What sucks about flux

AFAIR the 2CV was nearly ready for production before WW2, but was then put on hold for the duration.

The claimed original spec was "that it should be able to carry a farmer, his wife, and a sack of potatoes across a ploughed field". This was why it had that very clever, (but very complicated), long-travel suspension.

Sounds like Paris or Rome. Certainly not law- abiding Germany, and not the UK. Did your 2CV (which I undertand stands for deux cheveux, two hair- power) have the later blinking light indicators, or the earlier little semaphore arm, that usually got stuck, and even when it worked perfectly was practically invisible?

Paul Burke

The prototype was actually water cooled. Development continued secretly during the war, a sort of passive resistance, as it meant they weren't working for the nazis.

It's also pretty good at alps, the sides of houses, and with the seats being removable canvas deckchair sort of things, carrying pigs, chickens, even sheep. Just remember not to go too fast round corners.

Paul Burke

I bought mine in 1961 and sold it in 1968 to a friend. He drove it for nearly another ten years before breaking a tooth off a gear.

I was the ultimate nerd/geek in those days, nothing but distilled water in it. Plus I added an oil-filter unit to it from a Caravelle.

Only did that once when I was quite inebriated, but it stayed upright and just rolled backwards into the desert... for those who know the area, the *square* curve below Pinnacle Peak

...Jim Thompson

Hello Paul,

That's the kind of place where I got my first practical driving experience and it took a while to realize that this ain't kosher in other parts of Europe.

It had the light, no semaphore. Mine was a 1969 model. The usual way of indicating that you wanted to change lanes in many countries was to dangle your arm out the window. If you were inclined to indicate, that is.

Regards, Joerg

Hello Tony,

There was another requirement: A carton of eggs on the rear bench was supposed to arrive unharmed after barreling over a dirt road.

The suspension was the best I ever had in a car. You could even adjust the damping factor without special tools.

Regards, Joerg

Hello Paul,

I carried a huge fridge/freezer in mine because the proud owner of a VW bus absolutely could not maneuver it in there. I just removed the canvas top, the trunk lid (which simply slides out to the side) and its support (two Philips screws). Of course, acceleration from 0-35mph took several minutes.

It was pretty good cornering. You just have to get used to the extreme listing. Once on a snowy winter day I zipped along a country road and passed a BMW. The driver did not appreciate being passed by such a measly vehicle and tried to keep up. In a curve that wasn't that tight he finally spun out. Missing his headlights in the rear view I turned around and asked if he needed a hand to get his car back on the road. "Absolutely not", was his firm reply.

Regards, Joerg

At least that saved it from the ultimate fate that befell quite a few - breaking apart somewhere under the windshield. The early warning was doors coming open on cornering.

Presumably you got away without the water in the oil problem, too (wet liners sitting on paper gaskets)

Not to mention the propensity to leave the road backwards on quite gentle curves at quite low speeds.

ROTFLMAO!

Or the semi-centrifugal clutch that pinned a buddy of mine against a wall when he left it in gear and went around the front to get something from the back of the garage?

Hello Fred,

The Citroen 2CV? I never saw any like that. When did they build those? The 2CV typically (maybe always) had a four speed, regular clutch and the gears were located a bit reversed. 1st was left and back, 2nd was forward etc. Like some Datsuns except that the 2CV didn't have a 5th gear. The stick came straight out of the middle of the dash and looked like a cane.

A car that had a centrifugal clutch was the Dutch DAF and very few small Volvos after they bought DAF and produced them there. That's the only case I know of.

Regards, Joerg

Deux chevaux ( 2 horses ) my friend.

See the 'old way' of rating horsepower.

Like Joerg, I've never seen those on a 2CV. Too complicated for one I'd have thought. I do recall them on cars like the Austin A35.

Graham

Actually they are reputedly virually unrollable. They just happen to lean too much in corners for passenger comfort.

Graham

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wall

Memories... I parked my fathers' DAF66 against a tree, at 90 KM/Hr. He bought a Volvo66 to replace it.

Hello Frank,

Oops, that probably resulted in some lengthy discussions with your parents. My mom had a DAF44 with an air cooled boxer engine. What many people don't know is that they had a variable transmission, no stepped gear ratios. The forward-reverse handle was merely a mechanical switch so the car could do the same speed in reverse as it could forward. Probably not for too long since the engine cooling won't be too efficient.

When I lived in the Netherlands I remember that they had DAF races on TV where the cars had to be driven in reverse. Lots of rollovers...

This car also had a downhill brake switch. Something similar to a jake brake.

Regards, Joerg

Hello Graham,

And on early VW beetles, the split window kind. The 2CV was a much simpler car. In an obvious cost reduction effort they mounted the turn signal as a lantern on the side, eliminating the need to have two fixtures for each direction. The early ones also had just one brake light in the middle.

The scary part was the heater on earlier models like mine. There was a simple handle and a deflector plate. On or off, no in between. The heat was simply re-directed cooling air from the two cylinders. So you had better check for leaks very regularly. I think in the 70's they began installing exhaust heat exchangers.

Regards, Joerg

I think Van Doorn is still in business, still making continuously variable gearboxes. Steel belts now, and cones moved by hydraulic cylinders.

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I only had some broozes, quite a miracle. I was lucky that the 25 cm diameter tree snapped when I hit it. My father went to the place where the remains had been towed to, not knowing in what shape it really was. I still see him coming back from that trip, with the car radio in his hand, as a souvenir. He only asked "are you sure you're allright?".

The reverse races were fantastic ;) Those damn DAF's went as fast in reverse as in forward. I bet you can't even organize such races anymore, with everybody getting excited over safety and such.

from

Back in the late '60s, police in the Netherlands used DAF's as local patrol cars. One winter in Eindhoven they found out the hard way how badly those centrifugal clutches behaved on ice - I forget how many crashed, but I believe they changed the vehicles they used shortly after.

Regards Ian

Remember to pull it back in, before you turn, or you get gravel rash.

Never drive a 2CV with your elbow out the window ;-)