Planet France.

Actually, Levallois was a place French people refused to work conditions were so bad for workers. Most of the workforce were Algerians. (So it has been said).

http://www.citroenet.org.uk/passenger-c ... /1988.html

But the overall design was genius - and very French.

Please read the book. There is an answers to all your questions you have made...

Also there is nice pictures about brake pipe unions, so you don't need to guess what type they are...


Well, we have same toughts here about many solutions from States...

Citroen left it's engineers very much freedom. Also they did at that period not order someone to do something. But they asked who want's to do the suspension (for example) and if you have someone doing a job he likes i think the results will be better?

Or maybe 'ingenious', unless you're from the USA?

I don't know what you mean by that statement. I was not knocking on the 2CV design or anything, otherwise I wouldn't have bought one.

The mechanics are just different from anything I've ever worked on.

I will say Citroen using 9 mm fasteners is a bit daft...

Yeah, the engineers at Ford wanted the Pinto to be the first car with airbags and a fuel tank bladder. But the bean counters that worked in the offices at Ford decided that these two safety features would add more cost to the car. I would some safety features would be attractive to car buyers.

Some features can prevent injuries, but the best one is inside the drivers head.
But for some, that one is not adjustable. Hey - ho.

This is not a dig at anyone, just saying . . .

Turbofiat, dont worry, its an alien design even in Europe too. I love it though, I love effective design and I think of the 2cv as a triumph of intelligent approach.
Its not like any other car at all really, outside of its little family. Working on it is almost like bicycle mechanics at times, or motorbike mechanics. It has often made me chuckle with its quirky genius.

At times i still use mine as day to day transport or long journeys, and the fact its still so use-able in modern times is a testament to its genius.

Crash safety has always been a consideration, but I often see examples of how they have fared well in crashes due to their springy nature and light weight. As Derek mentioned above, the best safety device is in the head, so that helps!
I've done OK in mine for the last 20 years, but being scared of being rear ended on my four weekly long journey with Mum in the car (no headrests!) did make me buy an S class Merc for the journey..

Well, my 2CV was twatted head-on by a 2 ton pick-up truck in October 2015 and I got out of the car without a scratch. Suspension arm was badly bent and had to be replaced along with the driver's side front wing. I had come to a complete stop as I could see the truck wasn't going to do so. Was hit at about 25mph, which had the effect of pushing the 2CV backwards by about ten feet, and that was with my foot firmly pressed on the brake pedal.

the son of a friend ran his acadyane into a tractor and the tractor had so much damage that it didn't run anymore...the farmer was astonished. How did you do that with that bird he said...
The aca was totalled but the guy wasn't hurd...
There is also some research of a swedish assurance company that showed that 2cv drivers came rather good out of car crashes.