“You’re making the little car work very hard, don’t you think” an elderly man commented at the campsite the other day as we loaded Charlie to the gunnels as usual.
“I used to have one of these cars when I was a student, he added. “It was great for parties. We would take out all the seats apart from the driver, roll the roof right back and the we could get ten people in it, standing up.” And that’s not working the little car too hard, we wondered????
Then with a fond grin he remembered “one time there were only eight of us, so we picked up a couple of hitch hikers too. They were pretty surprised.”
It seems almost everyone we talk to has a fond memory of a 2CV .. what’s yours?
Getting the best view in the house
Pingback: Boiling brakes, a forklift truck, a deux chevaux and a horse
Ah, a friend of ours in Italy had one named “Betsy” (do they ALL have names?) and four of us piled in one day to go to the antique fair in Arezzo (first Sunday every month: add to your extraordinary place list!). Martha found a rocking chair that she HAD to have. The only way to get it home, however, was to stick it through the sun roof with the rockers in the car and all of our faces. Which is exactly how we did it, winding down the twisty roads at sunset twisted around the chair and each other like some Tuscan version of the Clampett family heading for Beverly Hills. Good times.
Love the story, Brian – thank you! And yes, of course they all have to have names… We saw one at the 2CV rally that had a trailer on the back made into a bath tub! It was a good idea in that heat! My old 2CV (Rosebud) from my London days once broke down and I was trying to jump start it pushing it up a hill with my brother. Suddenly a huge Mercedes pulled right up behind us and out jumped Neil Kinnock (once nearly UK PM and subsequently head of the European Commission. “These are buggers sometimes, my daughter used to have one,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ll jump start you with this.” So he drove he fancy car up Rosebud’s rear and shoved her all the way up the road until we could start her! I’ll vote for him any day!!!