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Citroën

Citroën 2CV

A car designed for rural France, a textbook example of constraint producing a design language.

Citroën 2CV — Classic Car
Achim Raschka (talk) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Citroën 2CV — Classic Car
Berthold Werner · CC BY-SA 3.0
Citroën 2CV — Classic Car
Berthold Werner · CC BY-SA 4.0

Overview

The 2CV grew out of a specification for a cheap, easily repaired car able to carry produce over bad roads. The resulting vehicle does not hide that brief: every solution is visible and explicable.

A very soft, interconnected suspension lets the wheels follow the ground. The car leans markedly in corners while its load stays undisturbed — the priority was not comfort but the integrity of what it carried.

More than forty years of production show how long a well-defined problem can stay valid. Vehicles designed under constraint keep their identity even after the constraint disappears.

Details

Brand
Citroën
Category
Classic Car
Body
Classic car
Propulsion
benzin
Produced
1948–1990