Description
Author: John Reynolds, Foreword by L.J.K. Setright, Hardbound, 176 Pages, ISBN: 9780750913508, 1st Edition, 1997 - Second-Hand book in perfect unread condition - slight tear on dust jacket !
The British read French books and watch French films, they enjoy French food and wine, and they also choose to drive French cars. And by common consent, of all these Gallic vehicles none is more representative of the French character than the Citroen 2CV.
To the true francophile, the Deux Chevaux is much more than just a living antique — it is a cultural icon which, by virtue of the rigorous logic of its engineering and the rational integrity of its design, ranks alongside the greatest productions of French painting, literature, music and cuisine.
Indeed, for more than four decades it formed as essential a part of the French way of life as Beaujolais and Camembert.
Twelve years in design and development and forty-one years in manufacture, its life-span covered well over half a century, making . it one of the longest-running motoring success stories of all time.
Three generations of drivers enjoyed its eccentric but eminently practical charms. And yet at its first appearance at the Paris motor show in 1948 it was dismissed by most motoring journalists and commentators as a commercial disaster — but not by the buying public. Eventually, almost seven million of its various versions and derivatives were built.
And today, seven years after its manufacture ceased, it is still as popular as ever, if not more so.
On the eve of the Citroen 2CV's fiftieth birthday, this book chronicles the conception, life and death of this revolutionary French people's car, a story that can be traced back over sixty years, to 1937.
The text provides perhaps the most comprehensive and detailed account of the car ever produced, in England or in France, and it explains how the Deux Chevaux, which was aimed initially at peasants and the petite bourgeoisie, became a cult object among the intelligentsia, the symbol of the alternative way of life, and an essential part of the motoring mythology of the twentieth century.
JOHN REYNOLDS is a life-long Citroen enthusiast who. has made a special study of the Double Chevron marque. His knowledge is both practical, as an owner-driver and amateur mechanic and restorer, and academic, as a professional historian, author and journalist.
He has contributed to various motoring journals including Classic Cars, Classic & Sportscar, Retroviseur, Automobilia and the Daily Telegraph Weekend Review. This is his third book on Citroen matters, the others being a biography of Andre Citroen and an account of the design evolution and manufacturing history of the Citroen DS.
