That the Citroen 2CV is growing in popularity says something good about car fans. The weird, slow, floppy machine is more of a departure from modern motoring than just about anything else on the road.
So, if you’re one of the brave few who’s looking to buy one, Hagerty’s latest video is for you. And the takeaway is, watch out for rust.
In his list of top three things to look out for, host Sam Smith says to watch out for a rusty body, rust along the body, and oxidization anywhere on the body of the vehicle. He says this because Citroen took great pains to make the drivetrain as reliable as possible, removing gaskets and failure points wherever its engineers could.
The result is a car that can be fixed with a single wrench, says Smith, though he ends the video pushing the 2CV up a hill, somewhat undercutting his argument.
Also Watch: Chris Harris Drag Races His ‘Glorious’ Citroen 2CV Against Another 2CV
He also argues that although no 2CV could ever be accused of being fast, the earlier ones are so slow that they border on the impractical. Even though later models only made around 30 hp, it’s enough to keep up with modern traffic and even go highway speeds if you have a long enough run-up to get up to speed.
Whether or not you’ll actually be going on the highway is another question entirely because the joy of the 2CV is in its sluggishness. It’s a fine example of how speed and sportiness aren’t everything that makes up the joy of cars; it can also be nifty engineering, clever solutions, and, in the 2CV’s case, a freakish obsession with comfort.
Sports cars are all fine and dandy, but to limit ourselves to them is like limiting ourselves to just action movies. Sure, they can be great, but I love a goofball comedy all the same.