PARIS: No other car embodies France and its attitude to life as much as the 2CV, or Deux Chevaux.

The odd little car - which loving fans have kept alive decades after the end of production and has cult status around the world - is now 75 years old.

Intended as a simple car for average drivers, the Citroën 2CV's idiosyncratic shape raised eyebrows at the Paris Motor Show when it was unveiled in October 1948.

And yet it was precisely the car's design and rugged construction that led to this small runabout becoming a bestseller.

Even today, enthusiasts can still be seen taking the cars with their sardine-can roof and bug-eyed headlights out for a ride today, and on one October weekend a parade of 75 2CV cars drove past the Citroën Museum near Paris to mark the car's anniversary.

It all began back in the 1930s when Citroën began developing an inexpensive car with minimal equipment that the average person could afford.

The legendary design brief was to build a car that had room for two farmers and a sack of potatoes or a barrel of wine, can do at least 60kph and consumes only 3 litres per 100km.



It also had to have a good enough suspension to carry a basket of eggs across a ploughed field.

Designer André Lefèbvre stepped up to the task. The design of a "Toute Petite Voiture" (very small car) was ready in 1939. But then World War II began, the Paris Motor Show was cancelled and 250 prototypes were scrapped or put in storage.

It was only after the end of the war in 1948 that Citroën unveiled a revised model. The economical car quickly became a symbol of freedom and joie de vivre across borders. Especially in Germany and Britain, the 2CV embodied a piece of French lifestyle.

Due to a shortage of raw materials, Citroën was only able to produce a small number of units at first. There were waiting lists of up to six years.

The first model with nine horsepower had a top speed of 70kph. The last models with 29hp could do a respectable 113kph.

The vehicle's handling was characterised by good off-road mobility and a decent handling in curves. This was a car that was almost impossible to tip over.



Instead of a fixed steel roof, early 2CVs had a roll-up canopy made of vinyl - ideal for travelling through summery France in no hurry.

Ever since the last 2CV rolled off the production line in Portugal in July 1990, a large fan community has kept the remaining cars running, and hobbyists still exchange tips and spare parts and organise meetings with their iconic vehicles.

Spare parts are still produced in the south of France in the Méhari Club Cassis workshop, where three brothers use the original machines from Citroën to produce the parts.

In addition to refurbishing old 2CVs, the company has also been offering a modernisation since 2017 that was unimaginable in 1948: conversion to electric drive.

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