Rusty and Crusty: Citroen 2CV
I’m honestly not sure if this 2CV is worth restoring, and it’s awfully rusty, but it sure looks fun just the same! It’s currently in Medway, Massachusetts, and is being auctioned here on eBay where bidding is substantially less than $1,000 but the reserve is not met. With what I would call terminal rust on an MG, and there are lots of good pictures of it to verify it, I’ve got concerns about this one ever being totally safe. However, I know very little about 2CV’s, so maybe someone that knows more can give us a more educated opinion in the comments. I do know that whomever painted it Plum Crazy had a sense of humor! Can you imagine this with a Hemi? Just kidding – or maybe not!
I remember this image from an old Road and Track, and was able to find it (thank you, Google!). I would SO like to do this! I know – heresy to you Citroen purists! What would you do with this rusty old Citroen?
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Comments
think what would happen if any of the other cars you posted today and any 2CV collided!
Ouch !! Looks about the crush factor as a Bud can.
Even new, these have the crash protection of a phone booth………….
But parts are readily available.
Wow! Who would have the nerve to offer such junk . Is there a place on it that hasn’t been bondo’d already? I wouldn’t sit in it, let alone drive it.
No, no, no! Stay away from this thing. Having had a MUCH better 2CV up until a couple of years ago I can testify that the steel used is just paper thin to begin with, and that, since it has a unibody construction, the rusted pillars and floor sections render it totally unsafe just to sit in – let alone actually drive. The engine and transmission would be worth something. In Europe this thing would have been scrapped years ago because of strict safety regs. I bet that it came from a very disreputable guy in North Carolina who buys junkyard-bound Cits in France, Belgium and etc for about nothing, brings them into the States (often with false ID tags), and sells them here for far more than they are worth. Mine was one of these and was registered as a 68, even though it was an 82. It was an iffy car car but in way better shape.
They have a separate floor pan which is bolt in, replacements are available in the uk including galvanised ones. Simple to work on, you can replace every part, so this could be brought back quite easily, but whether you’d want to or whether you would rather start with a better one is a different matter!
You’re right–it’s a separate body and chassis. The problem is, you would need both with this car. The chassis is around $1K, but the body tub will set you back $5K. Parts are all available. You can build one of these starting with only the vin tag–and that’s about what you would be doing with this one.
Parts are indeed easily available, at least in Europe and it’s really easy to fix mechanically. A friend used to have one and with a roll of wire and some elastic bands, he was able to keep it going for years. I once saw a 2cv (goat or ugly duckling as it’s called in Belgium and Holland) with an Oldsmobile V8; from a distance it looked pretty much stock, except for the wheels, but it had a lot more grunt to it. A cool experiment but I like the original 600CC engine better…
Ohhh, I don’t know, It’s probably safe for another two years or so. I have driven rustier Subarus and survived.
15 bids says at least a couple people may need it for parts but I think the rust would preclude any restoration.
There’s a 2CV with a Rover V8. Looks badass….
2CV’s did/do have an important part in the transportion system. so i hope it is parted out since the rust looks terminal to me also. interesting find.
Part it out.
Life’s too short to do anything else with it.
Save it. They must be rare in the US but there are some there. All parts are indeed pretty easy to get-including tyres. It may be fragile compared to US products of the time but this is one of the worlds most iconic cars (excluding the dreadful colour on this one) It was built for farmers to easy fix and they are. Here in the UK well restored ones are fetching around $18000 and the trade so healthy I gather galvanised chassis are exported from the UK to France these days !
I own and drive extensively 3 2cv’s, one in Illinois, one in Arizona and one I keep in France where each year we discover Europe either as part of an organised group or alone with my wife; today I am writing from Montpellier, we drove our French 2cv 4,500 kms so far since mid May. In late April we drove the AZ one from Phoenix to the GrandCanyon with another couple also in a 2cv. The one in Illinois is my only car so when we are there….well that’s what I drive ( my wife has her modern car)?…..all of this to say: these are great cars and safety is not an issue unless you get hit of course. But the car on offer I would run away from, period! There are many other options to acquire a nice 2cv for less than $10,000 but one needs to do his homework since there are also many sellers lacking integrity and/or a sense of reality!
DL
Would be a blast to re-body a new Mini Cooper with an old 2CV body. Not this one, necessarily… but I think the project might yield a charming everyday driver.