Description
Welcome to my advert for what is a very rare Citroen 2cv6 Club, in exceptional condition for it's year.
If you are into 2cv's then you may already realise what this is but for the less anorak amongst you I will explain what makes this car so rare. By 1975, Citroen 2cv's had already been made for 27 years, but barring a very few made in the 1950's in Slough, UK, almost none had been made in right hand drive. Post fuel crisis of 1973, the cars popularity had surged in Europe and Citroen were thinking of bringing 2cv's to the UK right hand drive market. They were a little unsure what the take up would be and so to hedge their bets, rather than build right hand drive 2cv's straight on the production line at Levallois in Paris, they used their Forrest plant in Belgium that was building left hand drive 2cv's, and started to produce a limited run of RHD cars. These were essentially left hand drive 2cv's converted to right hand drive by Citroen so consequently they are fitted with a number of unique parts to this era of cars from that factory.
The sale of UK 2cv's was deemed sucessful enough to warrant full series production and so by 1978, the Levallois factory was adapted to be able to produce both left hand drive and right hand drive 2cv's down the same production line. Consequently, Forrest built right hand drive 2cv's were only built between 1975 and late 1977 I believe. This made them quite rare in period, and today over 40 years later they are now a very rare car in 2cv circles. How rare? I believe that 2cvGB are only aware of circa 20 Forrest built cars from the three year window in all colours. I am only aware of four to five N and P plate right hand drive 2cv6 Clubs in this cars colour, which is Beige Vanneau (AC083) that I don't think was used for the full three years. Of those circa five cars I have seen 1 other physically and the other two / three in pictures. Of the five I believe that this one is in the best overall condition and I think also has the lowest mileage, and is most complete in terms of it's correct period fittings.
I have had about 50 2cv's over the last twenty years but managed to buy this car entirely by accident. The car was parked in a car port with a cover over it in my nearest town, so barring the obvious 2cv shape I didn't know what it was. I put a note through the owners door and about a week later they called me back. They had owned the car for a quite unbelievable 39 years, and it was the wife's car that basically was used to pop down to the shops about a mile away in Harpenden, Herts. The husband informed me that his wife had been bed bound for most of the last ten years but he had kept the car mot'd the whole time in case she made sufficient recovery to start driving again. The car had also been partially restored, and rechassis'ed in the last ten years (I think the husband did the restoration in the hope it might spur his wife on in terms of recovery) but otherwise was barely used with circa 15 miles between Mot's for the whole period. Not like the mileage each year had been huge while the car was in regular use given it has averaged about 800 miles a year for 45 years!
Having arranged to visit them and check it out, I was blown away by what I found. Having has so many 2cv's already, but all of a late Eighties persuasion, I was amazed that this mid Seventies car looks so similar on the face of it to an Eighties 2cv, yet dig a little deeper and there are literally a 1000 detail minor differences between the two eras. I spent a happy hour looking it over and found that it was both in excellent condition, and almost entirely complete with all it's period correct original features, bar a few minor details. The owner confirmed that he had gone through two phases of rebuild work with it, initially having a local company do a partial restoration of the body with new floors and bulkhead, plus a few minor detailed repairs, four new wings and localised repainting to suit. The same company also patched up the chassis. Within a couple of years he was unhappy with the status of the chassis and so embarked on a second period of restoration and gave the car to Ken Hanna (well known and regarded in 2cv circles) to have a thorough go through mechanically and to rechassis the car onto a Galvanised chassis. Ken builds the SLC galvanised chassis which are generally regarded as the best of the aftermarket galvo chassis for 2cv's on the market so I believe that the car has an SLC galvanised chassis.
The owner admitted to me that his Wife really did not want to sell the car, as I guess it was a recognition for her that she would not ever drive again and was hoping that I would not like it, but no such chance. I absolutely loved it! To dissuade me from buying he was not prepared to take offers so once I agreed to pay the asking price for it he admitted this was a problem but he would leave my offer with his wife to decide. I then went through a nail biting week before she finally agreed to sell it to me.
