At the end of my study in 2002 I was looking for a hobby car to learn about car technique and have a fun drive besides my Daily Opel Vectra (Vauxhal Cavalier). I was thinking about a couple of cars. VW Golf MK1, VW Bug, Citroen 2cv, Mini. One of my collegues had a 2cv and after a drive for 1 km, the 2cv won.
Driving was fun. Technique was easy. Cabriolet, and parts were easy to get with 2 specialist in a range of 20 from my home.

So That is the reason I bought my grey 2cv6 end 2002. And in 2009 the Ami was the second A-type.

I had never considered owning a 2cv. To me they were a curious anachronism, and I really couldn't understand why they still made them. Then, with the dawn of the 21st century my eldest son was laid off work over Christmas.

At 19, he had been working for a temping agency as he was waiting to join the Police force, and had just taken his entry exams. Rather than sit around over the Christmas period he looked for more work ready for the new year, and was offered a position as a farm labourer, the drawback being he had to start on December the 28th so didn't have much of a holiday. He left for his first day at work that morning, and within minutes of arriving at the farm the farmer 'accidentally' shot him dead.

I'll not bore you with the details but as you can imagine that event had a profound effect on the family, most things just fell apart. I needed something to focus on, something to take my mind off the tragedy, and one day completely on a whim I saw a 2cv on ebay and bought it sight unseen. As you can imagine that could have been a whole new nightmare in itself, but I went down to Derbyshire and drove it home no problem.

Picking up the car was novel. I arrived at the garage, who had taken it in part ex (and quickly stuffed it around the back out of sight) only to see it parked in a compound, nose against the chain link fence. Local kids had used the bonnet to stand on while climbing over the fence, and consequently it has a large dent in it.

The car looked much worse than it did on the photo's, which must have been taken months earlier. I had no idea why I had bought it. I knew absolutely nothing about 2cv's, I knew nothing of what type of engine configuration it had, how the gears worked, nothing! But I did know that finding those things out would perhaps take my mind off recent events.

The seller with one press casually popped the large dent back out of the bonnet, wiped the algae from the windscreen, inserted the keys and it started up immediately. Within minutes I was off!

My other son Craig came down with me to pick it up, he was 17 at the time and thought I'd lost my marbles, we laughed all the way home at what a piece of sh*t I'd bought. I didn't mind though, because at least we had laughed.

Over the next couple of months I 'serviced' it by changing the oil, brush painted it with a mixture of enamel and dulux house paint, and booked an open ended ferry ticked Portsmouth to Cherbourg. Such was the reliability of the little car I had supreme faith in it, and with a tent and some camping gear Craig and I set off to tour France. We took no spares, no tools, and no breakdown cover, just a tent and a credit card. The plan was to abandon it if it broke down and catch the train home.

That week the weather was fantastic, we spent the entire time with the roof down, we travelled for miles on empty roads, received a standing ovation from the cafe customers on both sides of a street in Caen, (another story) and generally lived for the moment. Far from letting us down the little car did us proud, and having such a short but intense 2cv experience had given me an enormous respect for them, more than a little fondness for the 'ugly little car' had crept in too.

That was ten years ago almost, and I've owned at least one 2cv ever since, even when it has resulted in my being ridiculed by my former colleagues, laughed at by pretty women, looked upon incredulously by friends and family, and spoken to like a simpleton by the traffic Police. In one incident I was even reported by my neighbours for living in a luxury apartment complex yet driving a 2cv!

I have decided to finally sell my current and final 2cv in the spring, and the lack of cheap replacement vehicles will mean that this will mark the end of an era. The Citroen 2cv has over the years provided me with wonderful memories, cheap transport, fun and laughter aplenty, and many friends. Not bad for something that began with a £125.00 bid on ebay.

Wow, what a tragedy about your son, but an uplifting end to the story. Thanks for sharing it with us. Sad to see you might be selling up in the spring. Maybe another A series will tempt you? And, this forum will be all the more poorer without your posts.

i can only agree with what was said there

a huge tragedy that brought a new light

nail you will be greatly missed,
thank you for sharing such a sensitive story with us