20 Mar 00
One of the most eccentric cars ever made, the 2CV symbolised France in the 1950s and '60s, and was immensely popular there until the early '70s. In Britain, it took longer to catch on. Although it was actually manufactured here, conservative British tastes couldn't get on with its odd, utilitarian looks, nor its weird controls. Citroen withdrew it from sale in the '60s, but reintroduced it in 1975, and was perhaps a little surprised when it caught on, proving a hit with tree-hugging types, according to a variety of stand-up comics. It was created by Pierre Boulanger, to a bizarre design brief: he was asked to produce four wheels under an umbrella that was capable of crossing a ploughed field with a basket of eggs without breaking them.
No surprise, then, that the 2CV looked like the result of an illicit liaison between a deckchair and a Nissen hut, as one journalist put it. But there was logic to the brief: in the 1930s, much of the French population farmed smallholdings, and they were not well off. After World War Two, the 2CV did much to motorise France, but towards the end of its life it was almost despised there as a symbol of the nation's poorer, peasant past. It kept on selling, but in Britain, Germany and other countries where it had built up a loyal cult following.
