Prototypes of Citroën 2CV Found in French Barn
It's 60 years since the launch of the iconic Citroën Deux Chevaux (two horsepower) and the Cité Sciences Museum is holding an exhibition dedicated to la deuche here in Paris. I'm a bit off the pace on this. These TPV prototypes of the famous Citroën Deux Chevaux (2CV) were actually discovered fourteen years ago (1994) - 55 years after being hidden under bales of straw in the roof of a barn. They were stashed in 1939 at the Ferté-Vidame test circuit in Eure-et-Loir and the discovery was announced to the public by Jacques Wolgensinger (a former Citroën P.R. man) in "La 2CV, nous nous sommes tant aimés" ("The 2CV we love each other so much"). They were shown at the 1998 Paris Retromobile car show.
They had to be lifted out of the barn roof by crane. All three cars had little corrosion and were shod with their original tyres.
One has small hydraulic rams fitted to the front suspension arms, mounted along the chassis. Another has headlights! Well only one actually - that's all French law required at the time.
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They successfully tested the suspension of these early 2CVs by driving across a ploughed field with a basket of eggs sitting on the seat. The seats were made of canvas suspended from the roof with wires!
BTW 5 Million of the little buggers were produced - nowhere near the 21.5 Million Volkswagen Beetles. Wikipedia has a good page on the Citroën 2CV. And more photos of the prototypes here.



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