It wasn’t exactly easy, but we managed to go on holiday in France last August. Long-haul flights in the Age of Corona is fraught with cancellations, queues and Q-tips in the nose, but it was worth it. The family, the weather, the food – and a few cool cars, too.
Southern France almost feels like the 2CV’s natural habitat. And there were plenty of them there. It seems like numbers have remained pretty stable there for the past 20 years.
The tin snail went seamlessly from retiree-mobile in the ‘90s to fashion accessory for hipsters today – in big cities. In more rural areas, the car’s intrinsic qualities and durability meant it never went out of use.
Some have even been given the off-roader treatment; this one ambitiously couples that with a trailer hitch! Here’s hoping they put a 1-litre flat-4 out of a GS under the hood for good measure.
The 2CV’s evil flat-twin sister was the Dyane (1967-83). I caught one of these standing still, so I’ll treat you to a full CC of one in a bit.
The other 2CV derivative that really rules the road in the summertime is the 1968-87 Méhari.
I caught a few and will do a stand-alone post of a particularly nice one later, but this orange series 1 (pre-1978) was also pretty outstanding.
There is a well-known (within Méhariste circles) outfit in Cassis, near Marseille, that specializes in refurbishing these cars. All engine and chassis parts are still easy to come by, but the folks in Cassis also recreated molds for the plastic body panels, so “as-new” Méharis like this one are now a fairly common sight.
I also bumped into the inspiration behind the Méhari – the Mini Moke. Because let’s not forget who got there first, even if the Citroën ended up trouncing the Austin sales-wise.
I’m not very familiar with these, but judging by the logo on the steering wheel and all that, it looks like a Portuguese-made one from the ‘80s.
By the ‘90s, after the Méhari and the Moke had died out, the market for beach cars was wide open. Aixam, a Savoy-based micro car manufacturer, launched the Mega marque and introduced the Club and the Ranch. These modernized Méharis used the Citroën AX’s platform, but it seems the concept had less appeal by this time. Mega sold 800 to 1000 cars only between 1993 and 2000.
Finally the long-lost Renault copycat, assembled by an outside party but sold by the carmaker throughout the ‘70s and well into the ‘80s, the infamous Rodéo. This in a Rodéo 4, based on the Renault 4 van chassis, with that car’s 845cc straight-4 providing all of 34 hp (DIN) to the front wheels.
This is a late model Rodéo 4 (1977 to 1979), if the square turn signals are to be believed, though the grille’s Renault logo is missing and the Alpine wheels are obviously er… aspirational. The range was completely refreshed after 1980 and carried on as the Rodéo 5, which managed to be even uglier than this.
Speaking of the Renault 4, there are still quite a few of those about, too. Late model vans included.
This older one (1968-74, according to the grille) was a welcome sight and warranted a couple of quick pics at least. I found an outstanding older example while on holiday as well, so that’ll be another CC post to look forward to in the near future. You lucky people.
The R4’s prodigal son, the famous Renault 5, was conspicuously absent from my path during this summer jaunt. However, the step-child Super 5 (1984-95) is still very present. How long will that last?
A couple of Peugeots to finish off the French part of our little symposium? This 204 is a well-known quantity – I’ve written it up some time ago. But it’s such a pleasant addition to this post, and to the world in general.
There are still a few 504 pickups around. Those were made from 1980 to 1993 in France, but lasted over a decade longer in Argentina, Kenya and Nigeria. Peugeot’s last RWD pickup was so well-liked (and without any likely successor) that they just kept making them until they ran out of bits. I also documented a saloon, but that deserves its own post…
So uh where have all the 405s gone?? I’m serious guys, they were right here when I left a decade ago. Only this wagon has escaped the massacre, so far as I could tell. OK, it’s not like I’m going to miss them, but still, they could have given me a heads up.
Before we take a gander at the foreign stuff, this odd-looking Citroën motorhome was puttering about. It looked a bit like a Hymer, but it’s not branded as such, so I’m not sure what it might be. Perhaps someone on CC will have an inkling.
The foreign cars encountered over in France were a mixed bag – this Morgan really caught me by surprise, though. Perfect choice for a bit of summertime motoring in Provence, to be sure, but unconventional.
Though if we’re looking at drop-tops, there’s certainly a case to be made for a classic Saab Turbo cabriolet.
Fiats were always big in France, especially the small ones, but this one is in a league of its own. The Panda 4×4 is exactly the sort of goat you need to go anywhere in any weather in the Alps. Others have tried to equal it, no one’s ever bettered it.
When I was growing up, these were all over the place, but they’re very rare now. They were known as the Ritmo over here, but some markets called it Strada. This is an early model (1978-82) and I wish I could have taken more than just the one pic from a moving car, but that’s the way the CC crumbles sometimes.
Give me your tired, your worn out, your desperately in need of a fix 1st generation Mitsubishi Pajero… And spare a spare for it, brother.
It’s not all doom and gloom – it’s also swanky British estate! There can’t have been too many of these sold new in France (or anywhere, realistically) back in 2004-05. Most people, myself included, figured that Rover would soon go bust when BMW walked away in 2000. Purchasing one of these babies new five years later would have been a strong act of (misplaced) faith.
Finally, there is one accidental beach car I forgot to include in the start of this post: the immortal Willys Jeep MB. I’m incapable of ascertaining the provenance and originality of this Jeep, but it sure looks the part.
