I’ve suddenly become interested in one of these! However, I haven’t seen one around for years, and I’m not sure what they’re like to drive / live with. I currently drive a Defender, so I’m used to quirky/flawed vehicles!

I’m thinking about joining the UK owners’ club in the hope that I might find someone local to me (Inverness) who has one I could have a look at. However, I see the nearest local group is in Edinburgh or Glasgow, which might explain why I don’t see them up here. There was a worldwide rally a few years ago which came up here, and there were thousands of old Citroens from all over the world, but apart from that they seem pretty rare. The other reason for considering joining the club would be that they’ll have a members’ classifieds service. Is anyone a member, and if so, would it be worth joining even if I don’t own a car?

I’m surprised at how much they’re going for nowadays. It seems that it can cost around £20,000 to restore one, and it seems that a decent one could cost around £10,000. I’m out of touch with car prices, as I didn’t expect a mint 2CV to be worth more than about £3,000!

I like the look of the really old ones (eg a 1957 model) but I’d be looking for a good runner with a decent turn of speed. I see it’s possible to fit a BMW Boxer motorbike engine, and I must confess that appeals to me, but that would be a later upgrade if I took to the car.

I’d enjoy hearing some experiences about how good or bad these cars are!

I’d be looking for … a decent turn of speed

ROFL.

I think even the later 2cv’s took over 30 seconds to get to 60 and in gear acceleration wasn’t much to write home about (although the letter woudl probably arrive before you if you did).

If you take them on their own terms as comfortable, quirky round town transport then they’re fine. IF you want to be blatting up and down motorways at the weekends you’ll be disappointed.

Like air cooled beetles heating seems a bit crap – one of my mates had one from new in the 80’s and that struggled to keep the windscreen defogged, let alone heat the car.

When they were cheap to buy, run and insure they made sense for students who didn;t mind spendign the day gettign somewhere but I think the economic argument for them is lost now.

Having said that – they’re great fun to drive as you feel like you’re rubbing the door handles on the ground on every corner as the body roll is so pronounced 🙂

It was designed in the 1940’s, so it drives like a 1940’s car.
They are slow, noisy and uncomfortable. They struggle to keep up with modern traffic, and if by some chance they do catch up, the brakes are woeful so pray the ABS equipped car in front doesn’t stop in a hurry – you really don’t want to have an accident in one.
They are also pretty unreliable and spares are now expensive and scarce.
BUT, they do have great charm. Hilarious fun to hoon along a winding country road, cornering on the door handles, thrashing the engine to within an inch of it’s life, yet never once exceeding 50mph.
Try hiring one for a weekend from one of the classic rental people, not cheap but it might save you buying something that is not quite as you expected once the rose tinted glasses come off.

Have a look in tisos carpark generally a nice one in there,

oh, another thing – you really learn to drive smoothly and anticipate so you don’t lose too much momentum.

Ever mph is so hard won you’re reluctant to sacrifice any one of them by unnecessary braking.

In spite of all the deficiencies, they are cool. Quite reliable, IIRC.

Saw a fully restored one at the Classic motor show at the NEC. It was a thing of beauty,with the early ribbed bonnet, much better than how it left the factory, I think it was £10k.
But they always were pretty ropey, slow and noisy. When you see the flimsy nature of the bodywork, its no suprise that you don’t see too many of them around anymore!
There are specialist importers who bring them over from France.

this is what every trip to sainsburys felt like when I used to drive my brothers one;

(this is the Diane which was supposed to be the updated version for the ’70’s – lost all the charm but retained the crapness).

Thanks! It sounds like a mixed bag, which is what I was expecting. Some online ‘reviews’ give different opinions – eg saying that brakes work really well because the vehicle is so light. I had an original Mini, and never got the brakes working satisfactorily – non automatically adjusting drum brakes were awful.

I did wonder about the heater and draughts etc. The Defender’s heater is pretty woeful, but at least it has a few mod-cons such as a heated screen and (now defunct) heated seats.

When I said a decent turn of speed I meant in comparison with the original 1950’s version which seemed to have a top speed of around 40mph with a tailwind and downhill.

I’d definitely need to have a ride in one before considering buying one.

Here’s the video of the BMW-powered version!

