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Minimalist, Cheap & Rugged – Citroën 2CV

My friend Candice, who just became a member of the National Motorsports Press Association, writes a regular Tuesday blog called “Simple Joys”. I know her Simple Joy on wheels would probably be a Morgan three wheeler, mine would definitely be a Citroën 2CV.

The Citroën 2CV was designed as an uncompromisingly utilitarian vehicle designed to move agricultural France on from dependence on the horse and cart.

A market survey of Frances largely agricultural population in the 1930’s revealed that there was a demand for an umbrella on four wheels, that could carry 50 kgs / 110 lbs of farm produce to market at 30 mph and be driven across a ploughed field carrying a basket of eggs without breaking them, all while wearing a pair of clogs.

Pierre-Jules Boulanger set about guiding the same design team that had devised the Citroën Traction Avant to come up with a radical solution to the design criteria for a “Toute Petite Voiture” – very small car.

The original 2CV (2hp) made largely of aluminium was to have had a water cooled 2 cylinder engine and was scheduled for launch in 1939 but these plans were abandoned with the onset of the 1939/45 war. During the war it was realised the the price of aluminium would become prohibitive for post was production so the car was redesigned to make use of steel and the engine redesigned to be air cooled with a four speed gearbox.

A 2CV was finally launched in 1948 with a pull chord starter that was soon replaced with an electric starter. Despite much humour and scorn in the press Citroën were flooded with orders and the Deux Cheveau became a huge success with a three year waiting list built up in just three months !

Amazingly Citroën 2CV’s were used in competition events like the Mille Miglia in the early to late 1950’s, though they did not experience any overwhelming success.

2CV’s were developed into a large number of variants the Fourgonette van pioneered the use of a large rear box section that has seen many passenger vehicles reconfigured to commercial use, there was a pickup and a Sahara off road road version with two engines to provide four wheel drive.

The 2CV remained in production, much modified from this 1954 iteration, seen at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, until 1990. Of all the cars I have owned the half a dozen minimalist cheap and rugged 2CV’s easily gave me the most smiles per mile.

Thanks for joining me on this “Minimalist, Cheap and Rugged” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Americana Thursday. Don’t forget to come back now !

Hot One Of Fifteen – 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Indy Pace Car

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For 1955 Chevrolet launched it’s second generation full size Bel Air range, to replace the almost entirely new 1954 Bel Air. with two tone paintwork and for the first time a new 4.3 litre 265 cui V8 ‘small block’ engine option that would remain part of General Motors product mix with many improvements over several decades.

The crisp clean styling of the 1955 Bel Air was set off by a Ferrari inspired chrome square potato chip grill as seen on the car below photographed at last years Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Alongside two straight six motor options the new ‘small block’ came tuned with either a 162 hp Turbo-Fire with twin barrel carburetor, 180 hp Power Pack Super Turbo – Fire with four barrel carburetor or towards the end of the model year a 195 hp competition option with a high compression motor.

Being selected to perform pace car duties for the 1955 Indy 500 is reckoned to have given Chevrolet’s Bel Air marketing campaign a terrific boost, it is said that a fleet of 15 two tone Red & White Bel Airs were in attendance at what proved to be an unforgettable race.

Chevrolet Sales Manager Thomas H Keating was given the honour of pacing the field for the Indy 500 on May 30th 1955 and he can be seen at the wheel of what Keating claimed to be a 180 hp vehicle, on this linked photo, sitting beside him is thought to be Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman. The linked photo is telling for what it does not show, namely it is quite clearly not about to pace the Indy 500 and as we shall see it might not even be the actual vehicle used to pace the event.

The give away as to which vehicle paced the event can be seen at 13m 37 secs into this linked clip when the pace car that actually led the field away can be clearly seen to be carrying a movie camera in the boot / trunk necessitating a rather large slit to afford the camera rearward vision and to accommodate the upper film reel. No one knows for sure what happened to that particular car after the event.

Bill Vukovich looked to be on course for a third straight Indy victory in 1955 with a 17 second lead on the 57th lap, of 200, when he ran into someone else’s accident and ended flying over the back stretch perimeter fence and coming to rest up turned and on fire giving the two time defending champion no chance of survival. Bob Sweikert who had worked his way up from 14th on the grid, and was second in the John Zink Special at the time of the accident crossed the line 3 hours 53 mins and 59 secinds after the Bel Air pace car had entered pit road to start the race.

