MARQUES & MODELS THE CITROËN 2CV FAMILY
When Citroën unveiled the 2CV on 7th October 1948 at the Paris Motor Show, Autocar described it as ‘the work of a designer who has kissed the lash of austerity with an almost masochistic fervour.’ Some dealers urged the company to improve its looks, but it was also the car that founded a dynasty of over nine million A-series models, from hatchbacks to off-roaders – and even vehicles with more than one engine.
The narrative of the Deux Chevaux – so named for its two taxable horsepower rating – commenced in 1936 when Citroën's vice-president Pierre-Jules Boulanger revealed his plans for a peasant's car. When travelling through the French countryside, he encountered a traffic jam of horses and carts. A survey of 10,000 farmers, shopkeepers, artisans and other rural workers further demonstrated the need for cheap motorised transport.
Boulanger tasked the design team headed by André Lefèbvre with creating the Toute Petite Voiture – TPV – to an exacting brief: ‘A car that can accommodate two farmers in boots and a hundredweight of potatoes or a keg of wine, can do at least 60km/h and uses only three litres per 100km. It has to be extremely well sprung so that a basket full of eggs survives a journey over bumpy dirt roads without damage.’
The original 2CV fulfilled these criteria without containing any distracting luxuries. The speedometer powered the wipers by cable, the boot had a canvas cover, there were no direction indicators, and the colour choice was metallic grey, metallic grey or the ever-popular metallic grey. However, countless French motorists cared less about the (lack of) trim and more about how