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAocmae9vyE[/video]

Have a look on Youtube for ‘Chris Harris 2CV’ – great little video, should give you an idea what they’re like to drive.

I’ll just leave this here.

edit – TKID got there just before me…

My first ever car was a Dyane 6 in maroon. Awesome car. Even back then the rear seat was starting to split along the top.

You’d hate to have a crash in one – it’d be like ramming a Sopwith camel into a wall 😯

Truly iconic cars and appreciating too.

I haven’t seen one around for years

You hardly see classics of and kind on the road any more. I’m sure plenty of people have beetles, MGBs and 2CVs still, but driving them often doesn’t seem to be part of owning them anymore.

Owning an ’72 MGB as an only car 10 years ago, and clocking up 20k a year in it I used to see plenty of other similar vehicles on the road but as modern cars got heavier and ‘safer’ you became more and more aware of how dangerous those new cars are to you.

I don’t seem to see any old cars on the road just being driven any more.

hora – Member
My first ever car was a Dyane 6 in maroon. Awesome car.

Me too.
🙂

They are neither noisy or uncomfortable if they are properly maintained.
Same with the brakes (on the later ones with inboard discs at least), which should be excellent.
They handle amazingly well and are fantastic in snow.
You can fix pretty much everything yourself.

However;
I’ve seen better build quality from Tamiya.
They need looking after.
They’re bigger than you think.
There is virtually no crash protection.
Yes, the heater is useless.

Brilliant fun to own and drive.
Think of one as an old classic motorbike with more luggage space and you won’t go wrong.

Good in the snow ( allegedly )

Great fun – now expensive to buy but parts are actually easily available and
reasonably priced .
Trying one for yourself and research informed opinion .
( ex owner x3 including Dyane)

A Dyane is a far more practical car for frequent driving – hatchback , true flip
open roof, a bit (0.3%) faster too.

Power – find a “stinger” – nickname for a GS or Ami Super powered car 4cyl –
Car magazine famously had a turbo powered one 2cyl – it was apparently great – but caught fire due to a heater tube falling on the red hot turbo.

Safety – strange thing to be concerned about on a cycle forum , is it safer than a motorcycle?

There was a worldwide rally a few years ago which came up here, and there were thousands of old Citroens from all over the world

I went to that with my cousin in his Dyane, which he still owns. He’s a bit of a Citroen nut, has owned loads in the past, including 2CV’s, BX’s (16 valve one was an absolute belter) a Visa GTi (also brilliant) XM’s and Xantia’s.

He was gutted when I bought a Peugeot Expert instead of the Citroen Dispatch.

Edit – oh yeah, and 2CV racing is a bloody brilliant form of motor sport. 5 or 6 abreast round corners, all leaning on each other is comical.

I’d be looking for … a decent turn of speed

Steve Cropley turbocharged one. That later burnt itself out.

My first company car a 2CV. It was white with 3 Green Frog stickers on it :-).

It really was awesome, bought new and I collected 25k quality motoring miles in it. I used to get my windsurfing gear in it and drive to the beach, take my bike to events in it too. Slept in it on more occasions than I can remember. Mates hated it until a very cool windsurfing guy commented on it whilst I was getting my gear out of it, that wiped the smirks off my mates faces.
I miss that car. Always thought, but never done, about getting another.

This was back in 89′ so sometime ago now.

I never thought I’d say this about a car, but I love the way it rolls in corners – it’s comical. That Chris Harris video is great.

There are a few videos showing them driving off-road – surprisingly capable, and with a lot of ground clearance and what looks like ‘axle articulation’. Apparently there was a 4×4 version with 2 engines (second engine in the boot to drive the rear wheels!)

Were the removable bench seats only in the early ones?

I had one in the mid 90s. I loved it but…

They suffered with rust. I figured the reason you see so few now is that they’ve all rusted apart.

I did wonder about the heater and draughts etc.

Because it’s an air cooled engine, the heating is great – you direct some of the cooling air into the car and it’s toasty.

Less good in the summer when it’s 30 degrees and you’re flat out doing 70mph for about 20 minutes and the engine blows because its overheated…

Brakes were fine.

Crash safety is probably awful compared to current cars – the chassis design and sides are pretty weak.

