Citroen 2CV Sahara

Details

Category: Citroen

Last Updated on Friday, 07 January 2011 21:27

Written by Site Admin

Hits: 2952

Citroen 2CV

The citroën 2CV  was an economy car produced by the French Manufacturer Citroën from 1948 to 1990. It was technologically advanced and innovative, but with extremely utilitarian and deceptively simple styling. It was designed in the 1930s to move the French peasantry on from horses and carts, as they had not yet adopted the automobile due to it's cost. The car was designed to use no more than 3 litres of petrol to travel 100 km. Most famously, it would be able to drive across a ploughed field without breaking the eggs it was carrying. For this it had a light, easily serviceable engine, extremely soft long travel suspension (with adjustable ride height), high ground clearance, and for oversized loads a car-wide canvas sunroof (which until 1960 also covered the boot). The designer Pierre-Jules Boulanger also had the roof raised to allow him to drive while wearing a hat. The 2CV is considered one of Citroën's most iconic cars.

During a production run of 42 years between 1948 and 1990, 3,872,583 2CVs were produced, plus 1,246,306 camionnettes (small 2CV trucks), as well as spawning mechanically identical vehicles like the Ami - 1,840,396, Dyane - 1,400,000, Acadiane - 253,393, and Mehari - 144,000.

The 2CV belongs to a short list of vehicles introduced shortly before or after World War Two that remained relevant and competitive for many decades such as the Jeep, Land Rover, Fiat 500, Austin Mini, and VW Beetle.

Citroën unveiled the car at the Paris Salon of 1948. The car on display was nearly identical to the 2CV type A that would be sold the next year, but lacked an electric starter, the addition of which was decided the day before the opening of the Salon. The 2CV was a great commercial success: within months of it going on sale, there was a three-year waiting list. The waiting list was soon increased to five years. At that time a second-hand 2CV was more expensive than a new one because the buyer did not have to wait. Production was increased from four vehicles per day in 1949 to 400 vehicles per day in 1950.

A pick-up truck version was used by the Royal Navy for pioneering Royal Marine helicopter carrier amphibious operations aboard HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, due to the payload limitations of their first large helicopters.

In 1960, the 2CV was updated, and looked similar until the end of production. In particular the corrugated Citroën H Van style "ripple bonnet" of convex swages was replaced (except for the 2CV Sahara), with one using six larger concave swages. The 1960s were the heyday of the 2CV, when production finally caught up with demand.

In 1967 Citroën launched a new model based on the 2CV chassis, with an updated but still utilitarian body, with a hatchback that boosted practicality: the Citroën Dyane. This was in response to the direct competition by the Renault 4, that had used so many stolen design ideas from the 2CV and Traction Avant that Citroën contemplated legal action at the time of its launch. At the same time, Citroën developed the Méhari off road vehicle.

In 1970 the flat 2 engine size was increased to 602 cc and the car gained rear light units from the Citroën Ami 6, and also standardised a third side window in the rear pillar on 2CV6 (602cc) models. All 2CVs from this date can run on unleaded fuel. 1970s cars featured rectangular headlights.

The highest annual production was in 1974, as sales of the 2CV were reinvigorated by the 1974 oil crisis. The 2CV after this time became more of a youth lifestyle statement than a basic functional form of transport. This renewed popularity was encouraged by the Citroën "Raid" intercontinental endurance rallies of the 1970s where customers could participate by buying a new 2CV, fitted with a ruggedising kit to cope with thousands of miles of very poor or off-road routes. The Citroën "2CV Cross" circuit / off-road races were very popular in Europe.

In 1981, a bright yellow 2CV was driven by James Bond in the film 'For your eyes only'. The car in the film was fitted with the engine from a Citroën GS for slightly more power. Citroën launched a special edition 2CV "007" to coincide with the 2CV product placement in the film, it was fitted with the standard flat-2 engine, painted in yellow with "007" on the front doors and fake bullet hole stickers.

2CV Sahara

A special version of the 2CV was the Sahara, designed for off-road driving, built from December 1960 to 1971. This had an extra engine mounted in the rear compartment and both front and rear wheel traction. Only 694 2CV Saharas were built. The target markets for this car were French oil companies, the military, and the police.

