Citroen began work on a cheap no-nonsense "people's car" prior to the outbreak of World War II. It was felt that there was a huge market for such a car among the large rural population of France, and indeed one of the design stipulations was that the car must be able to carry a basket of eggs on it's back seat over a ploughed field without breaking one! It was the French equivalent of what was to become the Beetle, which was under development at the same time in Germany.
It's design however was very different in many ways to the Beetle. It had a flat twin air-cooled petrol engine driving the front wheels, long travel hydropneumatic suspension (a Citroen trademark) giving it a smooth ride, and a simple interior with hammock style seats which could be removed to give a large load area or the provide seating for a picnic.
The name 2CV comes from the French for 2 horsepower: "Deux Cheveaux", as this was the rated horsepower of the original versions. Never a quick car, the first ones had a 375cc engine which grew to 425cc, then 435cc and finally to 602cc. It proved to be a reliable car however, partly due to the fact that their was little to go wrong on them! I remember a great magazine advert for a 2CV in a British car magazine from the late 80's which listed all the equipment the car didn't have (e.g. "Electric windows, no, power steering, no, fuel injection, no") and so on, with the punchline: "No wonder it's so reliable, there's nothing to go wrong".
Development of the car was halted by WWII and the prototype was hidden by the Citroen staff to prevent the Germans getting hold of it. It went into production after the war and was made until 1990, when the last one was made at the Citroen factory on the outskirts of Paris.
This model is made by Maisto and I think it shows a 1952 2CV. The car remained largely unchanged over it's production life, with minor cosmetic changes such as a spell with square headlights in the 70's (they reverted back to round lights in the 80's), the addition of windows in the rear quarter panels behind the rear doors, and the introduction of a proper hatchback rather than the canvas flap on original cars.
Citroen made many variants based on the 2CV, including the Dyane (a 2CV in a slightly more modern bodystyle made from 1967-1984), a twin engined 4 wheel drive 2CV, the Ami 6 in 4 door and station wagon form (a larger car based on 2CV mechanicals) and the rare Bijou, of which only 207 were made between 1959 and 1964. This was only made in Citroen's British factory at Slough, which built 2CV's for the UK market from 1953 to 1959, and tried to made a more upmarket coupe 2CV from 1959 on which was the Bijou. It had a glassfibre body but was more expensive, heavier and slower than the 2CV and did not sell well at all.
2CV's made a few movie appearances including an appearance in "American Graffiti" as Richard Dreyfuss' odd "foreign car" and more notably as a very unlikely set of wheels for James Bond in "For Your Eyes Only". Roger Moore playing Bond, uses a 2CV to escape the bad guys when it becomes the only transport available after his Lotus Esprit Turbo blows itself up to prevent it being stolen!
This Maisto model has real cloth seats similar to the real thing and has both the canvas roof and boot cover rolled back (it is also available with the roof and boot closed). It is not that highly detailed but is accurate in scale and looks right. The engine cover opens to reveal a simple flat twin engine. Also being a Maisto, it is a budget priced model. Overall a good effort by Maisto and deserving of 6/10 marks.
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