Car Spotting: Citroen 2CVs I have Known and Loved

In this post I propose to display all the Citroen 2CVs and related models that I have either owned (legally) or cared for (physical presence in my yard).

MY EXTREME CASE OF LUNACY

The following 2 photos were taken in response to my insurance man saying "If you belonged to a car club you could get a better rate. I think there have to be at least 5 in the club." At that point I had 6.

I got them all started up, drove to the park, took these photos and got my club discount.

THE CARS, ONE AT A TIME

1970 Mehari
It started with this Mehari (2CV chassis & running gear with plastic body) which I bought back in the early 1980's. We owned/sold/owned it again for about 35 years. Here I am sitting near a lake in Central California. We drove the car 1200 miles (no top, no doors, no seat belts, no sense!) on vacation.

Here I am in our back canyon, driving through the "swallow-everything-up" nasturtiums.

After 15-20 years, I sold the Mehari in a fit of weakness (we were moving to England) to a man at work. After a few scares on the freeway he became afriad to drive it, and sold it to someone else who also neglected it. But Providential intervention directed me down an alley one day, years later, and I saw it slumped over between two garages.

The suspension had broken (a weak link) and I tracked down the owner. He said he'd never been able to find the right part, and abandoned the car. I looked in the glove box, saw 2 of the spare parts I'd had made a decade earlier, paid $400 to ransom the paperwork from him, and dragged it home.

Here is the replacement part. It took less than an hour to fix the suspension.

Of course the restoration took longer...

I like driving cars with body panels off. Why, I don't know.

Eventually it looked like this (plus doors which aren't shown here)

After another decade or so of ownership I finally sold it again. Here's its departure photo.

1986 2CV aka CVCV or TREE CV

The second Citroen 2CV (with a proper, metal body) was first spotted by us while cycling in Canada.

We tracked down its owners, made a deal and picked it up later in Seattle.

I would say this is our "Main" 2CV. We have owned it about 30 years and taken it all over the Western United States.

Originally we named it CVCV because the California plate 2CV was already taken by someone else.

There was a brief period when our friend Gary begged me to sell it to him - and I did.

He painted it again original color and added panels to make it a Woodie. We decided (jointly) to change its name to TREE CV.

Gary passed away a couple years ago and we now own the car again. And this neon sign.

1955 Slough RHD

My neighbor went fishing in Alaska and spotted a 2CV in an Auto Trader magazine. The car was in an auction in Seattle - had been built in the UK Citroen factory, shipped to Bangkok where it sat in a warehouse for 30 years, was rescured, brought to the US, etc etc. It's an extremely rare car.

I bought it, brought it down to San Diego and drove it occasionally. But it's for show, not go.

We already had CVCV

We took it back to its home in England when we lived there in 1992. After our tour of duty ended, I didn't want to bring it back to the States so we sought a buyer in England. Unsuccessfully.

So I sold it to a German fellow (more about that below).

Axel's XXL

A German couple touring the USA in a 2CV broke down in the desert a hundred miles from here. Not knowing them, but responding to a distress call, I went out and rescued the couple and their car.

The story surrounding that disaster is a very long one...

We became great friends and for a year or two I sheltered their car in our back yard while they were back in Germany (and traveling the world with their other 2CVs).

Here's a rare photo of my Mehari and XXL together, from inside one of our other cars.

Axel had seen Slough at our house during the breakdown adventure, and told me he would buy it whenever I wanted to sell. He did, and got it into a German car museum for a number of years.

Axel and Uschi eventually moved from Germany to the USA, and the Slough car is now in their collection in Seattle.

As is XXL which is shown here on the occasion of Axel and Uschi being married in Las Vegas.

The trunk extension is so long because Axel is so tall (yes, they can sleep in the car).

Claus' Hony-Moon

Claus is another German guy with an adventurous streak. We hosted his car for a few years.

We've had lots of fun with him, his wife Silvi and their kids. Here we are in Sweden in '07.

Hony-Moon lived in the back garden with Chris's Van and Axel's XXL.

