Classifieds tested: Citroën 2CV for £7750

By Paul Hardiman

| 21 Mar 2019

Classic & Sports Car – Classifieds tested: Citroën 2CV for £7750

Stop dreaming and start driving! C&SC tests the classics you can buy. Click here for the full listing – and read on for our expert’s conclusion.

This charming ‘ripple-bonnet’ Citroën 2CV has been rebuilt on a new galvanised chassis, and it is now very usable.

Mainly because the original 425cc motor, which makes early AZ versions painfully slow, has been replaced with a 602 and transmission from a 2CV6 or Dyane, bringing with it front disc brakes.

And though the V5C says 1962, which is when the car was first registered in the UK, the chassis number suggests 1961, while its features are pre-1960.

The paint looks shiny and new but is in fact quite old, signified by the bubbling under the windscreen to the left, and a bit of rust at the bottom of the door hinges.

Structurally it’s good, having received new floorpans and sills from The 2CV Shop in 2017, and the front wings appear to be newer because they house indicators.

The rear-light lenses are cracked and have been glued back together, but all the nice older details remain, such as C-pillar-mounted repeater lights and aluminium doorhandles.

The wheels are perforated Ami Super/Méhari Azur items, with 2014-dated Michelin-copy Vee tyres in correct 125 section – though the spare is well dinged. The kingpins were rebuilt in 2017, which is detailed on a £1900 invoice in the car’s file.

The seats, too, are from an Ami 6, characterised by being more padded than the standard ‘deckchairs’. They could do with some attention, because they are grubby and water-stained in the front.

It is probably also an Ami steering wheel and instrument pod – the numbers of which are falling off.

The motor has had its coil pack moved to a drier place on top of the engine, and wears a 2CVMCC-branded twin-choke carburettor. We only discovered this on pulling the intake tubing after finding it ran uncommonly well: twin-chokes arrived on the 2CV6 in 1978. The oil is translucent and just over maximum.

It starts easily and drives well, with a super-slick gearchange and good brakes. It is a real little buzz-bomb – hearing the induction roar multiply through the K&N filter as the second choke opens is a novel experience in a tin snail. Hilarious, and sold with a new MoT if required.