Citroën 2CV
When I saw this Citroën 2CV on a side street in Montclair, New Jersey, I walked down to the nearest drugstore and bought a disposable camera - I didn't have the one I was using at the time - specfically to photograph it! You simply don't see these in America anymore. And, considering the awful sales of French cars in America (you can't buy a French car here anymore), you probably never did.
Conceived as a French people's car in the 1930s, the project went underground during World War II when the Germans occupied France. After the war, it debuted at the 1948 Paris salon, where its weird appearance drew chuckles from the press. But it became respected for offering cheap, reliable transportation. Called the 2CV (for deux chevaux vapeur, literally "two steam horses" from its tax horspower rating - mind you, the engine had far more nontaxable horsepower!), it became a contemporary of the Volkswagen Beetle and served as a symbol of France - much like Marianne. :-D It remained in production until 1990.
This 2CV is a 1965 model, hence it had a 425cc flat-twin engine, coupled with a four-speed manual transmision. Only a few thousand 2CVs were sold in the United States.
Citroën 2CV
When I saw this Citroën 2CV on a side street in Montclair, New Jersey, I walked down to the nearest drugstore and bought a disposable camera - I didn't have the one I was using at the time - specfically to photograph it! You simply don't see these in America anymore. And, considering the awful sales of French cars in America (you can't buy a French car here anymore), you probably never did.
Conceived as a French people's car in the 1930s, the project went underground during World War II when the Germans occupied France. After the war, it debuted at the 1948 Paris salon, where its weird appearance drew chuckles from the press. But it became respected for offering cheap, reliable transportation. Called the 2CV (for deux chevaux vapeur, literally "two steam horses" from its tax horspower rating - mind you, the engine had far more nontaxable horsepower!), it became a contemporary of the Volkswagen Beetle and served as a symbol of France - much like Marianne. :-D It remained in production until 1990.
This 2CV is a 1965 model, hence it had a 425cc flat-twin engine, coupled with a four-speed manual transmision. Only a few thousand 2CVs were sold in the United States.