1986 CITROEN 2CV DOLLY
DIPSTICK BARRIE BYERS
The 2CV is a 602cc 2 cylinder air cooled motor that was built in France, England, Belgium and South America from 1949 until 1990. My car was built in Slough in the UK and shipped to WA by an expat who intended to restore it but then needed money to finish building his house so was purchased by me 3 years ago. Returned to its former glory over the last year with some difficulty at times as the body metal is just .7mm thick which makes it hard to work with.
All parts including a new body are available from Europe at reasonable cost, eg, £150.00 for a complete new seat cover kit. Painted in cream and burgundy colors, in 2CV circles, it’s referred to as, ‘Plums and Custard’. Nice to see people smiling when they see it on the road. Life’s too short to drive boring cars. ​​
The original 2cvs were built after WW2 to help the peasant farmers move from a horse and cart to something more practical, room to carry a pig to market and tall enough to wear a hat going to church. Within a month of it being presented at the Paris Motor Show in 1949 the waiting list for the car was 3 years and soon blew out to 5 years, it was just what the French people wanted.
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Very basic transportation, built to a price not a quality but runs well, keeps up with traffic and is quite economical. Unusual suspension system, used only on these cars, very comfortable and in the words of its designer,
“The car must transport four passengers, consume three litres of petrol every one-hundred kilometres, be able to carry fifty kilograms of potatoes or a demijohn of wine, have a maximum speed of sixty kilometres per hour, can be driven by women and on the back seat carry a basket of eggs without breaking them”.
