Greetings 2CV loving ladies and gentlemen. It's Pottsy again from down under. Some time ago I pestered the Brains Trust on this forum for help in pinning down the age of a car which a Mate & I own, now called "The Alleged Vehicle" after Douglas Adams Esq's essay about Norse Gods. (If you don't get the reference, read "Long Dark Teatime of the Soul" by Mr Adams. (sadly now deceased).

Anyway, I've been fortunate enough to be the recipient of a FREE 2CV! Yes, in a country where they haven't been sold new since 1959 and are revered by those loonies who have them, I was given a complete car!

Now you who are familiar with salty roads are also familiar with rust in large lumps (or possibly flakes) This car would look familiar to you all.

However, it seems to be redeemable, and I'll be trying very hard to make it so.

A fellow french car looney in UK has already provided the information from the registration number (YBJ204X) which plates it still wears. It appears from that to be a 1981 model which is good to know.

What I'd also like to know is what model (I suspect 2CV6 Club but could be wrong) and anything else you guys can tell me.

Another question that has occurred to me concerns the chassis. On The Alleged Vehicle there are inspection holes plugged by plastic bungs. I was able to inspect the inside of the chassis of that car for rust, of which I found none. It appears that car has a replacement chassis.

This car's chassis has no inspection holes, but appears to have been tidied up with a couple of re-inforcement plates and a coat of paint. Can this mean (a) that it's the original chassis and/or (b) that it's been worked on before being exported to the antipodes? I should mention that it also seems to have been fited with all the bits needed for Australian compliance, such as anti-intrusion bars in the doors, a kiddy seat restraint bar, reversing lights and Aussie standard seat belts. I just don't know if it was ever registered here yet.

On the windscreen is a small round sticker from Steve Hill. I noted on his website mention of a parcel tray fitment of speakers underneath. This car has speakers there, but nothing to feed them with noise. It also appears to have been undercoated on the firewall (scuttle panel in pommy speak?) in orange paint. Also on Steve's website there are shots of cars being painted with a Wurth product of similar colour.

I've sent an enquiry to Deux Chevaux et Charrette asking if they know anything of the car.

Finally (for now) the car bears the VIN of VF7AZXA0088KA0060. This gives the usual "checksum error" when decoded and reckons it's a 2008 model!

Anyone who can shed light will be thrice praised and earn my undying gratitude.

(Is that enough crawling?)

Cheers, Pottsy

Oh, I'll try for a picture now.

I've just noticed that I appear to be a newbie having joined January this year.

I was a member a couple of years ago when I acquired Alphonse the 1957 Slough 2CV. There was a hiatus involving a change of e-mail address which I suspect may have caused me to be reset. Just thought I'd mention it.

Cheers, Pottsy

Hi Pottsy,

The 2CV is still on our UK registration system:


Vehicle enquiry
The enquiry is complete.The vehicle details for YBJ 204X are:
Date of Liability 01 10 1997
Date of First Registration 17 05 1982
Year of Manufacture 1982
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 602cc
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type PETROL
Export Marker N
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour BLUE
Vehicle Type Approval Not Available
Vehicle Excise Duty rate for vehicle
6 Months Rate £77.00
12 Months Rate £140.00

So assuming that's the original 'plate for the car - and it could well be, there's no export marker against it.

The chassis number 88KA0060 - is probably correct also.

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

Not really a problem for anybody except the person who exported it in '97... I'd presume that DVLA will assume it's been scrapped at some stage soon and it'll drop off the system. None of that affects how to register it in Oz, assuming there's _some_ paperwork with it.

As it was back then, there would have been an "Export Certificate" issued. Now, you just send off a slip of paper to DVLA and keep the actual logbook to pass to the other country. I guess that just got taken out there with it. If not, I presume that the Aussie authorities will have some way to divine the identity/age, as ours do, without papers - maybe involving the assistance of an approved club (2cvgb for the UK). The other option, since it still exists as far as DVLA are concerned, would be to write to them, say that it's been exported, and can you have something from them please.
https://www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla

Thanks guys. There's not really any issue with getting this car on "Club Permit" in Victoria, but I would love to know the history if it's possible.

I haven't heard back from Steve Hill's mob yet, I'm hopeful that the car may have been through them.

I wasn't sure how to interpret that info above, but you seem to have confirmed that it was exported in '97, or at least last registered in the UK then?

The decsription cetainly seems to fit.

So is the paint job a standard item or is it a "pseudo charleston"?

Cheers for now, Pottsy

Definitely a pseudo charlie.

The Road Fund Licence expired over here at the end of September '97 - so it could have been exported at some point after that date or indeed between the time it was last taxed over here - either September '96 or March '97.

Have you checked the colour of the 'shell? Perhaps peeling back the fuzzy felt around the body sides or looking under the dashboard.

Thanks Neil. Under the dash, on the back of the firewall (scuttle?) is a sort of orangy colour, as I said above, not unlike the Wurth stuff visible in Steve Hills website. There are traces of the same orangy colour peeping through on the engine side of the same panel making me think that it's been replaced or at least repainted.

The rest of the body, at least to the cursory inspection I've been able to do so far, appears to be pretty much consistent with the blue and white scheme.

Cheers, Pottsy

I've now separated body and chassis to ascertain just how much welding I need to do, a lot.

On the chassis I found a small plate 2 inches long an 3/8" wide. Stamped on it the numbers 11 510556 where the gap corresponds to the mounting hole. It was screwed to the LH chassis longeron by a single small self tapping screw.

Does this mean anything to anyone?

Oh, and I think I'll call this one Gaston.

Cheers, Pottsy

Like this?



I'm also intrigued as to its significance. Can anyone shed any light?

It's a manufacturing ID of some kind, probably to identify a vehicle down the line before the usual VIN's assigned to it.

Nice going to get a 602 one, though...