Ok, not that Ive been looking at 2cv vans or anything , but what is the difference between an AZU250 and an AK250, I'm guessing the AZU had the ripple bonnet?

More questions:
Is the load space in an Acadiane the same as in a 400?
Apart from post office vans, are all the vans left hand drive?

In the photo, apart from the windows, are the 2 vans the same type? I thought the blue one looked longer, or is that just because it's got windows giving it a false appearance of length or is it a low roof 400?


And which vans did have windows? I know the post office vans like Wills did and also that the crazy begium factory did some with windows.... but.... im so confused

There's no such thing as an AK250. The only "AK" is the AK350, which has a low roof and long back, and evolved into the AKS400, which had long back and high roof (apart from a few low roof ones).

All vans are LHD, apart from Slough built, some Belgian Post Office, and Jersey (Post Office?).

Both vans in the pic are the same length. The beige one is a mid-70s AZU250, and the front one is from the early 60s. I don't know so much about earlier vans, but I guess it's an AU.

Without going into crazy detail on things like Belgian AKLs and such, the vans with side windows are AK350, AZU250, and AKS400 (although the latter two came without side windows for a while in the mid-70s).

AK350 and AKS400 have the same side window, which is the length of the spare wheel cover, whereas 250s have a shorter-length window.

There are variations, such as Will's Belgian PO 250 which has 3 side windows, and AKS400s which had longer than usual side windows. I think there were loads of options, sub-models etc, but the most common ones have the single side window.

Acadiane load space is the same as AKS400, except that, due to the shape of the Dyane doors/cab, the firewall behind the front seats is angled forward on the Acadiane, and this gives a little bit more length to the van load space at the bottom.

Wide ripples, big spring pots, club dash, 602, rectangular lights the list is endless.

That's an AZU250 (to be precise, a post-1972 AZU250 GA *I think*). When new it would have been 435cc.

No you are very wrong. It is a 1974 original AK 250

So if the AK350 has a low roof and long back and an AKS400 has a high roof and long back, what's the different between an AK350 and a low roof AKS400

There's no such thing. Certainly not for the French market.

Low roof 400s have large ripples on the side panels and other detail changes such as the big speedo etc. Most 350s had the 602cc M4 engine, whereas later ones, and all AKS400, had the M28/1 engine as fitted to the 2cv6.

So the AK350 has the same load length as an AKS400? Does that mean the chassis is longer too?

Sorry Jono, being a complete numpty, but what is the difference between an M4 and an M28? The M28 I know is the later one, so the M4 was the Dyane engine yes?

350/400 are the same length, and are on a standard-length chassis (as a saloon). However, there are differences with the chassis, such as spring can mountings, and I think there's a cross beam between the rear legs (would have to check that, though).

M4 engines were first fitted to the Ami 6, and later to the AK350 and early Dyane 6s, amongst others. The M4 is basically a development of the 425cc engine, which itself is a development of the original 375cc engine. The M28 and M28/1 engines are siblings of the 435cc engine, and all 3 were totally new units when introduced in around 1970. The M28 is fitted to most Dyane 6s, and has a 9:1 compression ratio, whereas the M28/1 is the 2cv6 engine, with a compression ratio of 8.5:1.

P.S. You're not being a numpty - it is rather complicated and confusing, and gets harder to understand as time goes on and fewer vans exist in original spec.