1982 Citroen 2CV A from UK and Ireland - Comments

General wear and tear. Reversing up a single lane hill when visiting my Grandparents killed the gearbox in our first. 2nd was a '92 model, It was stolen and over-turned by animal rights activists after French farmers had burned some British sheep at the bottom of the Eiffel tower. 3rd one was taken off the road after I collided with a Volve estate. Driver's side damage, I came out without a scratch, and after the police came and went, I drove it away. (The Volvo wasn't going anywhere.)

Not much in the way of materials, but put together in such a way that car designers are only now recognising as safe and reliable, e.g. Smart, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, etc.....

Chrysler tried to copy it for this year with their "Chrysler China Vehicle", and they couldn't make it work. The originals are still the best.

Best point? It's not boring. It's the most un-boring car on earth.

But of course! It is proven that 2CVs are far stronger than Volvos!

How on earth do you give it a 6 for performance? 0-60 in over 25 seconds!!! oh my word, cars of this velocity deserve not to be on any roads - extremely dangerous, because it creates hazards for people in normal cars who have to over take these boats!! please sell your car it is a boat! (sorry)

Anyone who thinks ill of these wonderful little cars must never have had the absolute pleasure of driving one. Imagine, if you will, yourself as a tot, pushing a toy car around a rug or in a sandpit. Now, imagine yourself actually in that toy, driving it! Take note of the grin on your face... thank you, Citroen!

Though I'm a fan of performance cars, I owned and loved a 2CV for a couple of years. It's a car with great character – in rather short supply these days. It's also *almost* a thoroughly excellent design - hardly anything is wasted in its construction, and it's surprisingly tough. But there's an air hose that runs past the exhaust manifold which catches on fire every now and then (maybe this is a UK thing because the steering's on the right??).

Other good things:

* You can drive over speed bumps at just about any speed you like, and the suspension just soaks it up. Works in reverse, too...

* Very easy to make clutch-less gear changes, should your clutch ever go west in the middle of a journey.

* You can crank-start the engine if the battery's dead.

* You can leave it unlocked, anywhere, and no-one will even bother to look under the driver's seat to see if you've stashed a stereo there...

Bad things:

* Front crumple zone extends all the way to the rear bumper.

* Sisyphus-like inability to ever make it to the top of a hill.

* Noise.

"How on earth do you give it a 6 for performance? 0-60 in over 25 seconds!!! oh my word, cars of this velocity deserve not to be on any roads" - oh PLEEEEAASE!!! Whoever wrote that please buy yourself a life (and a 2CV at that). You have obviously never owned one because if you had then you would know that the 2CV was never intended as a performance vehicle, just a vehicle originally intended for those interested in getting from point A to B without hassle.

Yes I agree, what do you expect from a 1982 602cc engine anyway. 0-60 in 25 seconds isn't great performance, but what do you expect?

I own a 2Cv Charleston from 1982!!! French Model!!! (Well, that much normal as I am french living France...)!!

That's a great car! Easy to fix!! Really easy, I mean it!!

I do not know any better introducing to learn mechanic!!

Parts are cheap (well, cheaper than other car...)!!

That's also a real pleasure to drive on it with opened roof!!!

I also love the sound of the Flat Twin!!!

By The way: I ma moving to Ireland (Mayo) within 20 days and I am looking for other 2cv Fanatics. SO, if you have any informations, drop me an e-mail: bbhcfr@yahoo.fr.

I was reading a book on cars that did not quite succeed and whilst the 2CV got some positive comments in terms of economy and simplicity, its safety record was described as being "right down there with combine harvesters and twin bar electric fires on a damp bathroom floor".

With the way people drive today there is clearly no way I would dare to drive this car on normal roads.

I would however love to drive it if I lived in some isolated country location, in the desert, or on some island where the advantages would then outnumber the disadvantages. It has a cool look and looks like it would be great fun to drive! Besides James Bond used it in one of his films so it can't be all bad can it?

I use a 2CV as my daily driver on a 20 mile each way commute. One-up it keeps up with the traffic and people in much faster cars are always holding ME up. The trick is to think ahead and don't slow down for corners. Obviously you wouldn't want to hit anything, but that applies to any vehicle.

I own a Morgan, a Rolls Shadow and a new-type Mini as well, but the Citroen is the most used and most useful of the lot - you can get a 5 metre length of wood home if you poke it through the sunroof and out of the boot.

25 seconds isn't that bad either. There were many cars slower than the 2CV. That car is simply biblical! I so wanna race these!

I am currently in the process of restoring a 2CV. I have driven one, once, for about five minutes, and rode in one for about the same.

I agree with the comments above that the car is just so unique and so different, that you wonder (a) what was Andre thinking about when he started these (okay, he was dead before the 2CV ever got off the ground, but you get my point) and (b) when was the last time you were involved in an accident?

Seriously. When? If you answer "oh, just last week/month/year", you shouldn't be driving ANYTHING at all, in all honesty. And if you have ever driven a large truck, the principles are the same - plan ahead, and assume everyone else is an idiot, and you will be fine.

If you buy one to get to work and back as fast as possible, you will develop the mindset of the poster of April 2001. If you buy one because you want one, and have half a sense of how to drive, and take care of your car, it will be tremendously rewarding.

Hopefully I'll have mine by March...

I use mine as a daily driver here in Spain... I have other cars but choose to drive the CV. Perfect summer car and fast enough in most situations. People tend not to suffer from road rage if you hold them up a bit... rather they smile (laugh?) when they do get past... It makes pedestrians smile,kids love it, what more can you ask?