Good morning to all of you out there in Greater Autopia! The Craigslist gods have smiled upon me today. I have stumbled upon, without actually looking for them, two wonderfully weird old French cars for us to look at. And one of them is one of my favorite sports cars of all time.
Yesterday was all about that decade referred to in that Killing Joke song, with two turbocharged fastbacks. It was a complete blowout in favor of the Dodge, which just goes to show how undesirable the wrong options can make a car. I imagine if the Merkur had had a manual transmission, the vote would have been just as lopsided the other way.
Me, I’m all about that Charger. I’ve been a fan of the L-body coupes since I was a kid. Actually buying this car would probably be a really stupid idea, but daydreaming doesn’t do any harm.
If you know anything about French cars, you know that they are just a little off-center from the rest of the automotive world. The French have their own way of doing things, and that’s just how it is, and if you don’t like it, mange tes morts. I guess it’s their prerogative; they did pretty much invent the automobile, after all. But if you look at French cars next to cars from other parts of the world, they do start to look strange. Take, for example, today’s choices: a van that looks like a garden shed on wheels, and a mid-engined coupe with a really bizarre seating arrangement inspired by a piece of furniture. Grab a croissant and a glass of petit verdot, get comfy, and let’s check them out.
1956 Citroën 2CV Fourgonnette – $7,000
Engine/drivetrain: 425 cc OHV air-cooled flat 2, four-speed manual, FWD
Location: Delaware, OH
Odometer reading: 77,000 miles (but odometer is broken, so who knows?)
Operational status: Runs and drives well
If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that there is a Citroën 2CV in the Autopian family. Rescued from a back yard by Stephen Walter Gossin, the little yellow and black tin snail is now under the stewardship of weird-car connoisseur Jason Torchinsky. That 2CV is the standard four-door version, but here, for sale in a small town in Ohio, we have its utilitarian cousin, the Fourgonnette panel van. From the front doors forward, it’s a standard 2CV, but behind that, it’s basically a miniature Quonset hut.
This 2CV is older than Jason’s, and therefore has an even smaller engine. It displaces 425 cubic centimeters, and puts out – wait for it – twelve and a half horsepower. That’s just 5 cc and one horsepower more than my riding mower. Nevertheless, this cookie tin on wheels can hit 50 miles an hour, eventually. The seller bought it in a non-running state at an auction, and carefully brought it back to life. It runs and drives well now, though the seller says it can be a little stubborn to start.
The 2CV is famous for its simplicity, and being a cargo vehicle, this one is even simpler. Two seats, a steering wheel, and that funny umbrella-handle gearshift lever, and that’s about it. The seller redid the seats, and they look great. I don’t know if the famous basket-of-eggs trick works with the Fourgonnette, but I assume so.
It’s a little scruffy outside, but in a charming way. I see a little rust along the bottom of the van section, and some chips and flakes in the paint on the roof, but I think restoring it and repainting it would be a crime. It’s perfect the way it is. It has new tires – Michelin, of course – and includes some spare parts, tools, and literature.
1976 Matra-Simca Bagheera – $6,500
Engine/drivetrain: 1.5 liter OHV inline 4, four-speed manual, RWD
Location: Map shows Wood Dale, IL but ad title says Menominee, MI
Odometer reading: 56,000 miles
Operational status: Unknown; has just come out of a museum
There’s a good chance, unless you had a die-cast toy car of one like I did when you were a kid and looked it up out of curioslty, you might not know what you’re looking at. This is the product of a collaboration between Matra, a French aerospace company that also dabbled in sports cars, and Simca, which was the French arm of Chrysler Europe. It is also, to my knowledge, the only car named after a fictional black panther, or any fictional large cat, for that matter.
In the grand tradition of affordable sports cars like the Fiat X1/9, Pontiac Fiero, and Toyota MR2, the Bagheera is mid-engined, using the drivetrain from the front-wheel-drive Simca 1100 economy car, moved behind the seats. Both 1.3- and 1.5-liter engines were available; I’ll give this car the benefit of the doubt and assume it has the larger engine. Either way, a four-speed manual was the only transmission available. This one spent many years in a museum, and the seller isn’t clear about its running status, and I have no idea what museum it came from. I believe most museums maintain their vehicles in running condition, as long as it ran to begin with. So there’s a chance this thing is ready to hit the road – but check the dates on the tires just to be safe.
As if the mid-engine layout and the Rudyard Kipling-inspired name weren’t enough, the Bagheera has another surprise in store: three-across seating. The driver’s seat is separate, but the passenger’s seat is a doublewide, apparently based on a chair that Matra’s chief designer spotted in a shop in Paris. You can take two friends along for the ride, but they had better know each other really well, or else they will by the end of the ride. It’s in good shape, and I love the plaid upholstery. Why don’t cars have plaid seats anymore? Who do I talk to about that?
The Bagheera has a steel space frame with fiberglass-reinforced plastic body panels. Build quality was apparently spotty, but this one looks pretty good. It has cool snowflake-style alloy wheels and a Webasto-style cloth sunroof, both classic ’70s sports car cues. Though I promise you, if you show up to a classic sports-car gathering in this, you’ll turn everyone’s head – even the guy with the Lotus Elite.
Weird, as we like to say around here, is good. Uncommon cars with unusual features are just fun, and nobody does them better than the French. One of these is an icon, and the other is a footnote – but they’re both insanely cool, if you ask me. But which one appeals to you more? You’ve got a three-day weekend to mull it over. See you back here on Tuesday!
Can we go with both?
