France speaks of the Deux Chevaux - Citroën 2CV in (historic) test
Summary
The Citroën 2CV was intended to be a car for those who couldn't actually afford one. Spartan and without much ornamentation, it was practical, spacious and cheap to maintain. Despite its simplicity, Citroën implemented some interesting solutions to problems. This historical article from hobby magazine reproduces the thoughts of the specialist press at the time.
This article contains the following chapters
- New solutions with tradition
- Spartan and unattractive, but practical and spacious
- A car as a necessity
- Huge demand
Estimated reading time: 3min
Preview (beginning of the article)
After years of guesswork about the "Volkswagen" that one of the most important French automobile factories wanted to bring out after the war alongside its well-known cars and trucks, a leading trade journal was suspected of factory espionage when it reported a few things about it to its curious readers. Now around 55,000 Citroen 2-CVs are already on the road. For the first time, this car - even the bare chassis - was shown and offered abroad at the Geneva Motor Show. Technically, it is exceptionally interesting, as it features innovative solutions to various design problems. Naturally, the Citroen 2-CV had the traditional front-wheel drive and individual suspension for all four wheels. The fan-cooled two-cylinder boxer engine with overhead valves controlled by pushrods and rocker arms is installed in front of the front axle at right angles to the direction of travel and equipped with a downdraft carburetor with fuel pump, mixture preheating, air filter and an oil cooler. With a bore of 62 mm and a displacement of 375 cc, it delivers 9 hp at a compression ratio of 6.2:1 and 3800 rpm (the 2-CV are control hp). A blocked four-speed gearbox with stick shift is used to make good use of the specifically low output (24.1/hp) of this particularly robust and durable short-stroke engine. The individual gears are synchronized; the fourth gear is designed as a fast and slow gear.
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