Very little about the standard 2CV's design can be considered conventional, as it was quite a departure from pre-WWII car design. Power came from a small air-cooled two-cylinder boxer engine. A simple unitary chassis construction was used with coil spring suspension all around. This gave the 2CV its characteristic 'wobbly' ride that earned it the nickname 'duck' in some countries.

The 2 CV 4x4 idea began with Mr. Bonnafous from Savoy, who in 1954 built a one-off 2 CV 4x4 with 2 x 375 cc engines. The car was registered for the road in 1955 - registration number 625 K 73. This vehicle achieved more than 100,000 km after having been upgraded to 2 x 425cc engines without any problems. Due to the astonishing features of the vehicle, a Citroën dealer contacted Mr. Bonnafous, which led to studies on such a car by Citroën itself in 1957. The target-groups were buyers who wanted a "cheap and simple" off-road vehicle.

In March 1958 the first prototype left the Panhard factory, which belonged to Citroën at that time. There were no holes in the front-doors, no hood, which is characteristic of a 2 CV 4x4, and a bonnet made of corrugated sheet like the "normal" 2 CV's. cooling problems with the rear-engine demanded a radical reconstruction for the second and third prototype.

They showed for the first time the design we see today, thus having no fuel-filling holes in the doors and no backlights or signals on the rear-bonnet. The rear wings already had the cutout shape. The gears are operated by a common central shift lever, moving the shifter rods simultaneously, the rear rods being able to be lowered, so that they were out of action. The rear transmission is thereby out of action and the car may be used with only the front engine.

To accomodate for the second engine, the floorpan was modified. The new rear suspension resembled the front suspension quite closely, but was in fact a specially made item. Both the front and rear suspension were beefed up to handle the added abuse the four wheel drive 2CV was set to sustain. The two seperate fuel tanks were mounted under the driver and passenger seats, with the filler caps visible through both doors.

Full production began in December 1960 and ended in 1971 after 694 vehicles had been built. In 1971 the last SAHARA was manufactured from stored parts. Car no. 0001 allegedly exists in New Zealand and is owned by a retired Air New Zealand captain.

Many customers liked the ingenious construction and many car-critics of the time described the car enthusiastically, but the price (at about double the price of a standard 2CV) kept many from buying. Thus, the Sahara was a financial flop. Only the Spanish "Guardia civil" ordered them in any numbers (about 85). The Swiss PTT used some of the cars for difficult terrain. This may explain why there are so many Swiss-originated 2CV 4x4 Sahara's.

Citroen 2CV Sahara. Pics by Wouter Melissen.

Technical Section

Chassis: Reinforced frame. Rear motormounting welded onto the chassis

Body: 2 CV - Berline. Spare wheel mounted on the non-corrugated bonnet. Ventilation slits in the backside. Rear "bonnet" with a hole for the cooling of the rear-engine. Electric wiper from the B 11 series, later on the same covered wipermotors as mounted in the standard 2 CV's

Motors: 2 x 12 HP, later 13 and then 14 HP. Carburator: Solex 26 CBIN with alternative floater to guarantee fuel supply at any time and in any situation. Operation of the rear butterfly valve by means of a push & pull cable. 2 ignition keys, 2 dynamos/2 regulators, 1 battery 6V/36 Ah

Transmission: 2 x 4 forward /1 reverse. Operation via common shift lever. Hydraulic clutches via one clutch pedal, maincylinder slave-cylinder at the respective clutches. Power transmission via single clutch disk (no centrifugal clutch device) and double joints. The king crown wheel in the rear transmission is on the other side than in the front transmission in order to guarantee propulsion in the same direction.

Tanks: Double-walled petrol tank under the front seat each. Right side - for the front engine, left side for the rear engine. Filling of the tanks through holes in the front doors. There are special petrol suction devices in the tanks in order to provide a constant gasoline supply to the carburettors even in heavy terrain. The floor has openings to empty the fueltanks easily.

Performance

Using 1 Engine: 65 km/h maximum speed. Using both Engines: 105 km/h maximum speed.

The 2 CV 4x4 shows its superiority when used off road. All the four wheels being powered and equally loaded, one of them always finding grip and pushing forward. The vehicle  moves safely even on snow and ice.

Share this post