The Citroen 2CV is a riot to drive 
Friend of mine bought one; it arrived in a moving van. Had fun getting it downloaded from inside the big box, but being very lightweight with agile footing, it was much easier to accomplish than just about any other vehicle that I could think of, except perhaps an original M48 Jeep or perhaps a Crosley!
While some will just out-and-out declare the 2cv a piece of camel dung, it actually was a pretty decent vehicle for it's intended audience; French farmers of the post-WWII period, who had very rough country roads to travel, who needed a reliable and economical way to get around. It was quite versatile; you could remove the featherweight rear seat in seconds; the roof was some kind of reinforced rubber/plastic that unsnapped, rolled back and tied at the rear in case you wanted to "go topless", or had tall objects to get somewhere.
The engine was a horizontally-opposed twin cylinder arrangement, I think it was around 650cc's. Everything about the car was lightweight. The tires were so small, they seemed suited for a small wheelbarrow. In a contest on AOL, it was judged the 2nd ugliest vehicle in history (first place being the Pontiac Aztek - yeesh, is that thing ugly!)
Driving one took some getting used to - it even took a while to figure out how to shift the thing. There's a knob coming out of the dash - you pull it, twist it, and shove it back in to change gears!
The suspension was something else - it felt like you were floating on a cloud. There was no provision for anti-sway, so coming to a stop in the middle of a quick turn proved interesting - the car stayed leaning in whatever direction it was, until the brakes were released, when it would pop back upright! Most of the time driving around in it was spent with big goofy grins on our faces.
My friend's 2cv started out looking just like the one in the attached photo; a portion of the AOL screen when I logged on a couple weeks ago
Later, he had it re-painted it in a cream and black motif - rather spoiled the fun of having a "clown car". It's now in a car musem in Sarasota, FL.
Friend of mine bought one; it arrived in a moving van. Had fun getting it downloaded from inside the big box, but being very lightweight with agile footing, it was much easier to accomplish than just about any other vehicle that I could think of, except perhaps an original M48 Jeep or perhaps a Crosley!While some will just out-and-out declare the 2cv a piece of camel dung, it actually was a pretty decent vehicle for it's intended audience; French farmers of the post-WWII period, who had very rough country roads to travel, who needed a reliable and economical way to get around. It was quite versatile; you could remove the featherweight rear seat in seconds; the roof was some kind of reinforced rubber/plastic that unsnapped, rolled back and tied at the rear in case you wanted to "go topless", or had tall objects to get somewhere.
The engine was a horizontally-opposed twin cylinder arrangement, I think it was around 650cc's. Everything about the car was lightweight. The tires were so small, they seemed suited for a small wheelbarrow. In a contest on AOL, it was judged the 2nd ugliest vehicle in history (first place being the Pontiac Aztek - yeesh, is that thing ugly!)
Driving one took some getting used to - it even took a while to figure out how to shift the thing. There's a knob coming out of the dash - you pull it, twist it, and shove it back in to change gears!
The suspension was something else - it felt like you were floating on a cloud. There was no provision for anti-sway, so coming to a stop in the middle of a quick turn proved interesting - the car stayed leaning in whatever direction it was, until the brakes were released, when it would pop back upright! Most of the time driving around in it was spent with big goofy grins on our faces.
My friend's 2cv started out looking just like the one in the attached photo; a portion of the AOL screen when I logged on a couple weeks ago
Later, he had it re-painted it in a cream and black motif - rather spoiled the fun of having a "clown car". It's now in a car musem in Sarasota, FL.
