"Umbrella on wheels", "warhorse" or even "ugly duckling", the Citroën 2 CV was given many names during its long construction period. Despite many restrictions in terms of the objective of transporting four people protected from the weather at almost motorcycle costs, the design of the 2 CV demonstrated a great deal of innovation and brilliant engineering expertise. The fact that around five million "ducks" were built over a period of 40 years proves the foresight of the builders. This report tells the early history of the 2 CV and describes an example from 1958 in detail, illustrated with a large number of current and historical pictures, several sales brochures, the 1953 handbook and a series of technical drawings.