Chris's 3CV Van

I just realized I haven't introduced the Van. We met Chris and Debbie in France on our first 2CV trip, the year after buying CVCV. We saw them again on tours and traveled with them many times in Europe. Here we are on a rainy night camping on Mt Olympus, in Greece.

Chris bought this van from a mate who was selling it for scrap. He paid about £12.50 and then drove it hard around Europe and even to Moscow. Eventually it broke in half from rust, and he used it for a garden shed for years.

Here's Debby working on the van, with Pink the cat.

That's Chris' Mehari in the background.

It's safe to say Chris knows this van "inside and out"

When they came over in 1994 for a tour of the Pacific Northwest, with a newly-refurbished van, we invited them to San Diego. We soon realized they would have to fly home, so we asked if they van could stay. The fact it was refurbished didn't mean it didn't need work, so every year Chris flies over and brings parts for Citroen maintenance days...

From our trip to Northern California 2000, the Golden Gate bridge.

And the Hollywood Sign.

Let's see 2018-1994 = 24 years and counting...

Of course, their coming gives us an excuse to hunt out new places to go and sights to see. Like birdwatching in Imperial Beach.

Work days. The van and C'est 2CV. You haven't met this one yet, but it appears later in this story.

Repainting the van.

Down to Otay Lakes.

On our way to Death Valley, 2011 we stopped at the Boraxo Mine.

We ran out of gas, just last week (May 2018).

CEST 2CV Charleston

I was in Toronto, Canada for business, a friend spotted the advert, and I was hooked. I bought the car, went home for provisions and tools, then on the next business trip drove it home to California. Am I crazy, or what?

The car was "restored" by this shop teacher and his class of high schoolers. That IS NOT A GOOD THING.

But it looked nice, and I was confident I could make it. The first night it got tapped in the parking lot, and the next day one cylinder went missing. Actually one plug blew out of the cylinder head. When you only have 2 cylinders, a missing one is noticeable.

Undeterred, I got a spark plug repair kit "Helicoil" and put the plug back in. Heading for the border, I crossed with no problem and got my picture taken by the nice official. This is PRE-9/11.

I stopped in Indianapolis with my friend Kurt Murray. He offered to ship my car to Calif if I would come to my senses.

No such luck. Here I am near the Mississippi River.

And here with Michele Yu, one of our many "adopted" kids (having none of our own).

More photo opportunites presented themselves - when driving West, into the wind, with no radio, one looks for diversions.

A cactus will do in a pinch, at dawn.

Finally made it to the Pacific Ocean!

This car was for Laurie, a special edition "Charleston" with flashy paint, wooly interior and all the luxury any 2CV can provide.

Sadly it wasn't such a nice car underneath.

We used the car a lot,

because it was really an attractive machine. Shown here with the alternative Charleston paint scheme on a car owned by Troy and DeeDee.

But this car had had a tough early life in Belgium, then Canada, and what didn't break began to rust through - such as the hood and the frame.

After about 10 years it sprang an oil leak as well, and I sold it in exasperation.

Red / Green 2CV

I don't remember much about this car. I bought it from a friend of a friend who was moving to Colorado and couldn't take the car with him.

We kept it for a year or two but as you can see, we were overstocked with 2CVs at that time. I sold it to the owner of a French bakery in La Jolla. He had it in front of his store for a few years, then it disappeared.

YELLOW VAN

I liked having possession of Chris's 3CV Van, but wasn't sure it was going to be a keeper. I was afraid he would take it home someday. So I kept my eyes open for replacements.

One day I saw this, and on a business trip to Georgia drove 100 miles to check it out. A van made in Argentina and "imported" to the USA. It drove terribly. It was rough. It was rusty! No wonder the Argentinians pawned it off on silly Americans! I passed on it.

Years later I saw an advert for this van. "Restored at great expense, like new, show car, etc etc." I bought it for a good price, sight unseen, and had it dropped at my client's warehouse in Pennsylvania.

I flew back there intending to drive it home, and was astonished to discover it was that same piece of crap I'd driven in Atlanta. Albeit with a lot of time and energy expended on making it lovely. Here I am with my boss Joe Black, who loved chugging around Valley Forge in it.