And that’s where I’ll leave it for now. Coming up, over the next couple of weeks: six CC posts dedicated to French cars. Magnifique, n’est-ce pas?
Das Wohnmobil passiert auf dem Citröen C 35, welches zusammen mit dem Fiat 242 entwickelt wurde und bis 1987 bei Fiat gebaut wurde.
Danach wurde der Citröen C35 noch bis 1991 in Frankreich gebaut. https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_C35
Loose translation: The RV is based on the Citroen C35, which was developed together with the Fiat 242 and until 1987 was built at/by Fiat. After that the Citroen C35 continued to be built in France until 1991.
Danke schoen, Jim!
Did not know the term “Wohnmobile” but understood it immediately — love how the German language makes sense.
Sure. A Wohnung is a Home and Mobile is pretty universal…
In Britain 2CVs were hippy/hipster mobiles as long as I can remember.
My city dwelling aunt had one in the 80s and drove it to France to visit friends. They teased her and implied that she was a country bumpkin.
My hippy uncle had more than one ex Belgium post office 2cvs in the mid seventies just before they entered the UK market. Ideal to drive around South West London and not care about parking dings.
Same here. The 2CV and HY van were the predominant hippy mobiles. Most certainly not any Volkswagen model.
Methinks I like the 504 pickup the best, but the various beachcars look fun too, in the volumes you found them in that location they seem to take the place that Jeep Wranglers do over here, at least in summer. The various models/manufacturers are analagous to the various generations of Wrangler, with now the most recent four of them commonly seen (YJ, TJ. JK, JL).
Except over here, Jeep let the Wrangler grow in size and maintained it somehow up to date in the engine and in the suspension departments – at least in terms of capabilities on the road there is little in common between a CJ-7 and a Wrangler JL Unlimited. Citroen and Renault did not update the 2CV, the Mehari or the 4L to the same extent (they never made them larger or more modern). They just let them die when passing crash tests and emissions became too difficult.
CC effect? I just saw one of those Mega beach cars in Amsterdam last weekend, and wondered what the hell it was. Called the “Tjaffer” in the Netherlands. Will post to the cohort when i get to it.
For whatever reason my favorite is the 204.
I love the Méhari. And I have to share that two years ago I saw a red one and it had a yellow Ferrari-like badge, only instead of a horse it had a camel and instead of Ferrari it said of course Méhari. That was really clever. Better than the prancing moose.
Cool collection, Ive seen a few Tin Snails over here recently 3 in 12 months out on the highway not in town, they are not cheap to buy here, Mini Mokes were produced in Aussie with several improvements over the British model bigger wheels and a 1300 engine they were popular as rentals on the Gold coast along with roofless VW Beetles all the traits of a ADO Morris or Austin including the issues, I’d have a 504 ute if I could get one but not a Rover wagon and some are over here especially exJDM used imports brought in by City Rover in Parnell Auckland serviced then flogged to an unsuspecting public, Old MMC Pajeros are a dying breed and WW2 Jeeps are collectors items now dirty ones are very rare.
Love the collection! So evocative of summer.
I once worked with for a guy – here in MA – who collected both Morgans and 2CV’s. He had quite a stable of both and was active in their local/regional clubs. He would often drive one the 15 – 20 miles each way to work. More often than not, it was one of the 2CV’s that was mechanically up to the trip.
I still marvel at his fortitude in terms of climbing into that lawn chair and piloting one of those things on typical American public roads.
There was a British kit car called the Lomax which was basically a Morgan trike replica on a 2CV chassis with the flat twin sticking out the front. That guy ought to get one.
They did a four wheeler version too.
Your intro shot has great light and composition. Instantly transported me to Francois Truffaut films. That’s initially how this midwestern kid in the middle of the rustbelt came to appreciate French design, especially the cars.
So, amongst much sun-kissed-but-rubbish-to-most-folks loveliness goes, the winners are as follows:
1. The R4. Yes, yes, everyone wants to fart about under-motivated by two aircooled inadequacies of cylinderage and have weirdo curved flim-flam bodies with bulgy eye-stalks, but your sensible Francophile wants 4 cylindres with water on their jackets and a hatchbum and a general sense of having purchased a car and not a powered umbrellerage, and even though one’s ride means some ploughed eggs could easily accomodate a basket of farmers just like the Citronumbrella-car, one also gets a further sense that one could enter an autoroute as a slow and beeped-at thing instead of being an essentially non-moving object soon to be part of someone else’s front bumper like the chevroned alternative.
2. The Panda 4×4. Frequently thought to have been styled, it wasn’t. Ofcourse, glory to it for that, because it means that, unlike most things since, people could not only fit into its Italian diminutiveness but once thus ensconced, could also see out. To add to this extreme sensibleness, a 4-wheel drive appendage means that those same occupants could arrive wherever it was they going wherever it was, albeit that it not being French, their basket of eggs might not contain some ploughed farmers, but what’s a ploughed farmer between two former sworn enemies, I ask?
3. The Mehari. All of the above reasons abandoned, it’s got to be just cool to buzz about in an unfenced fibreglass swimimg-pool, even if that’s only when it’s hot and not raining, and especially because of this: as motorized pool molds go, it’s also got to be near the top five for sheer style.
Looks like a great vacation ! .
So pretty and all those cool cars too .
Let’s not forget the Citroen Bijou and first generation Ami : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Ami
In the 1990’s I owned a 1959 Citroen 2CV – AZ, it was a delightful little death trap .
-Nate