Indeed. It doesn't sound like the quality of work you expect to find out in the countryside, away from the city.

This has been the biggest problem with the Bedouin. What "all the hard work done, just needs wiring and tidying" meant to the previous owner translated into "requires a new chassis as I've simply pop-rivetted plates over the rust so that I can pretend it's not there" along with "you'll have to remove all the quick fixes I've attempted like welding brackets to thin air and butchering holes in the bulkhead in order to make parts fit that weren't supposed to in the first place" .

If it was a case of just repairing rusty metal and replacing worn parts, it would probably have been on the road by now, but hey-ho that's part of the fun I suppose.

At least the satisfaction level will be 10 times higher in the end.

A colleague of mine has been restoring a Hillman Imp and most of the outer sills were fibreglass, filler and scrunched up newspaper. The amount of time and effort that went into getting the profile right must have exceeded that required to weld in a new seal, surely. Not everyone can weld though I suppose, which means more wrecks for those of us who can to snap up!!

Yep it's crap, it steams me up to hear about and see all these howlers from supposed "specialists" I feel for those poor souls, often new to the world of 2cv'ing, getting stitched for pretty large sums (these days) for a shitebox that has had a quick blowover or some chrome added to make it look pretty.

But as you say, there are unscrupulous souls in all trades, we just need to try our best to educate people on what is good, and what to avoid.

I'm sure the botchers of the 2CV world are nothing compared to those in the DS world!

while mooching around the 'net & checking out the 'specialists' 'sites to see what's currently out there & available i stumbled across this gem:





nice & shiny, eh? hmmm, that looks like a pre suffix plate, or rather a plate dished out by the DVLA after a car's been imported, or re-registered, being a pre suffix that would've originally been dished out to a 1963 or earlier car?

Anyway, i did a little check on the DVLA 'site using the 'plate on the above & this is the result:

The enquiry is complete

The vehicle details for MSL 979 are:

Date of Liability 01 01 2010
Date of First Registration 01 09 1998
Year of Manufacture 1956
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 602CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Licence Not Due
Vehicle Colour BLACK
Vehicle Type Approval null

1956! that's a bit naughty, dontcha think?!

Indeed.

Did you notice the 1960s Lohr which was in the club mag a few months back? That really was something rather special, since the Lohr wasn't even developed until the mid-late '70s.

Maybe, just maybe, it is a 1956 car. It might have had a later shell fitted to a 1956 chassis, then the owner might have sold the 1956 engine and fitted a late 602cc engine and disc/LHM box, then they may well have fitted the shell up with brand new parts because they may not have known remanufactured 1950's parts like trim and wheels are available nowadays, Hell, it may be a 1956 shell, but very well modified to look like a common or garden late disc brake 80's shell, it certainly wouldnt be impossible for a skilled bodywork shop to do that.

On the other hand it might be an attempt to get tax free status in the UK for a late car, with a 1956 registration document, but that's illegal,and although I don't see a real problem with people doing it for some reasons , I do see a huge problem when companies do it to make a quick buck or mislead the public, which in itself is an offence, and highly immoral especially when 2CVs are concened, as the whole 2cv scene thrives on the honesty and goodness of decent folk, thats what makes 2cving what it is, and for a company to actually attemp to rip off decent 2cv folk like ourselves, it really is wrong.

Like i said though, it could be a skillfully modified 1956 car all over, just made to look like a less desirable 80's special....

yep its a 1956 2cv charleston/club thats been redon with a special logo on the boot too!

Hmmm....

I'm all for a subtle re-register if it's doing nobody any harm, but that's stretching it a bit with that black car. Don't see why it should be tax-exempt. Not only would there have had to have been significant constant modification to that machine to look like that, but it's also RHD, so MHL979 must have either been a Slough car or *that's* been altered too. It should really be on one of those horrible Q-plates.

It actually looks like one of the legendary "Katia" models which were allegedly built by Ligier in April 1995 from remaindered Citroen parts!