They’re awesomz over speed bumps – like you can do them at 50mph (interlinked suspension with lots of travel) – not that that would be a sensible thing to do but you know, kids do stupid things…

Get one with a roof with a hinged frame – the roll up ones can blow off over 50mpg taking the whole thing plus rear window with it… yep, found that out…

Mine had a removeable bench seat – I thought most of them did – mine was an L reg IIRC.

Headlights were rubbish – I had mine realigned so that I could use full beams all the time…

Saw a rough looking one on a forecourt last week, asking price £4999 😯 first one I have seen in a very long time.

I’m thinking about joining the UK owners’ club in the hope that I might find someone local to me (Inverness) who has one I could have a look at.

I noticed this place hiring them: http://rob3144.wix.com/2cvhire-loch-ness
I think they are based in Kirkhill.

Daisy_duke had a couple, including one of the rare vans. I’ll drop him a note

nemesis

Crash safety is probably awful compared to current cars – the chassis design and sides are pretty weak.

You have got to be kidding me right? Crash “safety” (if it can be called that) was terrible in the mid 1980’s, when other cars on the road were made out of left over cornflake boxes and weighed under a ton. In 2015, a 5 star NCAP super mini would go straight through a 2CV without even setting it’s airbags off, let alone what a Range Rover or similar would do to one…..

no way would i drive one today (my sister had one in 1989, it was awful)

Thanks, CraigW. That looks like it might be what I need – a weekend’s hire could be money well spent.

I’ll also have a look in Tiso’s car park!

we had them when I was a kid – first car I drove.
fun cars but woefully slow – I remember getting out the car and running quicker than my Mum could drive it up a steep hill.
I remember sitting in it frozen after a winter day at the beach waiting 15 minutes for the heater to get warm enough for the screen to clear, only for the drafty quarter-lights to blast icy air into the car as soon as you set off.
I remember holding the roof down because the catches at the front had broken, again.
I remember lorries going past on the dual carriageway and Mum struggling to stop it from veering off into the verge.
I remember the first one we had dying a horrible cancerous rusty death where the chassis had rotted from the inside out!

Had a ‘c’ reg in the early ’90s for a while, which was eventually stolen and burnt out. Rather surprising the local kids managed to drive it away, it took me a while to get used to the gearshift…
Lovely wafty suspension, needed welding nearly every mot, useless heater, windows hurt if they slam closed on your elbow, terrifying dicing with trucks in the slow lane on the motorway, buffeting was pretty awful. (Drum) brakes were bad. Took it on a two month tour round Europe, no issues- managed to get it over the col d’Isere amongst other passes. Car is a good conversation icebreaker.
Removable rear ‘picnic’ seat is a nice touch, rolling the roof right back on a summers day is a pleasure.

I was looking for one a few years back and couldnt believe how much they were going for. Considering the reputation they had, I thought a grand would get you a good one……..I’d had Beetles in the 2000’s and agree that you just don’t see people actually driving these cars anymore. Fiat 126s, 850s, Beetles, Type 3S, MGBs Midges, these were all accessible, practical cars that don’t seem to be around on the roads at all now.

I came across an article online which suggested that safety might not be quite as bad as it would first seem. I think the argument was that the bonnet was long and ‘energy absorbing’ (flimsy) and the engine was designed to be knocked under the floor. Also, the thin steering wheel is designed to bend in the event of an impact.

However, the thing does look pretty flimsy, especially the doors. I really wouldn’t want to put it to the test, and would hope to be able to avoid trouble in the first place.

I always worry about crash protection in my Defender – I really wouldn’t want to roll it, for example. I’ve only had one crash in a Defender when an old man drove into the side of me. The Defender came out better than I would have expected, but a side impact in a 2CV….

That’s helpful to read about the buffeting from lorries etc. It sounds like it has a lot of ‘character’.

Galvanised chassis and bodyshells are now available, so it should be possible to keep one running, albeit at significant cost.

I’m with Bruise Willies – surprised at how much they’re being advertised for considering the reputation they had when they were available new. I never looked at them then, but I’d certainly like to try one now.

I’ve owned a 2CV since 1987, and had the same one since 1989. Full rebuilt and in immaculate condition.

