Sorry Sam, we've got a C1 and it does NOTHING a 2cv does admirably, it's not that cheap, it has no space at all (try and get a sheet of chipboard or a length of dado rail home in one) it's not clever in any sense, I can't take it dustbineering without knowing some massive bit of plastic will break and cost me thousands, the suspenion is boring and not all that comfortable and it's not even a Citroen!

The closest you'll get to a 2cv nowadays is a Tata Nano, and even then they're going to be pricey when they come to the UK.

Because of the ridiculous safety regulations cars are built to these days you'll never, ever see another true 'replacement' 2cv, everything will be too heavy, too over engineered but underdesigned.

I concur.

Yep thats the only reason why car manufactures will never be able to TRULY recreate a classic icon

I've heard on the grape vine that they may have this concept car at the Ace Cafe celebrations on the 3rd October

Anyone else remember this '2cv concept' from a while ago - it at least echoed the original in some way.





For me the new FIAT 500, beetle, Mini, and the forthcoming Isetta are all interesting and at least a bit different, however they're maybe not for me. But its a shame manufacturers can't come up with -new- distinctive designs instead of harking back to the past to recreate something which cannot match the originals.

For something nearer to the design philosophy of the 2cv, you'd have to look at the Nano, or dare I say it the smart - cars designed to meet a specific need just as the 2cv was in its day.

For post war France, the 2cv was the killer app. Didn't the waiting list grow to several years wait almost as soon as people could order it? Shows how right Boulanger, and Citroen got it.

The more I look at THAT monstrosity, the more it looks like a crude C3 photoshopped. Don't think it's legit.

Thats all "that" Design was Stu, the car was supposably based on the c3 running gear with a few 2cv styling hints here and there... i just assumed it already was a photoshopped c3 when i first saw it.. im sure its only an "artists impression" anyways..

I don't think it matters that any of these concept things look like a 2cv, who buys a 2cv because of what it looks like? People who want cars because of their looks are surely more likely to buy something that 'looked' sporty or funky or something, not buy a 2cv because it looks like what it is, basic metalworking techniques forming a rain cover over some seats. Surely the very point of a 2cv is that it's basic and easily fixed/cheaply and easily disposed of when it's broken beyond repair?

We live in a very different world nowadays to the one which spawned cars like the 2cv, the Mini, the Fiat 500, the model T ford etc. All designed to mobilise people who couldn't afford the contemporary motoring offerings of the time. Today, everybody can afford a car, even me, and as such everybody owns a car. It's not beyond the masses anymore. That's where the 2cv really scored in that it came at a time when a car was a luxury, and it helped move the culture of motoring towards a viewpoint where a car is now a nescessity, or at least a product which everybody can afford to buy an run. Unfortunately, the other thing which made the car available to everybody was easy to obtain finance options, so whereas there's no way on earth I'll ever have €20,000 cash to spend, I can walk into a Citroen dealer and they'll give me a car worth that much for a small deposit and neverending monthly repayments. This means nobody has to settle for the cheapest option now. Nobody had to make do with a pushbike, nobody has to take a bus, and nobody needs a car that costs half as much as every other car and which they can afford to fix themselves.

A market does exist for this sort of car however, and it's countries which have growing economies and a population who are steadily becoming wealthier. That's why I think the Tata Nano will be a massive hit, and why I think it's the 'new' 2cv of our time.

I'd rather they took an original 2cv, strengthened the panels and chassis, made it a bit more refined, put a 1 litre air cooled engine in, power steering and updated the brakes but essentially, it still looked like an old 2cv.
The new beetle is just a golf with a party hat on as is the new 500 (a punto with party hat), the new mini though is in a league of it's own although it is still a quirky BMW!

Deano, as I mentioned earlier, only Porsche's customers could afford that sort of indulgence. Even then, the customers who purchase a '911' today are very different to those who bought in the early 70s and buy for different reasons. I followed a silver 912 (911 with the air cooled flat four instead of the six ) last night in the dusk. It looked utterly beguiling, truly beautiful and very desirable. I don't think the current 911 is - it has become almost a pastiche of itself, the mid-engined, better, cheaper Boxster being what Porsche couldn't originally afford to make when they productionised the 356.

If you want the very best sporting car today which is also capable of sustained, relaxed high speed, then the Audi R8 knocks spots off any Porsche. Dream as much as you want about an up-dated 2CV - it is an impossibility.