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A Brief History of Citröen, Part 2: The 2CV - Designed in the 1930s, Built Until the 1990s!
Between 1977-79 my Mom had a Citroen Ami-8, a 3CV evolution, slightly upscaled, like a micro station-wagon. A simple and amazing car. Some of the last 3CV were produced in Argentina by IES (Industras Eduardo Sal-Lari. See pic.)
We had one of these when i was a kid, and my brother still drives it ! ("2CV6 Speciale" with different colour headlights 'cos someone nicked the originals in a station car park !).
To this day the recongnisable purr of the citroen air cooled engine still reminds me of holidays in the south of France. Its a truly amazing car and an ID masterpiece. It had so many clever ( and some not so clever ) details to it, and it certainly fit the brief for simplicity and versatility
They are also great fun to drive. The suspension is increadible so you can accelerate if you see a speed bump, but going round corners at speed is quite a sight, the whole car looks like it will turn over! To such an extent that when it came out, Citroen reportedly offered 10.000 Francs to anyone that managed to roll one without external help, and the prize was never claimed!
Just one thing though, they are NOT good on mountain roads! The brake servo is almost INSIDE the tiny engine, so they overheat on the way up and have NO brakes on the way down !!! ... still fun though, once your heart beat recovers !!!