So, guess what! I’m finally getting one of my dream cars, a Citroën 2CV. I don’t have it just yet – the car in question is the one our own Stephen Walter Gossin picked up late last summer, among a lot of old Mopars, and has been working on, off and on, ever since. I realized this was my best chance to get a 2CV and I’d be a fool, a miserable, sad fool, if I didn’t leap at this chance. So, leap I did, and pretty soon I should be the owner of a 29 horsepower corrugated French-plowed-field-traversing beast. The car is still with SWG at the moment, and I’ll need to tow it home (SWG got it like 95% there – I just need to put in a new fuel pump and check some ignition stuff) but I did go out there to pick up a massive stash of parts and documentation that come with the car, and I just want to show you something interesting from there.
I’m still sort of in shock I’m on my way to Deux Cheveaux ownership! I’ve wanted one of these absurdly and brilliantly minimal cars as long as I can remember, and it’s never really seemed possible. And now, here it is, looming Gallicly in the near future. I’ll have lots, lots more to say about the car once I get it, but for the moment, I want to show you a brochure that’s evidence of an interesting blip in 2CV history, from a short-lived attempt to bring 2CVs to America in the 1980s.
Before that, though, let me just show you a delighted me in this car that’ll soon be mine:
Soon! I can’t wait.
Anyway, while this 2CV is registered as a ’66, and I’m told it’s on a ’66 chassis, everything else seems to be from the ’80s, likely an ’82 or ’85 or so. I do not think this is an original Charleston 2CV – the name given to that rakish Art-Deco-style two tone paint – but I think it was converted to one. And I think this one is what is known as a Target 2CV, after the Dutch company Target Industries, which was re-manufacturing 2CVs in Belgium and sending them to the US. The “aging” process to get “new” 2CVs into America by using older frames (the 2CV was banned for import to the US around 1965) is written about here, if you’re curious.
Here’s an article from 1987 describing the company and what they intend to do; they wanted to import 300 2CVs a month by 1988! A Texan named Terry Keeton, who was well-known in the Citroën community in America, was their sales manager, and back in 1988 these started at $6,750 – about $19,000 today, so while not crazy expensive, not that cheap, either. I was excited to find one of the company’s brochures in with all the stuff I got with the 2CV – which was considerable:
There’s bumpers and another carb, two mufflers, an oil cooler, belts and hoses, a new taillight lens, eight extra wheels and tires, even! And, of course, brochures and owner’s manuals and other literature, which included the Target 2CV brochure. Here’s the cover:
As you can tell, the company was playing a lot on the obscurity and strangeness of the car, and having fun with that. Look at this amazing checklist for the 2CV’s features that was in the brochure:
That’s pretty funny, right? The 2CV has, of course, none of that frippery. Some entries are a little weird, though: “female voice control?” I think they may have meant the spate of talking cars in the ’80s, but it wasn’t really “control” and the voices weren’t even always “female” so who the hell knows what they were getting at. Still, it’s fun.
As you can see in the body copy here, the company was clearly trying to target iconoclasts and weirdos, which I think is admirable. The choices of Pintos and Delta 88s as “ordinary people” cars is an interesting of what the general American carscape of the 1980s was like. Also, this may be the only example I can think of where a brochure promoting a particular car describes it as “asthmatically wheezing down the freeway.”
The 2CV currently waiting to be pulled out of SWG’s crowded driveway seems to be one of these Target 2CVs, and was purchased in the 1980s by its former owner, Willie Shaw, who once had it written about, back in 2009, by the Garland, North Carolina paper:
Willie seems to have led a fascinating life (he was a motorcycle cop in NYC in the ’70s and ’80s, which must have been, um, something) and was a real gearhead with fantastic taste in cars. When I get it going and back on the road, I’d love to take it by and show Willie his old tin snail is back on the road and being appreciated.
After a few years, maybe very few, Target International had to stop selling 2CVs in America because the DOT began to crack down on the old pan/new everything else loophole that Target was using, and soon these cars were forbidden from being imported to the US once again.