That was back in 2015, and once I had it home in essence I have had it in dry storage, very much in my personal collection of interesting or special (to me) Citroen 2cv's. In the five years that I have had it I have barely used it (1, 100 miles in 5 years!) only sparingly on dry, sunny days for local pottering. What I have predominantly done with it is spend long hours hunting out any missing or broken period correct bits for it to revert it as closely as possible back to factory original, gone through it detailing areas that could be improved to make it the best that it can be, and spent money on it. While I have had it I have:
Replaced the front and rear adventure bumpers it came with, for the correct type bumpers. These were new front and rear bumper mounts, new front over riders and front and rear bumpers. The above new parts were shot blasted and powder coated before fitting to improve their rust resistance. A new plastic front bumper insert was sourced from Der Franzose and fitted. A good used rear insert was found, and new plastic end caps sourced from France and fitted. The front over riders have the aftermarket accessory plastic inserts fitted, and the rear a pair of period 'Sacred' rubber over riders fitted.
The brown targa vinyl seats were very good as bought but the drivers base face panel had been replaced by a trimmer with a similar fabric repair. The passenger base had a circa 25mm long tear in it where the frame rubs. I bought brand new front seat upholstery from Der Franzose and on realising once delivered that the way they have remade the new covers is not quite the same as factory original, I unpicked the stitching from the new covers seat base facing panels. I stripped the original front seats and unpicked the base panel stitching for each seat base, and as I have an industrial sewing machine, I rebuilt the original front seat covers with the new upholstery base facing panels so that the rebuilt front seats would look as close to factory original as possible. The drivers seat was also refoamed internally and both front seats rubbers were checked and the odd perished or broken rubber was renewed as required. The front seats look original and unworn unless the repairs are pointed out. The rear seat and rear parcel shelf in matched vinyl are unworn and undamaged, as are the original door cards (that are also unbutchered to fit speakers)
The deteriorated inner body lining each side was removed along with the original and split soft top. A new soft top and body inner panels was bought from Matts Soft Tops and correctly installed.
The car came on Winter tyres and slightly surface rusted rims. The car has a set of new (as in 2020) wheels x5 and a set of older Michelin tyres now fitted.
I replaced the non Soliver glass (Soliver branded glass indicates the Forrest factory on Mid Seventies cars. It is now very hard to find!) drivers side lower front window, and broken drivers front door latch cover.
The car from the factory would have had non inertia front seat belts (no rear belts, not even the mountings in the inner rear wings!). The car had a set of Britax, UK sourced aftermarket inertia setbelts fitted. I have stripped these out and sourced a set of 1976 spec Citroen logo'd inertia belts used from France and fitted them.
This car has the original 'spongy type' larger single spoke steering wheel. These are renown for blistering / melting in UV sunlight and finding a decent original wheel is nigh on impossible. This car appears to have been garaged it's whole life and so there are only just the very first signs of deterioration to the exposed top of the steering wheel. I custom made it the steering wheel cover with a piece of Bridge of Weir automotive leather I had left over from a Citroen SM retrim project to make the steering wheel cover. It is fitted to prevent future deterioration rather than hide damage to the wheel. I have also fitted an earlier gear ball with the chrome ring around the centre from a Sixties AZAM.
I have made it a bootfloor carpet to prevet the spare wheel and jack kit from rattling in the boot and wrecking the paint. I have also made this car a custom rear body carpet that fits from underneath the leading edge of the rear seat back to the inside of the bootlid. This works in conjunction with a wood board in the bootwell creating a carpetted flat floor with the rear seat taken out if you wanted to carry a larger load.
Installed a 123 electronic ignition, and a 2cv original style solid state resin coil.
Given the car a full service with new oil, oil filter, spark plugs, HT leads, and gearbox oil check.
Reglued the original bonnet sound proofing with imprinted chevron design back onto the inside of the bonnet. In fact I have done it about 5 times and it keeps partially unsticking. It is a battle of wills! I will restick it again if needed in the meantime!
Given the engine bay a detailing. I was concious that I could go much further than buffing and polishing to get surfaces refinished to concourse standard, but felt that the engine bay would lose something of the originality that makes the car so nice and ultimately what it is.
Sourced and installed the correct period front mudflaps, including the mid Seventies only metal bracing panels to keep them vertical.
