BMW bike engined Citroën 2CV eats b-roads for breakfast. Practical family car? Definitely.
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- Опубліковано 16 тра 2024
- PPC's Will Holman gets behind the wheel of Rob's rather special Citroën 2CV that's powered by a BMW bike engine. From a wheezy 29 horsepower to well into three figures - this Tin Snail really packs a punch.
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In my 69 years I never been able to accurately define my favourite sort of car. THIS ONE ticks all the none existent boxes. Fabulous. Thank you.
You are most welcome. Glad you enjoyed it so much - kudos to Rob and Sparrow Automotive for building it 😎
In my 15 years altogether of driving two original 2CVs all across Europe from the Lofoten Islands to the Ebro Delta, from thousands of Kilometers across Swiss mountain passes to Istanbul,.. I do agree with you.
Although doubling the original horsepower with a GS motor conversion and a longer legged box was what I always dreamed of, this one tops it already by not requiring the elongated and therefore out of proportion glass fiber fenders and bonnet kit, ....not mentioning the weight and its distribution.... ..... a dream conversion this one !
My wildest dream was a modded white one, red cross signed, with blue lights and siren, back in 1990, when I was doing emergency runs with similarly prepared Golf MK II GT all across northern Germany delivering blood bottles from Europes largest blood bank in the south of Hanover to hospitals in unforeseen needs.
Someone needs to show this to Hubnut. I wonder if a Cossack Ural motor would fit. 😂 @@ppcmagazine
WTF!
Alfaholics GTA
Never in a million years would I have thought I wanted one of these. I want one.
Get help! 🤣
What colour? I think the Tricolour, Blue, White, and Red, would look excellent. Or the colour Known as Gordini Blue, or that Blue that the Bugatti team cars were painted. Or YELLOW, the same colour as an ambulance.
@@Demun1649any of those would be brilliant. What a fun car.
The BMW Boxer or the 2CV ?
Imagine this in an old 2CV Fourgonette 🤪
Wanting is free. Excellent use of zero emission effort!
There's something about putting modern engines in old cars that makes me so happy.
It's the best of both worlds.
Too bad it's bmw engine :D if those got out of warranty age they aren't very reliable...
What a true gentleman willing to show us his wonderful creation. A true sleeper of a 2CV kind. Definitely not something you will see too often.
not too unusual in the UK hill climbing fraternity.
The badge on the back should show "2CV very special".
We'll have to pass that one on to Rob 🤣
Im taking Rob rides the 2 wheeled donor for work ;)
@@davem4845 Wonder how many people understood this comment?
@@user-ib1uk2sl9s Aww, rats! ;)
Spelled ‘Speshul’, surely?
The sound composition of the angry 2cv-style BMW-engine and the genuine howling 2cv-gearbox is unbeatable. Exactly like it should be. Great job!
BMW sous le capot!
@@localreviewking134 Sooner see a Jaguar V12 !
The speed and sound must catch a lot of other motorists by surprise. Imagine being overtaken by it 😂😂 Absolutely inspired 😂😂😂
Absolutely!
When we bought our first house in 1985 we were really skint and needed a car.
A three year old 2CV filled the bill perfectly.
We bought a bigger car in 1990 but I kept the 2cv till 1993 when sadly it suffered terminal chassis rot.
Although I'd sprayed Waxoyle into all the drain holes in the chassis, I didn't realize there were blanking plates in the chassis tubes which stopped the waxoyle getting into the section under the front passenger footwell.
Brilliant little car , perfectly driveable, although I was once burnt off by a reliant robin 😂😂😂.
Happy days .
What I could have done with 95 bhp tho.!!!
Thanks for showing us this
Glad you enjoyed it, Chris! Never too late to get another 2CV - and stick a bike engine in this one 😁
😂
Normally the under
Powered cars and bikes are the most fun. I had a 2 lt 1980s 4 cylinder that to over take on Australian road had to turn of the air conditioning and wait for a down hill run painfully slow from 80 km to 120 km. So well balanced it could do a 4 wheel drift in the wet
Yes I think there is a lot of truth in that , get up to 200 bhp and no one needs more power than that.
When I was young most cars had about 70 bhp so 100 bhp was a fast car !
I was a child and my father had a 2CV. At the time the police use to run R75's and I always wondered...why not?. Here is the reality. Chapeau !
Love that. I ride a BMW bike with one of those engines. The thought of one in a 2CV is very appealing.
Yes, so you know how well your BMW bike goes - well this won’t be much slower, they are pretty lightweight build- probably only weighs 50% more than a motorbike😮👍
LSD, from Belgium? are oh now I get it - limited slip differential, I thought, Wow! advertising 1970s psychedelic drugs on a UA-cam channel is a bit risqué!.
