I think i've lost the last tiny grip i had on the sane world

Soldato
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Rightyo, don't post in this bit of this forum much, usually feel a bit out of place alongside the porsches and BMWs in my cars i've fixed/bangers/kit cars/old landies etc.

Rest assured i'm a petrolhead, I got petrol running through my veins.. Just can't afford such nice cars and the yorkshireman in me would beat me to death with a P4 prescott heatsink :eek: if i contemplated spending more than a few grand on a motor.. I love porsches, they're about the only modern cars sold in europe i do like. And I love them for the engineering excellence, rather than outright speed or looks. Any slow, basic underpowered car can be fun if driven right.

My distaste for modern vehicles comes in part (but not solely by far) from the fact they are harder to tinker with. I like resto/rebuild/custom building.


Anyway, there's the background.

So i'm looking around for ideas on my latest project, webhopping. The latest project is for useful vehicles which are fun, but cheap (yorkshire again).

I came across a kit car/conversion kit for a little van, and it's that which inspired this post.

It's: Bulletproof, economical, reliable, fun, it's a van and a convertible(targa top over cab), quirky, different, mad, versatile, capable.. It has one major, all-defeating drawback:

It's a Citroen 2CV with the back body cut off and a box bolted on.

Just can't help it.. I DESPISE HATE HATE HATE 2cvs, like, burning (them all). But i can't ignore the fact that they make a bloody lot of sense as a little mini van (which i could use) Indeed citroen thought so, they made it as the AZU van for years. The first time i saw the pics of them, I laughed a lot. The more i think about them however, the more i think i should get one.. would be a lot of use.. and a lot LOT cheaper to have than the (overkill, tbh) puke-goat partner i'm using for those purposes at the moment. And with more comedy.. and dare i say it, a measure of shabby/retro cool? certainly a modicum of insanity cool.. lol

but a 2cv? :eek::confused::eek: i think i finally lost the last marble for good fellas
 
I think so too. There is no excuse for the 2CV, it's a truly dreadful, shocking, vile, nasty, horrible insult to motoring. Don't do it! ...it only makes sense because you appear to have lost your mind, however, it's not too late for you, because you at least realise what is happening and have obviously come here for help. Well I am giving it to you, don't do it, don't lower yourself to such an act of heinous motoring debauchery.

Don't give up your self respect for a French tin with wheels. If you have a wife and children, think of them! ...if not, think of your parents.
 
If you want a small quirky eye-catching little odd looking van then get yourself a Nissan S-Cargo. You could even pretend that it's French since it looks a bit like a snail (hence the name).

However, it's based on the Mk2 Micra which is a decent reliable platform for a small vehicle.
 
The 2cv has one advantage over other things: it was made pre-1973 and thus is eligible for free tax (if a <1973 chassis is used)..

makes sense because all the things that go wrong on other vehicles never go wrong on the 2CV simply because it does not have them... which is okay in a van, their sole purpose is to transport bulky loads as cheaply as possible.

I have other vehicles for other times.. but it'd be nice to have a super cheap, bombproof pile of poo that i can use through winter when the weather is too bad for the motorbike.. and a van.. one that is cheap enough to insure, maintain etc that it doesn't matter if i don't use it much.. i'm using an ancient land rover AND a peugeot partner for those duties at the moment.. overkill and uneconomical both..

This is my dilemma.. I hate the looks, I hate the slowness (although that can be fixed - van body is lighter than the car body anyway), I would never consider using a 2cv (car body) as a car ever in a rillion years, but, le chassis would make a great van platform.. vans are the win, trust me.. that peugeot partner is one of the best all-round vehicles i've ever owned. It's not the most economical, it certainly isn't a fast car (yawn, done the fast car thing) but it handles like a car and is SO SO useful.. comfortable too.. and pushing an underpowered vehicle hard is always more fun than babying something rapid... love the drive on that peugeot.. "le relaxement, mon amie, eet weel seem ah weel get you there before you can say ALORS"

heh

i just hit on another part of the dilemma.. it's something new.. I've had, in the past S13 Silvia, R5 GTT, Lotus Carlton, Maestro Turbo, and a procession of other quick and/or modified cars.. new cars feel so sterile in comparison.. and I can't afford anything quick enough to otherwise get the juices flowing.. "Fast" cars bore me these days - it'd have to be 200mph + just to catch my attention.

Maybe i'm getting old.. i always feel old around my birthday (in a few days).. OHMIGOD help me i'm turning into james may :D

EDIT: what i mean by new cars seem sterile, btw.. I actually miss being able to hear the chatter of various parts of the engine, i miss being able to feel the brake action.. i even miss the odd quiet little rattle when i drive something modern like she who must be obeyed's Suzuki.. i miss direct steering action.. like my machines to feel alive under me rather than dead and boring
 
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If you want a classic car that you want to turn into a project - then there is only one sensible car to get. Forget a 2CV, get a beetle!

Whether you like the styling or not there is one big thing that seperates it from ALL other classic cars. Parts.