Replaced the front grille outer ring with a black one, and added the period AA badge. Added the yellow headlight bulbs and buffed / detaqiled repairs to save the period embossed number plates front and rear.
Installed an air horn. The original is a bit pathetic and a good airhorn is both louder and sounds '60's / '70's authentic.
Installed new rear dampers from Burtons. This car is an interesting transition period model so has frotteurs / batteurs on the front and standard rear dampers on the back.
Pumped Dynax anti rust wax into all the box sections and cavities to help keep the rust at bay.
I have retained the bits it came with (bar the wheels and bumpers) and crated tham up. The crate of bits it came with will come with the car, along with the leftover bits of the new seat upholstery that might be wanted for future repairs etc.
I also fitted a Gradulux window blind in the rear window, but please note this does not come with the car and will be removed prior to sale.
So overall it is a beautiful, special and rare car and to an extent unrepeatable. The car before my ownership had never been laid up at all so comes with Mot certificates for nigh on 40 years (I didn't Mot it for about three years, but kept it exercised around our yard. The Government have now made it Mot exempt) which demonstrate that the mileage is genuine at 37, 500 miles to date. There is also a full service history for it in terms of a thick sheath of bills dating back through various garages since the mid 1970's, plus the v5C and two sest of keys.
In terms of condition I would describe it as excellent (but not concourse) throughout. The car has never been restored fully and so the paint on the upper bodyshell, bonnet and four doors is the original. The doors are rust free along their bottoms and in the window apertures. The car has had x4 new wings and they are a slightly different beige to the original paint as the colours have slightly faded across the car. A long term job I had for it was to source original, beaded rolled edge type front wings for it (again, these are now very hard to find in restorable condition) but the fronts without the rolled edge are in excellent condition. The lower bodyshell had new floors, and front bulkhead as part of the resto in the mid Noughties. Overall the shell is remarkably rust free both under neath and on top, though again, various areas have been painted over the years so the paint colour is not absolutely uniform. Beyond that there have been various touch ins etc, but overall there is no noticeable rot to speak of underneath or visble on the body. It therefore makes a nice mix of original, cared for low mileage and sensitively restored. Given it's age, you might find marginally better condition in terms of a nut and bolt fully retored one but what you gain in condition, you inevitably lose in patina and originality. As such it is a happy medium that makes it a particularly rare example from this era.
In terms of driving it, you can feel the lineage to a more common Eighties car, but they are surprisingly different to drive. The frotteurs and batteurs on the front suspension seem to give it a softer ride, and the rod operated single choke carburettor gives it a more laid back character in terms of acceleration. The car feels like a higher quality product and it is hard to say how or where they cheapened the Eighties ones but it definitely feels superior, with noticelably less scuttle shake and door rattle, plus miles better bump absorbtion. The only area where it has a more period feel is in the braking, where an Eighties one has a hard brake pedal and sharp brakes capable of locking up. With this one there is a noticeable amount of travel in the pedal before the brakes bite and when they do they don't convey the same sense of retardation like a disc braker. My daily is a fairly worn mid Eighties Special so every time I drive it I am comparing it back to back with my other one.
Overall then it is a truly lovely car, and for someone who is a 2cv connosieur it represents a high point in a personal 2cv collection in terms of rarity, condition and provenance. So why am I selling it? It is fair to say it is a reluctant sale, and is for sale because I am restoring a listed cottage. It turns out that the maxim that you can't half restore an old house is completely true, and the one universal truth of digging about in old houses is that the surprises are nearly always nasty, and almost without exception expensive to rectify! The costs to put the house right continue to spiral upwards and as much as I love the car, I don't use it enough to justify the value in it, when I also have another one as my daily driver, and a second Summer only 2cv that has more sentimental value. As such, I am listing it here in case the right kind of buyer is looking for a truly special 2cv to take on.
If you want to know more about it, or arrange to view then best to 'contact the seller' or call / text me on the details below. The car is in the village of Kimpton, near Harpenden / St Albans in North Herts. Preferred methods of payment are cash on collection or bank transfer for it. Thank you for reading this far.