I’m so excited about this thing, it’s distracting me. I find myself looking up details and period reviews about 2CVs, looking at the strange minimal dash layout and pouring over these owner’s manuals and eagerly awaiting when I can finally be driving this thing on the regular.
Fantastique!
Super sweet! I love 2CVs (and Citroens in general) for all their weirdness.
Is it just me or is Jason exuding some serious Ratfink vibes in that photo of him hanging his arm out the window of the 2CV? Can’t wait to see the followup stories showing you bombing around town in your new ride!
Haha, needs a taller shifter, though! : )
Like you I lust after a Citroen. However I must have a DS-21, preferably in orange, but I will accept that frog green color. Enjoy the ride Jason, and Bonne chance avec Le Car.
Le car was the US market name for the Renault 5, so not very fitting in the context of any Citroen, which was one of the main competitors of Renault 😉
I had the same itch, almost 30 years ago, and i scratched it back then, so to speak. It was a 2 liter with the 5 speed gearbox, and I was honestly disappointed. It was a beautiful car to watch, and I loved getting into it, but once you’re on the road, it falls a little bit apart. These 4 cylinder engines are based on the pre-war Traction Avant engines, and it shows: they are quite agricultural, and while adequately powerful for the period, they sorely lack refinement. They don’t like to rev, are loud and sound so differently than the looks of the car would suggest. Unfortunately Citroen never had enough money to develop new engines for its flagship cars, the CX was still using the same engine and it was just as disappointing. The only reason I’d get another DS would be to look at it, and maybe get groceries once in a while. People love it and you get to hear plenty of compliments, that’s really nice.
I know the Le Car. Hell I had one in orange. Using that phrase was meant as humor. DS. Sit in it. Go to the custard stand drive in. Just stare at it in my driveway. It would be worth the cost. Viva la France P S. The Citroen 6 is as Leo on my radar ever since Jeremy Clarkson used one to film a horse race
Looks like a match made in heaven. Very happy for you. Are the other kids jealous?
I almost hesitate to say this, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Kei car Nazis try to ban 2CVs.
That would seem logical enough, but if we’ve learned anything about the Kei saga, consistency has not been a strong point for the states in question.
This is literally my concern right now, since I’m SURE the AAMVA folks would hate the 2CV
Good to realize your dreams. I would never mention this car to my wife, unless you want to be flamed to a crisp cinder. She went to university in France, Grenoble to be exact. She had two friends in two separate accidents horribly disfigured and one crippled by what in any car that is above Yugo grade engineering, would have been a minor accident. It is fortunate it does not work, so you won’t be driving it. I like your writing and it would so horrible to lose you.
Yugo grade engineering was Italian FIAT 127. Engine what have upper camshaft to open the valves. That time one of the modern engineering for sport cars. Rest assembly give Yugo name.
You see I lived in Italy for nearly 6 years both as an adolescent and adult. Actually had a Fiat 127 for a bit. Really would not have wanted to collide with any car bigger than a 500. Would not have ended well. The metal of that era that Fiat used seemed to come pre-rusted from the factory. Kind of why there are so few remaining. The 500’s held up better. The 127 was easy to build, Also why the Russians kept building their knockoff under license for decades. It was a super cheap car. The 2CV was literally a death trap, well it would have been if it went much above 45. I have seen them on the side of the road in Switzerland split in half, with one half resting on the pole it centered. Didn’t wok out too well for the folks inside.
Congrats! For a second there I thought you had a tattoo on your left arm, but I zoomed in and saw that it’s literally elbow grease!
Or a tattoo of elbow grease. Very meta.
That would be a level of dedication to ink I could never aspire to. I’m still a blank canvas and will likely remain so.
I think it is great that Torch will have a broken 2CV to park next to his broken Beetle. It’s the start of a great collection. Maybe we could club together to get him a non-running Mini and clapped out Fiat 500 to go with them. That would be the start of a great collection.
This 2CV will be running around Chapel Hill very shortly. It’s one $40 fuel pump (failed diaphragm) away from starting.