You can buy absolutely anything for a beetle. You can get every little nut and bolt, panel, interior, exterior, mechanical etc, all brand new. Not only that - you can get each part as either a genuine VW part, or OEM, or a whole host of uprated high performance option. It simply is the most accessible and easily maintainable classic car there is.

Plus, you can pick up a pre 1973 car without too much bother, and they can be made into a van.

vw-beetle-truck-2.jpg


Plus, can you imagine the type of people you would meet at a 2CV 'meet'? Now imagine the people you'll meet at a VW event. ;):p
 
That beetle is at least 1,000,000 times more awesome than a 2CV. 2CV's are utterly terrifying. Can you easily convert one into a proper van?

If you want shonky chic, perhaps an old Morris traveller?
 
lol Bug One you make a couple of very, very good points. I love the beetle too, it only has one drawback, the location of its engine - no good for a mini van and i don't want a beetle pickup.

I wouldn't be seen dead and with my head rammed between the buttocks of a long dead metallica fan at a 2cv meet. Ever. Yes I can imagine the people there. And i can imagine having great fun playing with their immense jealousy and hatred of my utter cool (as a computer nerd.. lol)

But then, there are very few "meet" shows i would actually go to. Am at home in the autojumble bits but i find the whole car show thing a little bit sad. It's cool as to go round looking at new cars.. but looking at other people's projects? the only reason i'd do that is to get ideas and i got plenty of those

actually being lumped in with 2cv fans is the major drawback to the kit.. I'm so cool anything that is associated with me in any way becomes cool by default but i'm not sure even my coolery could stand up to that much load
 
Buy a C15, its a purpose built van and just as rubbish as your first idea, but, and this is the important part, its factory built rubbish.

Buy a bike instead.
 
atpbx - got one, the van is for transporting it, and bits for it, and bits of other projects as i build them... Got some plans for a few bike projects i'm going to build.

Got a peugeot partner (800kg load model 800DLX) which i use at the moment, wicked wicked van of brilliance and awesomeness.. but its too expensive to keep - insurance on it (commercial vehicle) in a big, fairly crimey city.. it's not economical by any stretch of the imagination... and diesel at the same price as petrol won't last. My dad loves it more than i do, so i'm looking to replace it with something cheaper - when I do, i'll pass the partner on to my dad

i like the 2cv van, i really do.. makes a lot of sense and is exactly what i want except its got a 2cv front end on it..

*sighs* i gotta decide if my coolery is up to the constant laughing at such a comical joke vehicle..by me and by others
 
I've got to say i love the 2cv thing. I had a Dyane as my first car and some people just dont get the simpleness off these cars, i didn't at first. They are really amazing to drive once you get the hang of them they are loads of fun and servicing is so simple.
 
Hmm one person says they're terrifying, one person says they're "amazing, loads of fun" when it comes to the driving. I've never driven a 2cv, but i've driven old minors, original fiat 500, once got stuck in the drivers seat of a mini.. even drove a series 1 87" landie on standard leaf springs and drum brakes but with a 3.5 v8 and 5spd gearbox added, up in the lake district... now that was terrifying.. lol.. in ten miles i must have thought "oh **** i'm not going to make this corner" about 40 times :D

so ya, i'm well used to older cars not quite having the composed suspension and powerful brakes, smooth gearshifts, "durable" clutches etc that modern stuff has. So what's terrifying about 2cvs?

dandle: it's the simplicity that draws me to them.. the fact that there just isnt a lot to go wrong and what is there tends to be pretty reliable- and seems cheap to fix too, i've seen cheap parts on the web. Simple cars are also a lot easier to customise, and this is another factor I like - add the features i do want like totally hidden mp3 player based stereo like's in the landie - the mp3 and the homemade amp for it are hidden in the casing of a broken period car radio -, tacho, and a couple of gauges.. interior lighting, other beefing up of the electrics to run a small inverter, etc.. other than a decent solid state stereo, and some monitoring gauges i, as an engineer, don't like being without and decent power supply i don't really need or want toys and gizmos in a car.. air conditioning is nice but you dont need it when you've got a targa top as that van kit has.. not in this country anyway..

damn, i really cant make my mind up about this one.. everything except the looks scream "get one" and the looks scream "avoid like plague"

:mad:
 
atpbx - got one, the van is for transporting it, and bits for it, and bits of other projects as i build them... Got some plans for a few bike projects i'm going to build.

Got a peugeot partner (800kg load model 800DLX)

What you have, is a nice proper van

What I have suggested is something that is almost what you were after in the first place, without being hopelessly garbage.
http://www.citroenet.org.uk/utilities/c15/c15-1.html

I've driven a 2cv, my mates mum passed it down to him just after he passed his test, even some 15 years ago, it was this much fun - no fun at all.
 
The C15 is a great little van. Loads of space for such a small van and even with the puny 1.1 engine it will feel like an F1 car in comparison to a 2CV powered contraption.
 
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