Hardly any other car embodies France and its attitude to life so much and is kept alive by fans decades after production has ended as lovingly as the duck. The Citroën 2CV, intended to be a simple car for the general population, caused heads to shake at the Paris Motor Show when it was presented on October 7, 1948 because of its unconventional shape.
The small, rocking car became a bestseller precisely because of its indestructible design. Hobbyists still go on big trips with it today. 75 years after its first appearance, the duck will be celebrated in a big way on Saturday at the Citroën Museum near Paris – with a parade of 75 ducks.
Back in the 1930s, Citroën began developing an inexpensive car that was supposed to be a small car with minimal equipment. “Design a car that has space for two farmers in boots and a hundredweight of potatoes or a barrel of wine, can travel at least 60 kilometers per hour and only consumes three liters per 100 kilometers,” were the requirements of the designer André Lefèbvre have. “It has to have extremely good suspension so that a basket full of eggs can survive a journey over bumpy dirt roads undamaged,” it continued.
Prototypes hidden or scrapped
The design of a “Toute Petite Voiture” (very small car) was completed in 1939. Then World War II began and the Paris Motor Show did not take place. 250 prototypes were scrapped or hidden. Only after the end of the war in 1948 did Citroën introduce a revised model. The economical car “for the little people” quickly became a symbol of freedom and joy of life – beyond borders. Especially in Germany, the 2CV embodied a piece of France. Due to scarce raw materials, Citroën was only able to produce a small number of units. There were waiting lists of up to six years.
The first version with nine hp reached 70 km/h. The last models with 29 hp reached 113 kilometers per hour. From 1951, the duck was also delivered as a delivery van with a spacious loading space. The “box duck” was used, for example, by the road rescue service or as a postal vehicle in Belgium. The driving behavior was characterized by fairly good off-road mobility and considerable body roll in curves. It was almost impossible to tip over. Instead of a fixed steel vehicle roof, the duck had a roll-up vinyl top – ideal for unhurried journeys through summer France.
From Paris to Kabul and back
The duck also became famous in films, for example with James Bond in “Deadly Mission” or with Louis de Funès as “Gendarme of Saint-Tropez”. Citroën also organized duck rallies on routes that are unimaginable today: in 1970 it went from Paris to Kabul and back, a distance of 16,500 kilometers, the following year to the palace city of Persepolis in Iran and in 1973 to Tunisia.
Since the last duck rolled off the assembly line in Portugal in July 1990, a large fan base has kept the car alive. In the 2CV Germany group, hobbyists exchange tips and spare parts and organize meetings with their iconic vehicles. The Méhari Club Cassis produces spare parts in the south of France. The workshop, initially run by three brothers, received the original machines from Citroën to produce the parts. In addition to revamping old ducks, the company has also been offering a modernization since 2017 that was unimaginable in 1948: conversion to electric drive.