I like both but gotta go Matra! Wow, that is a really neat and cool car…it looks like a ton of fun…I love those seats, the plaid, the dash, the body style, and mid-engine (so many positives!) This was a pretty easy one…I’ll really enjoy cruising in it. The 2CV is cool, just not as interested in the ones w/ a box on back
Bagheera was one of my favorite Majorette toy cars, foto’s in this add don’t so it justice.
In real life it”s very beautiful.
In the seventies it was quite fast.
There was always talk of a H8 engine made out of 2 1300 L4 s , even with its successor the Murena. 1.6 L4 biggest engine ever out of factory.
Not even the fast engine out of R16/ Alpine
Every 2 cv is nice and special,
But for me as a kid growing up in the 80ties not a uncommon sight.
i new of 2 Bagheera’s in our little town back then they were special.
The French until the 00’s made a car like they meant it to be and most were fantastic
‘you’ll turn everyone’s head – even the guy with the Lotus Elite.’
Just imagine the kind of masochist you’d need to be to own that pairing. Or several of them.
The Lotus is a better built car than the Bagheera, but both suffer from the steel parts just dissolving underneath. The Bagheeras are a much bigger job to fix as the Lotus just has the usual spine chassis as opposed to the plastic panels glued to the steel monocoque.
That 2cv is destin to become a coffee truck or static display for a restaurant or cafe. The Bagheera has to be rare enough it belongs in a museum very easy to explain it’s province. They have enough character that it’s a both day.
I have an X1/9, MR2, and Lancia Scorpion. Frankly, I need the Bagheera to keep the theme going
“Weird French stuff”
Isn’t that already implicit when talking about French cars?
Anyway I went Bagheera. Acres of plaid are my thing
C’est une vraie 2cv ? Je dois la choisir alors. 2cv pour moi!
I want them both. I voted for the Bagheera only because I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in person.
Aw crap, that 2CV is way too close to me.
I want the CV with the Matra seats
This is a tough one, but I have to go with my heart and pick the 2CV
The photo of the Matra stimulated something in my subconscious. All became clear with the mention of a die cast toy, as I had one in my Matchbox collection, one of my favorites. The large rear window was molded with what must have been intended to be a sort of louver that resembled a shingle pattern.
Yes! Bring back plaid and patterned cloth inserts for car seats and door panels. Rear window louvers too.
Check out the 2024-2026 Chevrolet Trax LS patterned cloth inserts on the seats…
https://images.dealersync.com/2929/Photos/1244935/2025012200154627787_image-10.jpg?_=16a05450180830b8cc74fbeae804ec4f07537b28
https://images.dealersync.com/2929/Photos/1244935/2025012200154702387_image-11.jpg?_=93b1c91584595f50a5474141c90ca282477fe689
Not quite as cool as some of the older ones, but they’re still available. On a sub-$24K vehicle nonetheless.
A good start.
I’ll take the Bagheera and blast Blues Traveler the whole time.
Jungle Book was always my favorite Disney movie growing up. Years later a good friend of mine from India watched it with his kid and let me know that most of the animals “names” are just the words for those animals. So Bagheera isn’t just the panther’s name, it’s the word for Panther. Same goes for all the rest too, except King Louie.
All this to say I voted for Baggy but would happily accept a both option today.
I’ve never heard of a Matra Simca Bagheera, and now I really want one. Thanks for the intro to these! Might be the closest I’ll ever get to having my own Citroen SM.
I voted Matra. MATRA always the right answer?
Although if you take the 2CV, you do get the bonus of having the front seat that you can use at the beach or BBQ. Of well, c’est la vie.
Those are original seats?!!! Holy shit. They look like something stolen from my Aunt Sandy’s backyard deck.
The Matra…there are risks:
https://share.google/images/C9FgEeQ5AFpS3tSGi
I love French cars and need a both button.
The window cranks alone on the Matra-Simca are worth the price of admissions, but the motorized potting shed is fun too.
I was just going to say, those window cranks are worth a second look. I’ll take the Bob Semple improvised light van myself, even though I couldn’t safely leave my own driveway in it.
I want BOTH of them – work and play in one wacky garage pairing.
But if I have to choose, it’s Matra for me. It’s lovely and looks to be in fine cosmetic shape. I had a cat named Matra once.
And having owned a bunch of Peugeots, French Engineering is in a class by itself. For better and for worse. As has been said “the French follow no one, and no one follows the French”. Once you Grok it, it all makes sense though. Learning to swear in French helps when wrenching on them. And Peugeots are the “boring conventional” French cars.
France truly gives engineers the abundant respect they deserve, for better and worse.
While I find 2CVs to be fascinating cars, I have never once in my life felt even the least bit of desire to own one. The Bagheera is undoubtedly a pain to own, and even worse to find parts for, but I’ll take it over the van.
The mechanicals for the Matra probably aren’t hard to find since they were shared with a zillion boring Simca hatches and sedans. The cosmetic stuff – gooooood luck, so that it looks to be in great cosmetic shape is a huge bonus. You can get anything and everything for 2CVs o(other than VERY early ones) pretty easily. They built gazillions of them forever, there are lots still on the road. And with the Internet, “overnighting parts from wherever” really isn’t a big deal.
I’ll take the scarin’ Karen car. Take 2CV and call me in the morning – when you finally get there.
“It is also, to my knowledge, the only car named after a fictional black panther, or any fictional large cat, for that matter.”
If you’re counting concepts – Peugeot and Buick both had a Proxima – which is a very good name.
(Jungle Cruise movie)