Citroën 2CV

It may be as simple as it gets, but it still pays to know your way around a 2CV when you’re looking to grab yourself some French fun behind the wheel of the most unlikely Bond car to date

‘The way it bounces and leans around corners attracts fans of all ages’

It may be more than 70 years since the 2CV was released, but it’s still only just gone 30 years since they stopped making them too, meaning the 2CV is available in a huge number of ages and variants to suit different budgets. It also means you can buy a car of 1940s origins built relatively recently – something only otherwise true of VW Beetles and Morgans.

As much as the car inspires nostalgia for countless owners, whether that be of rusty 2CVs serving as the vehicle of choice on every university campus in Europe, or maybe even seeing Roger Moore’s James Bond and Melina Havelock escape in one from Hector Gonzales’ villa in For Your Eyes Only, the car’s ultimate appeal is simply its sense of fun. That’s hard to believe if you haven’t driven one – the car never had more than 26bhp on offer, after all – but the way it bounces down roads and leans around corners attracts fans of all ages. If chosen carefully, this can prove among the easiest classics to own too.

The original 1948 2CV is known as the ‘Type A’. In 1953, RHD variants were being made at Citroën’s Slough plant; these early 375cc versions are very rare, austere and expensive. A year later saw the AZ debut, with a 425cc engine – these will be the majority of older models you find for sale.

The ripple bonnet was replaced with one using six folds in 1960. In 1963 the suicide front doors were replaced with typical ones; 1965 saw two extra windows added into the C-pillar.

In 1968, a 602cc engine was fitted – the largest power unit the 2CV would get. The car stayed largely the same from that point on. There were of course detail changes; disc brakes in 1981 being a particular highlight. A cacophony of special editions were released in the final two decades – not least one to coincide with the Bond film, complete with 007 logos and bullet-hole stickers.