There is a special James Bond 007 version. It is a 2CV6. Citroen provided four 2CVs for the movie.
BHPian Jeroen recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
I am not sure if the Citroen 2CV was ever sold in India. I doubt it somehow, as this was one of the early cheap cars for the masses in Western Europe.
However, most petrolheads would be familiar with this little iconic car. To date, it still has a substantial hard core of devotees. It is also a car that brings a smile to people’s faces. It is the least macho-threatening car on the road. Many Western folks of my age will have owned one or at least driven one. It has featured in many movies, the most prominent being the James Bond movie “For Your Eyes Only.”
If you haven’t seen that movie, have at least a look at the 2CV chase scene! It shows the 2CV’s incredible corner handling.
The 2CV used in the movie is a 2CV6 but with the engine of a Citroen GS. These cars were not known for being fast. More about this and the 007 version later.
Some information on the 2CV, stolen from various internet sources:
The Citroën 2CV (French: deux chevaux, pronounced [dø ʃ(ə)vo]lit. “two horses”, meaning “two taxable horsepower”) is an economy car produced by the French company Citroën from 1948 to 1990. Introduced at the 1948 Paris Salon de l’Automobile, it has an air-cooled engine that is mounted in the front and drives the front wheels.
Conceived by Citroën Vice-President Pierre Boulanger to help motorise the large number of farmers still using horses and carts in 1930s France, the 2CV has a combination of innovative engineering and straightforward, utilitarian bodywork. The 2CV featured an overall low cost of ownership, simplicity of maintenance, an easily serviced air-cooled engine (originally offering 6.6 kW, 9 hp), and minimal fuel consumption. In addition, it had been designed to cross a freshly ploughed field with a basket full of eggs on the passenger’s seat without breaking them, because of the great lack of paved roads in France at the time; with a long-travel suspension system, that connects front and rear wheels, giving a very soft ride.
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 even stretched to cover the car’s trunk, reaching almost down to the car’s rear bumper. Michelin introduced and first commercialised the revolutionary new radial tyre design with the introduction of the 2CV.
Between 1948 and 1990, more than 3.8 million 2CVs were produced, making it the world’s first front-wheel drive car to become a million-seller after Citroën’s own earlier model, the more upmarket Traction Avant, which had become the first front-wheel drive car to sell in similar six-figure numbers. The 2CV platform spawned many variants; the 2CV and its variants are collectively known as the A-Series. Notably, these include the 2CV-based delivery vans known as fourgonnettes, the Ami, the Dyane, the Acadiane, and the Mehari. In total, Citroën manufactured over 9 million of the 2CVs and its derivative models.
A 1953 technical review in Autocar described “the extraordinary ingenuity of this design, which is undoubtedly the most original since the Model T Ford”. In 2011, The Globe and Mail called it a “car like no other”. The motoring writer L. J. K. Setright described the 2CV as “the most intelligent application of minimalism ever to succeed as a car”, and a car of “remorseless rationality”.
I owned a 2CV at some point. I think it was the 3rd or 4th car I ever owned. It did not last very long, as it was so rotten when braking that the doors flew open due to the flexing of the chassis! A common problem with older 2CVs.
Many countries have their own pet name. In the Netherlands, it is eend (duck), and in Belgium geit (goat). In the UK it is known by at least three different pet names; Tin Snail, Dolly and Upside-down.
As luck would have it, there is a Citroen 2CV Museum in Andijk, The Netherlands. Just around the corner from my good friend and spanner mate Peter. Those of you who follow some of my threads will have read about us and our Spideristi friends doing at least one annual Alfa Spider trip together. As luck would have it, all of us happened to be around on the last Sunday of the year. This museum opens only on the last Sunday of every month. So we decided to meet up at the museum and have lunch afterwards at Peter’s place.
This museum is the private collection of Edwin Groen. His collection consists of more than 300 Eenden and also quite a few other interesting mostly French cars. I have concentrated on the 2CVs for this thread.
It is really a unique collection as you will see! This is the first view as you enter the museum.
Then there are endless rows of 2CVs. Each with a unique story. Each different from the other.
It doesn’t get much more basic, dashboard, than a 2CV
This is a special James Bond 007 version! It is a 2CV6. Citroen provided four 2CVs for the movie. In order to capitalize even more on this PR they produced this special 007 version. It is unclear how many were produced. Different sources mention different numbers. Most likely either 500 or 1000.
The colour yellow was originally meant to be used for the new Charleston version, but ended up on the 007 version. New owners would find a little plastic bag with bullet hole stickers in the glove compartment!
This one is known as the compact version
A couple of images of the engine and gearbox. Everything on this engine was simple and basic. Easy to work on and by and large very reliable.
Here is another pretty unique 2CV. The 4×4, but it also had two engines. notice the extra petrol tanks under the front seat with the filler gap that protrudes through the door. I think I have come across 2-3 of these in the last ten years of visiting classic car events and show. This museum has four of them!
Where else would you find the oldest surviving 2CV in the world, other than in a museum in Andijk? This one was produced in 1949. It is the 430th 2CV produced in the factory in France. The paint and interior was probably renewed in the 50s/60s but the engine and gearbox are still original.
From that first production run of about 875 2CVs in 1949 about 12 have survived. Few in driveable conditions.
The museum acquired this unique 2CV at a French auction. They ended in a bidding war with no other than Michelin, but won!
This is a 2CV6 Club from 1987. I had one like this, in the same colour. It was the first 2CV suitable for lead-free petrol. It had an astonishing acceleration of 59.4 seconds on the 0-100 km/h!!
I remember when these cars were banned from using on your driving test. These cars were so slow the examiner could not get a feel for whether you could keep up with traffic.
Endless varieties
Guys my age will remember this one. And their dads too. The ANWB is what the AA is in the UK. A national car association that also provides breakdown services for its members. we call it the “wegenwacht” (road watchers)
These days they drive fancy E-vans. But for a long time, they drove these 2CVs.
I remember it well. In those days my parents drove a DKW-1100. One year we went on holiday. Which meant my three sisters got in the back seat and I would sit in the front on my mum’s lap. No seat belts, no airbags, no crumple zone and both my parents chain smoking. My dad had a roof rack that held most of our luggage. But he had not secured it well enough. So it blew off, somewhere near Arnhem on our way to Germany. A “wegenwacht in one of these 2CVs came to the rescue. He managed to pile some of the luggage in his car. But those little cars were pretty much crammed with tools and parts. So some of the luggage went on top of my sisters. Next he drove us to a shop that sold us a new roof rack. He helped my dad install the new roof rack securely.
These wegenwacht guys are incredibly skilled in helping you out when you find yourself stranded. They know just about all brands and models of cars and have a quick fix for just about any problem.
Of course, 2CVs are pretty much indestructible and reliable in normal use. But they never did well in a crash. Or like this one, a tree fell onto it. Made several newspapers!
The museum has a couple of these little alleys with shops from the 60-70s. Very nice. Including a nice collection of car models
Continue reading about Jeroen’s visit to the museum for BHPian comments, insights and more information.
