It’s been a little while since I’ve given you an update on my formerly one-with-the-Earth Citroën 2CV, and that’s mostly because I’ve just been driving it around, which has been, and I don’t think this is too much hyperbole, glorious. It’s just the right amount of hyperbole, I think. It’s proven to be reliable (when I remember to keep gas in it) and not only am I entertained when I drive it, most people who see it driving around seem to be made at least a little bit happier, too. Personally, I think that’s a pretty good metric by which to judge a car.
As the weather has been getting steadily more and more lovely, and the skies have become consistently dazzling, with big, exuberant, cumulus clouds that look like they’re on vacation from any number of renaissance paintings of skies (minus the cherubim; modern pest-control practices tends to keep our skies thankfully clear of those annoying winged babies) I realized that I have yet to unpack the full potential of my 2CV’s opening roof.
Sure, I’ve flipped back the front portion of that vinyl roof back a number of times, but I’ve never done the full, iconic-2CV roll-the-whole-roof-back-like-a-sardine-can thing. You know the kind. It seems like most of Citroën’s advertising featured the full-open roof:
This kind of thing from Citroën was very common, conveying the free-spirited nature of the car and a healthy disregard for safety, which is pretty much non-existent in this car, anyway, if we’re honest. Look at that, there’s seven people in that car! Or maybe on the car.
The full-opening roof was also shown to demonstrate just how much crap you could pack into a 2CV:
Always with the grandfather clocks, too.
Seriously, if Citroën had an opportunity to show the 2CV with the roof fully rolled back, they took it.
The only exception I can think of is when they portrayed the cars on the moon, because then you’d definitely want that roof closed for, presumably, pressurization and oxygen-retention reasons:
They’re not afraid to open that (optional) hatchback, though.
So why the hell did I wait so long to give it a try? Honestly, I have no idea. I should have done it long ago, at least just to confirm that the little straps that hold the rolled-roof worked and that the whole thing didn’t slide off like a slippery tomato sliding out of a burger.
Happily, those little straps, despite having some rust on the snaps, did seem to work just fine.
I was also afraid the rubber straps would be hopelessly dry-rotted, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, either.
The process of rolling the roof back isn’t too difficult, either, though it does take a bit of work. You undo two clips above the windshield, then slide the roof off of these two pins that hold it onto the hinged front roof frame, then you start rolling until you get to the center support, where there are a pair of little metal tabs that slide into these clips to keep the middle anchored.
Once those are freed, you just roll the rest of the roof back to the final horizontal support over the rear window area, and use the little snappy straps to hold it in place. Easy!
You can’t do it while driving, and unrolling it in a sudden rain could be done quick-ish, but not quick enough to keep at least a bit of rain out of the interior, I suspect.
Still, it’s worth the risk, I think, With that roof rolled back, the view out the top is downright panoramic:
Those horizontal supports feel somewhat insubstantial, though, and unlike all the people in Citroën’s ads, I’d be wary about sitting on or leaning on them? But people sure seemed to do that.
Interestingly, even with the whole roof rolled back, I’d hesitate to call this a “convertible” even a “fixed profile” type of convertible, like these:
The difference I think is the fact that the rear window remains in place; if the rear window folded away, somehow, I think that would push it into fixed-profile convertible territory.
That said, I don’t feel like I want that, necessarily. It’s plenty open as it is!
Did I just write a whole Cold Start about opening a damn sunroof? I guess I did.
Oh, and I also bled my brakes, because they were getting alarmingly mushy. They feel way better now, and I learned that for the front disc brakes, you only have one brake bleed valve for both front brakes, which saves a bit of time! Plus, I never get tired of the weird inboard brakes.
Dang, I was hoping you were going to say you tried the basket of eggs thing. Sunroof’s cool too, though.
Love the 2CV, but I have to ask, what the heck is going on with the gutter on the house?! That’s some nasty looking stuff…
dead vines.
I should have known. Rented a place with english ivy growing up one wall. Looked pretty cool until the landlord decided to take it down. Had to pressure wash twice to get it cleaned up.
This car makes me happy.
Curious about the grandfather clock. I have an old grandfather clock that I replaced the mechanism with an electronic movement. The ‘top’ of that clock is a separate piece, and is not fastened to the lower body in any way. The weight of the clock movement and weights hold it in place.
In any case, if I tried to load it at an angle sticking out of the roof of a 2cv, the head would fall right off.
That makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. All the important stuff is in the top, the bottom is just furniture to hold it off the floor so the weights and pendulum can move.
Moving a traditional tall case clock is serious business. Essentially all the movable lower bits need to be removed first.
Luckily, this was a flea market clock. All the lower bits were gone by the time I got it. It had a mechanical movement and chimes, but they were from a wall clock and fit entirely in the top section.
That’s why I didn’t feel bad putting a new face and cheap movement in it. I also got an ~1850 wall clock that looks every day of its age and I will do the same to that one. I bought both because they look old.
Is the lady in blue falling out? She seems to have taken a bounce and is mid-air in the ad.
The woman in yellow a few pictures down resembles my ex-wife and the way she used to clutch my belly.
I love driving my 2CV with the whole top open! Mine doesn’t have snaps on the hooks, it’s got metal d-rings that connect to hooks on the rear where the snaps would be.
The key is to reroll it after you’ve been in the sun. Otherwise the vinyl shrinks from being cold and it’s almost impossible to lock in the front hooks.
Roll, roll, roll your roof,
Gently to the rear.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
It’s happy motoring from here.
“Happy Motoring” as sung by Esso’s Oil Drop Man mascot, named Happy.
Yup. Somewhere in storage I have a plaster statue of Happy that my grandfather gave me. I don’t know how long he had it (I think Happy traces back to WW II) before it came to me but it’s probably closing in on 90 years old or so.
Careful, that is structural canvas. Make sure you have Otto hold the A pillars if you drive on a rough road, lest the car collapse in on itself!
One word of warning: If you leave the roof rolled too long, it can get stuck like that. You should ‘exercise’ it regularly or (if you’re crazy like my father in law) get two roofs to have one for open-top motoring and one for the winter.
Valid point. Mine spends most of its life rolled and it can be a bit of a pull to relock it
We were unable to close it before the track day yesterday. To the spare we go!
If you smack it on the back while the top is rolled back, it will be stuck like that forever!
The faculty member in my department who occasionally drives his 2CV to campus regularly does so with the top open, as is just barely in evidence in this photo:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54458701166_a3c57a8f3d_b.jpg
This is in Seattle so it’s probably just as well there’s covered parking.
That’s a fabulous 3-car garage, Mike!
Oh! I see this car driving down 35th Ave NE every once in a while. UW faculty member makes a lot of sense.
“UW faculty member makes a lot of sense” is not a phrase I’ve heard much in my thirty-plus years here.
is that your amazing Velorex next to it?!
Yes! It’s featured towards the end of this:
https://www.theautopian.com/microcars-saab-stories-and-hondas-triumph-members-rides/
About time, I think I would have done the full roll back before it was even road worthy if for no other reason than to motivate me to get it road worthy.
Nice to see this running, there are a couple that come to car shows and draw a crowd. Usually they are seen in pictures or as lawn art.
I ziptied a water pipe under the center support, when I got tired of it’s wobliness, in one of my 2CVs.
Well good to know I can now ride in the back seat if I ever visit you. Otherwise it would be a problem.
Can’t wait to find out if it gets better lap times with that top rolled back
In my experience, absolutely NOT. It is glorious, and since mine has a coveted garage spot, I keep the roof fully open unless I HAVE to close it, but it does hurt top speed. I can’t seem to get beyond 55mph on the flat with the roof down and one passenger.
I always assumed these needed a steep hill and a hurricane to break 45mph…
Nope. A well-tuned (not even bored out) one can do 60mph all day long, so I’m told by my mentor, who’s done it
Your passenger needs to face backwards and blow harder if you want to get to 60mph.
Gotta be honest … The low power thing is a little overdone. I find that on anything less than an interstate/motorway, other than not accelerating quite as fast as a modern car can in the 20-30mph range, I’m more frequently held up by drivers not paying attention to their speed than anyone is held up by me. Sure, the 2CV is a small engine. But it is really light (thanks to zero safety) compared to the insanely heavy cars of today. Is that good? Maybe not. But it isn’t as slow as many assume if cared for
Am I the only one who read the title and was hoping this article would involve a basket of eggs and a plowed field?
Either way, that fabric sunroof is really sweet!
One day we will get this demonstration, hopefully with Torch in a ridiculous costume, and some weird sponsor like Armor All.
Featuring the new WeatherTech Egg Basket!
Which is really just a plastic colander, but somehow costs $80.