That’s what you get for relying on the extravagance of a fuel pump.
I suspect the checklist was inspired by 1980s UK advertising for the 2CV
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/advertising-blog/advertising-classics-the-citroen-2cv-in-the-uk-1980s-if-you-cant-hide-it/
I love these cars. There’s a guy in the Triangle who has a mint condition one that I’ve seen at the Cary car show.
There are at least 3-4 (soon to be 4-5) 2CVs in Chapel Hill / Carrboro alone
There’s also at least one DS I sometimes see at Carr Mill.
Same owner as two of the 2CVs 🙂 (not me)
That two tone paint is fantastic, and kind of bizarre to see on a car that doesn’t even have “wind up windows.”
Two things.
Mine already has a subwoofer. It’s under the hood. I’m not sure why they ever sold a removable radio for these…
The Canadian importer that used the same chassis trick to bring effectively new ones here tried the same thing with Mexican Beetles after 2CV production ended, in case we’re looking for consultants for Jasonia Automobile Manufacturers.
Color me so jealous Jason!
I tried to buy an old Citroen Fourgonette once, but it didn’t work out. I tell myself that’s for the best, but the heart still yearns…
My Dutch cousins call this car a Duck (check the side profile).
#1 Find a roundabout
#2 Trust me on #1
#3 Enjoy the hilarity
It makes other cars nervous, but it is a blast
“Asthmatically wheezing down the freeway?” Mais non!
The 2CV is perfectly happy to buzz along at full revs all day. It’ll do it. YOU will hate the experience but if speed is your highest priority then it can keep up with modern traffic. It’ll do it over and over.
Where the 2CV is completely in its element and a far more enjoyable ride is on the back roads, cheerfully galumphing along at 45 or so, riding in the fat height of its torque curve and not so loud and insistent that it shatters your teeth.
Plus on the back roads you get more curves, giving you far more opportunity to enjoy the little Duck’s weirdly tenacious handling.
The only time I drove one of these, I was taken over by trucks at 50mph. And the resulting sidewinds push the car around quite a bit. Very stressful.
Ah, yes. Air. Air can be an issue for the 2CV. Ideally you want to drive a spherical 2CV in a vacuum to make the most of its power; in those conditions it can approach lightspeed given enough room for acceleration.
Plus, in fairness, I was thinking about the latest, most powerful generation and when you’re talking about 2CVs, there’s just the one body generation but I think four different engine ratings? And the power output of the last was like 3x that of the first.
Congratulations. The 2CV is also on my bucket list. I’m not sure what I’d do with it, but it would definitely involve golf cart-like usage on open fields.
So cool. I’m so jealous.
Cheap and cheerful done perfectly. Congratulations!
Congrats on the obtaining the bucket list car! Very cool.
My parents moved to France in 56, dad was car shopping and mom said he couldn’t buy a ‘window blind car’ which was what my mom called these, ended up with Mercedes 220
Torch, I’m so happy for you! I’m currently on vacation in the Loire valley, and tomorrow morning I’m renting a 1987 2CV for a couple of days through Turo. I can’t wait! Also, last night when we went to dinner (rented a Twingo yesterday and today), a Mehari pulled in right behind us! I was unreasonably excited, much to my girlfriend’s amusement.
Careful Jason, between the 2CV, the Pao and the Changli, you’re approaching 100 combined fleet horsepower!
PS be carful how you drive it. Remember reading research from early 1990s that chances of serious injury or death if in an accident with a 2CV were about the same as with a motorbike…
Eh, that’s probably not much different than many other classic cars!
Yeah, there isn’t a lot protecting me in my Land Rover. But it seems to give the appearance of safety, what with seat belts and all. Which is probably why my wife was happy with my buying it, but always nixed and talk of a motorcycle.
Actually, the 2CV expert in town said it best to me a few months back, “The only effective safety feature on the 2CV is between your ears. Drove it like you’re on a bike, with the same awareness”
Could be onto a good thing financially. They are reaching really silly prices in France, of all places, now.