But not quite enough was working for me to drive it 2500 miles home (max speed 45 mph). So I shipped it and set to work fixing everything they'd missed in the cosmetic restoration. Which wasn't too much, really.

It still drove like crap. Only 15-20 horsepower on a good day from its 425cc engine.

But it was flashy, and cute, and good for car shows,

and cameo appearances in movies,

I sold it to a lady in SFO who wanted to put frou-frou stuff in the back and sell out of it at swap meets. They'd trailer the van to the meet, then roll it into their booth space.

No problem - probably the best thing for it. I've never missed this van.

2CV 4x4

I like the desert and I like offroading. So it would be natural for me to want a 2CV that can go off-road. Actually they all can, but some are better at it than others. An English madman named Louie constructed special Citroen 2CVs with a bespoke chassis, raised suspension, etc. What could be better? Nothing! So I commissioned one.

Using a body shell from my friend Chris' mom, and her number plate/registration, Louis set to work.

Yahoo! Offroad.

Now even though it was a commissioned build with new chassis and some parts, it was still an old car which had been dismantled, then used hard and put it away wet.

Sometimes it was even a bit too messy for me.

So each time we went to England we had to clean it up and get it ready for use.

That's okay. We took it to France, Austria, Italy, Scotland, and everywhere-in-between.

Top of the Alps to ya!

Sea Level, North Sea at Lindisfarne. Twice

On a prettier day, in Scotland

And in Dorset, where Chris lives.

Finally having 10 cars in the USA and this one in England just got too much for me. I sold it one late summer day in 2005.

I do miss this car, but at the time I wanted to bring it back to the USA, we were at war with terror, angry with the French, and the politics & expense at border protection were just too much to chance.

There are a few more cars that I haven't owned (technically) but which have come my way for a period of time. Rather than physical custodian, I have been caretaker/mechanic.

Komaniecki's 2CV

A year after we bought CVCV, we traveled to France. Or maybe it was a couple years later, I forget. I was invited to help in the restoration of a car to be displayed at the World Meeting fo the Friends of the 2CV. Thjis was a 1949, number 19 from the start of production, and our friend Christian wanted it restored in a hurry. A week!

We started with this:

We punched out spot welds, ground the metal smooth, and fastened on "new" panels taken from a second, non-rusty body shell from the same year. Soon the car looked like this:

I learned more about the 2CV in a week than you could in years of ownership. A bunch of French fanatics going at this car "hammer and tongs" (literally). They burned off the paint with a welding torch, and scraped the debris.

These aren't mechanics really, they all have day jobs in offices and factories.

But they took the time off for bonding and recreating... Bernard, with glasses, is a cartographer. The old guy in the back is Christian's cousin from Poland who spoke no French, or English.

Somehow we all got the job done.

I'll have to finish this story in another post. But it was inspiring, at an early point in my 2CV journey.

Mehari Plage

This is a car I spotted in the South of France, where private beaches, luxury yachts and expensive hotels provide reclusive millionaires with a place to hang out. We were just passing through but saw this car for sale. I managed to contact the owners, get a test drive, and psych myself up for a purchase. The only problems were:

- in a foreign country

- no internet / no email / no money

- meeting people in a couple days in Geneva

Michele's Ami 6

This is one unusual 2CV. Homely, one might say. It belonged to Michele, a neighbor. Since she had a French boyfriend, she bought a French car. It was cute in a way, and quite fun to drive.

There was no one to service it in San Diego other than disgruntled regular mechanics who were fooled briefly by her blonde charm. So I took on its maintenance for a few years.

Eventually Michele married and moved away, and we lost track of the Ami.

DeeDee's Charleston

DeeDee and Troy live in Coronado and were Francophiles for awhile, with a house in Provence. Like many dreams, it soured and they gave up their place. They bought this car as part of the dream.

It was fun going places with the two Charlestons, and I was happy to help them keep theirs going.

They adopted, and the parental roles plus work eventually meant the 2CV had to go.

Unknown Ripple Bonnet

Early 2CVs had corrugated front hoods (bonnets) and thus got the nickname ripple bonnet. Someone asked me to work on this car and I did several times.