Torch driving in a chicken costume, David (or Otto I guess because jet fuel is expensive) riding shotgun in a striped shirt, pencil mustache, and beret
You are not the only one.
I’m always here for 2CV updates. It’s the official Autopian Car, after all.
If I owned a 2CV, the roof would always be rolled back.
Exactly. But Jason has no choice. He has no covered parking for his.
of course Tintin is on the moon
I always though it was a bit bad taste that Casterman sold out to Citroën after Hergé’s death.
I love Tintin – and I love 2CVs, but that commercial combination: Yuck!
I bet they kept the roof closed when on the moon to stop those pesky micro-meteorites. You don’t wan them putting holes in the seats, and other vital items!
Are those drum inboard brakes, replacing the shoes on drum brakes is painful enough sometimes, that sounds like it could be very hard.
Hopefully the simplicity of a 2CV means it’s actually easy.
Mine has discs!
Drum replacement on the front really isn’t hard. The inboard half-axle end has multiple bolts, so no one bolt needs to be insane (unlike the outboard, which has a 300lbft castle nut)
Noice!
The 1966-1969 Subaru 1000 and the 1969-1972 Subaru FF-1 had front inboard drum brakes. People on USMB (Ultimate Subaru Message Board) have said that servicing these brakes actually isn’t too terribly hard but that it would be ineffably easier if one’s arms were just a little longer and had more than one joint each.
This is so fantastic. I didn’t own it long enough to put the top down (after installing the replacement top), so seeing it now makes me so happy.
This car just keeps on bringing smiles and not just to Jason and Otto.
Jason really is the perfect owner for this 2CV.
What a peach!
I think the whole of Autopia owes you a debt of gratitude for the positive vibes resulting from this 2CV revival.
Chapeau, monsieur.
Positive vibes, always!
Thanks for the kind words, AmberTurnSignals.
I’m guessing Sally was along too but couldn’t find her photo credit.
“Egg”actly!
The rollback roof 2CV also has plenty of room for shovels, 2 dismembered bodies, and 4 conspirators according to The Sparteens excellent cover of Faith No More’s Digging the Grave video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGqc1bt96zY
And in the 1997 historical documentary Rocketman Fred Randall demonstrates how to use the rollback roof to deal with tight parking spaces.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndj_dS4jImA
Historical Document? … surely you don’t think that Gilligan’s Island…
Those poor people… 🙁
Looks like someone had a great fathers day.
I’m guessing that the 2CV doesn’t have air conditioning, so it surprises me that it took you this long to roll back the roof. It must be a sauna in there in hot weather with the roof up. Still an awesome little car.
These days, you take your pick of being baked to death from the radiant heat with the top up or being broiled to death from the direct sun with the top down.
At least you can breath while you’re being broiled. I have no idea how we survived as children when none of our cars had AC.
It was cooler back then. I was thinking about this the other day, driving through France when one day it hit 35C! (95F) That was the hottest temperature I’d ever been in in my life by a good five degrees!
Tomorrow it’s going to hit over 35 for three days, in the UK, and this is already the second heatwave we’ve had this year.
I read that it’s supposed to be upwards of 40 C in France today. Dangerous temps. Hopefully it cools off soon.
How we survived, you ask?
Fun memory–family was driving back from Miami home to Wichita. I’d bought a little souvenir thermometer, which I put on the rear deck. My 10 year old self was happy to report when the mercury had hit the 100 degree mark.
That was six (6) of us in mid-60s Comet. We were made of something, perhaps, slightly tougher–or probably just dumber–than today’s passengers, I guess is the answer.
An AC compressor would take more horsepower to run than the car has
I guess it would be a choice of either going somewhere or staying cool. I used to have a car that I had to turn off the AC to merge onto the highway. We called it turbo boost like it was KITT because the power increase was noticeable.
So did I! I also called it the Turbo Boost button.
You can buy or make sunshade roofs that can easily deploy when the rubber/canvas roof is open. I intend to make a white/yellow stripe one for mine this summer
There must be a way to install a swamp cooler in one of those folding windows…
That might work in dry climates, but in NC, I think it’s too humid. But it would sure be funny.
“It’s like a sauna in here”
-Kramer
“And these pretzels are making me thirsty.”
They should have done a Kramer spin off after Seinfeld where he has moved to Del Boca Vista and causes mayhem amongst the residents.
Ha ha, yeah like they did on that one episode! “Vote for Kramer!”