Bob took home one of the fifteen Bel Air pace cars with his wife and their kids, he went on to win the 1955 AAA big car championship and Midwest Sprint Car Championship, becoming the only winner of what is known cumulatively as the American Motor Sports Triple Crown. The following year Sweikert was killed in a sprint car accident at Salem Speedway racing Ed Elisan whom he had raced as a teenager in his home town of East Bay California.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Hot One Of Fifteen’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Big Valve Special – Lotus 74 Europa Special

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In 1971 Chief Engineer Mike Kimberley oversaw the development of the upgraded Lotus Europa Twin Cam Type 74. featuring a 105 hp Twin Cam motor coupled with a stronger Renault 4 speed gearbox.

The upgraded Europa featured a 105 hp Twin Cam motor coupled with a stronger Renault 4 speed gearbox.

After the first 1580 Europa Twin Cams has been built the Europa model was again upgraded with a 126 hp ‘big valve variant of the twin cam motor.

The first 200 ‘Big Valve’ Europa’s were planned as a limited ‘Europa Special’ edition of 200 featuring the black and gold “John Player Special”, tobacco brand, paint work of the works Lotus Racing cars which won the 1972 World Constructors Championship and World Drivers Championship with Emerson Fittipaldi at the wheel.

The 200 ‘Europa Special’ limited edition vehicles, all featuring a 5 speed gearbox, launched in September 1972 are distinguishable by a numbered badge on the dash panel.

Such was the popularity of the Europa Special that the model was continued after the initial planned batch of 200 had been built sans numbered dashboard badges and in a variety of colours including black and gold until 1975.

I was unable to discern if the 1972 Europa Special seen here is one of the first 200 numbered cars, or one of post limited edition models, when I saw it at last years Goodwood Festival of Speed. Note how the rear bodywork has been tidied up to give better rear visibility when compared to the Type 54 Europa I looked at last week.

A Europa with the big valve motor was tested in period carrying a passenger from rest to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds and with a maximum speed of 122 mph. In all 3130 big valve Europa Specials were built from September 1972 to 1975.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Big Valve Special’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho’ on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be reviewing last weeks Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival. Don’t forget to come back now !

12 05 09 Lotus Type 74 disambiguation, it has come to light that at least one internet source lists two Lotus Type 74’s one the Europa Twin Cam / Europa Special and the other an open wheel Formula 2 car, former Lotus employee Rob, Kayemod on The Nostalgia Forum, has kindly informed me that the Formula 2 cars were only ever referred to at the Lotus factory as “Texaco Stars” in deference to their sponsor and that the Type 74 designation seems to have been applied to the racing car retrospectively.

Japanese Edition – MG RV8

Unlucky In Love – Auburn 851 SC Speedster

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The Auburn 8-851 SC was a response to the failure of the previous 12 cylinder 12-160 model to sell at Dodge V8 prices, customers, even during those depression years up to 1933, erroneously thought there had to be something wrong with the product to be offered at such bargain prices !

Restyled by Gordon Beuhrig, of a model originally designed by Alan Leamy, the Speedster is one of the all time most memorable elegant designs from nose to boat tail.

The 8 indicating 8 cylinders was dropped from the model name to become ‘851’ which was available with a normally aspirated straight 8 Lycoming motor or a 150 hp supercharged one.

The casual observer looking at the front of an Auburn was never left in any doubt about the Supercharged version of the “851” chrome headers of the SC were matched by tasteful text on the bonnet / hood which shouted out top of the range model …

even on the intake side of the motor !

Fabled speed merchant Ab Jenkins took a stock 851 SC Speedster and ran it for 12 hours at an average speed of 100 mph soon after the model launched on January 1st 1935. Ab Jenkins was then employed to test each 851 SC Speedster to over 100 mph before shipment, the plaque on this one shows Ab tested the car to 100.6 mph.

Around 5000 normally aspirated and supercharged version of the ‘851’ were sold in 1935, but the following year sales of the same model rebadged ‘852’ tanked leading EL Cord to wind up production at the 40 year old Auburn company for good.

This particular car was purchased by Eduardo Montinola as a courting gift for Philippine model Susan Magalona who married Eduardo’s rival Carlos Ledesma a sugar baron in what was described as the marriage of the year, in the Philippines, with gifts that included a truck full of peanuts ! The Marriage was loveless and annulled and Susan subsequently married millionaire diplomat by the name of Federico Elizalde.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Unlucky In Love’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !