understand it" - it
really is as simple as that!
So where did it all begin? |
| |
|
Pre war France was, well
probably a lot more "French" than it is today! It
was also full of farmers - do some things never
change? Joking apart, large rural areas of France
were still relying almost exclusively on horses and
carts for transport, with the motor car out of reach
of all but a very small number of people.
Citroen's Pierre-Jules
Boulanger was very aware of the fact that the
typical French farmer could not afford a car, and
relied on his horse and cart for a range of duties -
from getting his produce to market, to going to
Church on Sunday. So Boulanger issued
instructions - "design me a car to carry two people
and fifty kilos of potatoes at 60km/h, using no more
than three litres of fuel every 100km. It must be
easy to maintain and capable of running on the worst
of roads, able to drive over a ploughed field
carrying a basket of eggs without breaking a single
one, and must be totally comfortable. It’s
price must be less than a third of the 11cv Traction
Avant”. It also needed to accommodate its driver
whilst wearing a hat!
So, the "TPV" (Toute Petite
Voiture - "Very Small Car") project was born but
kept "top secret". Much time was spent on
development. Early prototypes made "heavy use" of
"lightweight alloys" to keep |
 |
|
weight down and therefore
minimise fuel consumption. The chassis was magnesium
and initially a water cooled engine was used. The
seats were hammocks suspended from the roof by
wires. The suspension system was unique, with a
horizontal layout an linking front and rear. By 1939
approximately 250 prototypes had been produced and
the car was being readied for production. |
| |
 |
Then
a little man with a big ego and no care for anyone
else put an end to it all. Hitler thought it might
be a good idea to take over the world and kill
millions in the process. The TPV was far too secret
to allow this little German to get his hands on it,
so most prototypes were dismantled and a handful
hidden away in barns. Some of these were not
re-discovered until the 1990's! After the
liberation of France the TPV project was re-started,
but the war had changed things, not least the price
and availability of materials. The original
prototypes would be too expensive to put into
production.
The car was therefore redesigned with price
dictating use of steel panels and chassis. The
engine was completely redesigned by Becchia -
reportedly taking him only six days to design a
375cc air cooled flat twin engine, perfect in every
way! The body was redesigned by none other
than |
|
the famous Italian designer Bertoni (although the
original prototype could still not be mistaken for
anything other than a 2CV). On the 7th of October
1948 the 2CV was unveiled to the public with over
1,300,000 visitors seeing the new 2CV at the 35th
Paris motor show. Initial press reports ridiculed
the new vehicle, but a six-year waiting list
quickly developed, with doctors’, teachers’ and
farmers’ orders given priority, and confirmed orders
started to sell at a premium. The first cars were
delivered to customers in 1949.
To read a brief history of the 2CV production run
1949 - 1990, click
HERE. |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