I’ve not read any replies but asking what they’re like to live with will depend what you want to use it for. My wife and I loved ours when it was just the two of us but when our son was born we bought another car mainly due to the safety aspect.

We traveled all over the UK camping in hours and the 2CV is a great laugh to drive.

If you’re reasonably hand around cars then they are easy to live with as they’re easy to work on.

Every time I drive mine it makes me smile.

I’m surprised at how much they’re going for nowadays. It seems that it can cost around £20,000 to restore one, and it seems that a decent one could cost around £10,000. I’m out of touch with car prices, as I didn’t expect a mint 2CV to be worth more than about £3,000!

Don’t know where you’re getting your prices but decent ones can be had for well under £5k through the club ads.

Edit ‘They are also pretty unreliable and spares are now expensive and scarce. Not my experience, as for spares it depends which model you’re looking at and parts aren’t expensive for a ‘modern’ 2CV. Never had a problem with disc brakes really.

Ive had more 2cv’s and vans than I care to remember.
First of all you need a garage. They can’t be left outside in the UK. Join the 2CVGB club. Well worth it. If you’re in the market for one, go for pre-86, which I think is “C” reg. anyway you want French built not Spainish built. There is etching on the windows which displays where they are built. Engine wise they’re built proof. Change oil every 3k. Keep oil cooler clean to stop it over heating. Convert it to electronic igintion rather than old style points is a great idea. Go for disc brake model rather than drum. Pads easy to change as discs are inboard. Kingpins wear and need regular greesing. Often this is picked up on an MOT, but they do have a fair amount of play even when new, so question it if it fails. As you’ll except rust is the killer of all 2CV’s. All panels are nut and boilt job or slide on and off like the bonnet, tailgate and doors so that’s simple enough. The floors are paper thin and it’s often they wear under the clutch pedal so lift all the rubber mats and check it out. They rot badly at the bottom of the rear bench seat mounting where it meets the floor. The chassis will have either been replaced or is in need of doing. Get a 2cv specialist to do this for you.
They are great fun to drive. Magic ride quality and years ahead in design compared to Mini/Morris Minor/ etc. I miss mine but I will have another but needs a garage first. Good luck…

deejayen
I came across an article online which suggested that safety might not be quite as bad as it would first seem. I think the argument was that the bonnet was long and ‘energy absorbing’ (flimsy) and the engine was designed to be knocked under the floor. Also, the thin steering wheel is designed to bend in the event of an impact.

This is a 10 year old compact car against a large 1980’s car of class leading (for the era) crash safety:
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBDyeWofcLY[/video]

Now extrapolate in another 10 years of development, and replace the volvo with a 2cv……….

My first car was a cream and brown Dyane. We lived in Norfolk at the time which helped with the underpowered engine as there were so few hills to climb. Superb fun – sold it for what we bought it for after about 5 years in the family.

Then a few years later I bought a red 2CV and ran that for a couple of years. Friends in their company cars swore it had a hyperspace button as I was only ever a few minutes behind them, even on journeys of more than an hour or two down to the coast for a surfing weekend.

As above, momentum is everything. I hated idiots thinking I was a slow 2CV and pulling out on me as I was full throttle at 70mph going downhill with the wind behind me…

And definitely join 2CVGB. From what I remember they’re a good club.

If you’re in the market for one, go for pre-86, which I think is “C” reg. anyway you want French built not Spainish built.

They last of the line was built in portugal not spain and this was post 1987 as far as I remember. My ’87 is french built.

We had a couple when I was a kid. I’ve got happy memories of jumping up and down on the back seat through the open roof as we pootled around the lanes. Those were the days.

If you are seriously considering a: a 2cv and b: the bmw engine swap. It’d be worth talking to Sparrow automotive about sourcing the car and the kit. I chatted to a fella at the classic car show last year that had driven that black 2cv there, apparently it’ll get to 120ish mph, but you have to be brave! I too covet a bimmer powered 2cv, and if you’re going to chop the engine about, a solid but “ratty” runner is the way forward IMO, Dyanes are cheaper and beige-er and rarer BTW….

You could always fit a 1015cc Ami Super engine, or even a 1220 – 60hp!

Dyane was my first car.. but I think I’d be too scared to drive one on todays roads, even in Wiltshire.