I’ve got a sort of bet going, what sort of car is this?
Thanks, Pixie
Oops here is the pix and a link incase pix doesn’t upload:
That is a Citroen 2-CV, aka “the model T of France”.
It was a bare-bones car that was manufactured for many years (1948-1990), and was the first car for many French people.
VDCdriver is right, and it is the ugliest care in the history of motoring. It makes a Gremlin look sexy.
Right; it was affectionately called the “Ugly Duckling” by Europeans. The front seats actually came out and you could use them as beach chairs; these chairs had elastic bands in them instead of springs. The 2 cylinder motor did not have a lot of pep and the very crude front wheel drive without power steering made it difficult to park. Right, a true French Model T.
The last time I drove one was in Rome in 1960; two US school teachers on vacation had rented one and I had to show them how to drive it properly.
They all seemed to be painted in that ugly battleship grey color and the body panels were corrugated to give them stiffness and reduce noise.
Corrugated metal is less prone to deflection, and Citroen could reduce body weight by reducing body panel thickness. That’s important in an underpowered deux cheveaux. Someone in my neighborhood as a kid owned one. The “beach chairs” were canvas strung to a tubular metal frame. Even as a 6-year old, I found it repulsive. I saw one in Amsterdam in 2003. I was astonished that it might still be running after at least 13 years of use.
I think an ideal combination of cars would be the Citroen 2 cv as in your picture for your good car for highway traveling and a King Midget for driving around town. That way, one would have a 2 cylinder for the road where you need the extra power and a 1 cylinder car for economical errand running around town.
Rock’n Roll’s been goin’ downhill ever since Buddy Holly died…
It was the ugliest car in the history of motoring, but I think the Nissan Cube may steal that title.
Let’s not forget the AMC Pacer either, much as we might want to.
Ah, the Pacer, immortalized in “Wayne’s World”, a movie that matched the image of the car!
“Let’s not forget the AMC Pacer…”
A 300SL Gullwing compared to the Citroen 2CV.