How Citroen’s Deux Chevaux (the tiny “2hp” vehicle actually produced nearly 9 hp; the original version weighed less than 1,300 pounds, was quite peppy, and got nearly 50 mpg) went from being a cheap, cute car for commoners to a chic, chère voiture for jaded tourists who’d been there, done that.
It didn’t happen overnight. The basic 2CV was created by Citroen in the 1930s to address the needs of French farmers who needed wheels in addition to tractors. It was to be “the people’s car,” much like the VW “Bug” in Germany.
There are other similarities: the VW Beetle eventually became an icon of America’s hippy generation, which could afford the adorable insect to travel a new world. The “Bug” was just what a newly enfranchised college kid would need: an affordable – and reasonably attractive – way to get around. It took another generation for the French 2CV – always considered cute but uncomfortable (the back seats are still exceedingly excruciating) – to upgrade by adding a soft top.
The “Bug” became a popular convertible in the 1950s and a choice for with-it housewives to transport kids and groceries. I had a friend in Gstaad whose husband owned a handsome black classic hard-top Mercedes and who bought his pixie-cut, blonde wife a beige convertible “Bug” in which to zip around the Swiss countryside; she was definitely not a hippy, but my dear friend loved her little bug; she also did not go unnoticed.
For the past decade, French merchants have been buying up vintage 2CVs, refurbishing and repainting them to advertise their businesses, setting them back as much as 25,000 euros (the original cost of the 2CV was the equivalent of 300 euro in today’s currency).
In the French countryside, one now sees 2CVs in pastel colors, exploring vineyards of Burgundy and Bordeaux, the lavender fields of Province, and weaving in and out of luxury vehicles in traffic jams. Many of these 2CV drivers have their own Ferraris and Lamborghinis in their garages on la Côte d’Azure, but, hey, why not give a guest a fun (if uncomfortable) experience of the New France? After all, a former French President is now in jail and one of the world’s oldest museums has just been robbed of its Crown Jewels.
For fans of classic French films from the 1950s and 1960s – think Jean-Luc Goddard‘s “Breathless” starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, – have discovered the glamour and thrill of driving through Paris in a 2CV, speeding around the giant sixteen-lane circle below the Arc de Triomphe, or whirring through Place de la Concorde and over to les Invalides and le Tour Eiffel.
Several tour companies offer excursions taking you around the French capital in a 2CV of your choice of model and color that includes transport to and from your hotel, unforgettable gastronomic meals in the city’s most well-known eateries, and a pit stop in one of the city’s elegant new “speakeasy” cocktail bars. Concierges will not even blink an eye at your chosen mode of transport. They may even give you an admiring “tres cool” thumbs up.
My one piece of advice besides “going for it” is to choose one of the companies that offer the 2CV experience with a driver. The French are undisciplined drivers and priorité à droit (the car on the right has priority) is as sacrosanct as a morning croissant; an accident can involve a mountain of paperwork and even jail if you don’t have a proper driving license.
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