Would there be room in my Scooterpac Cabin Car? Be nice to go faster than 9 miles an hour.
You'd better put a 600cc motorbike engine on that I guess
@@TheAndreykko I expect that would be easy to get hold of. BMW, Ducati, KTM, JAWA, even Norton and BSA did them in 600cc. I'll have to change the colour, ambulance yellow would not be exactly inconspicuous.
Great car! Great interview! No music! Informations for gearheads!😊
Impressive the factory gearbox can handle 4x the power, what a cool car!
i love the typical 2cv gear sound!
Usually its not the power that is a problem but torque. And seems like this engine has similar torque down low like original engine. And with high revs, torque usually drops off so it should not be a concern.
If i got a 2CV i'd be straight up to Sparrow Automotive for the conversion.
Pete's your guy. He'll get it done and done very well 😁
These are the guys!
hi there ! i had the chance to drive this special 2cv in France Normandy several months ago (because Robert is a friend of mine) and i have to say : "WOW !! what is this ?". As he said; i loved it because it is a real 2cv (and i can say that i know these cars well) but it has the heart that was missing in the original one : an engine !!! I was spechless and i just couldn't stop smiling while driving !!! When this beast revs about 5000/6000, it sounds like a 2nd engine begins to play !!! thank you for that Robert (and Pete !)
The interiour sound is still real 2CV! oh how I love the singing noise ot the transmission! I had that on my old VISA, too.
I worked for a Citroen specialist in the 80s, who decided to fit a GS semi auto engine and gearbox in his AK400, which made it rather amusing seeing people's reaction when taking of at the traffic lights 😎
My brother employed me as a gofer on the 007 Bond Film that used the 2CVs to pick olives. My job was to pickup parts and spares from Citroen, scrap yards etc. Collect the Beach buggies and generally muck around the workshop at Pinewood.
Five 2Cvs were delivered, one was kept untouched as the pretty car the other four were staged modified for different aspects of the drive through the olive grove. Firstly to make sure we got the contract and not Reme Julian and son, we stripped the four cars to just body frame and chassis and running parts, scattering the doors, bonnets around the workshop this all took under 2 hrs. max, so when production walked in they just said. "Oh you have started you had better finish, and will you RMs son onto your team as he will be the stunt driver in the film"
GS engines replaced the 2cvs. Honda clutch and the CVs gear box.
One had a hydraulic drop arm fitted to catch stop wires on the steep banking.
The usual roll cage and safety belt mounts, Koni shocks etc.
A test drive was organized for the next Sunday around the lanes of Pinewood. First stop was fuel up the garage was on a dual carriage way after a few roundabouts. The four of use in convoy and we shot passed a Triumph 7 I think it was, few more roundabouts and called into fuel. The Triumph followed us in shaking his head and said " he was amazed a 2CV passed but three more was not on " To celebrate our win we called into a country pub for a pint or three, the pub emptied with all the punters looking at the 2CVs.
Citroen came with the Ami Super, which was also equiped with the GS engine and gearbox
Love it Will. A friend of mine has been waxing lyrical about a 2cv ‘buggy’ with a BMW engine. I must show this to him to inspire him to do something ‘stupid’. Keep going with these things, loving the rebirth of PPC.
This is the best car conversion there is, I love it. Amazing that the standard Citroen gearbox will take the torque, but it results in the ultimate Q-car vibe that the car sounds exactly like a standard 2CV. The standard suspension actually never lets go despite the alarming lean angles, so I would raise it to near standard if I had the car. Belt yourself in properly and go with the sway.
Love this. You'd never worry about where you park it, wouldn't worry about the odd extra scuff, it's practical, & will put a smile on your face every time you drive it.
If I had one though, I think I'd add some discreet air grilles into the front wings to give those cylinders an easier time, fit a recaro seat for the driver, add a meatier steering wheel & upgrade the braking (surprised that didn't get a mention).
If you haven't driven a 2cv, you'd be forgiven for expecting the brakes to be old fashioned and barely adequate like on many older cars. 2cv's from the 70's onward came with excellent front disc brakes, which like the gearbox are excellent. They're not servo-assisted, so need a firm push, but they stop the car very well, even when towing car transporter trailers and 16ft day boats (allegedly *cough*). Yes that's with the original 602cc & 29hp! Thankfully 1st gear is a very low ratio for hills, and the engine is un-burstable, so pinning the throttle all day long is no issue. Point is, I expect the brakes on this uprated tin snail are still standard and will be fine, as the car is sub 600kg in any case.
@@christhesnaildriver good to know, maybe Citroen knew that some would blatting down the French alp hairpins with a car full of livestock.....
This is the stuff of my childhood dreams. I lived in the UK from age 3 to 7, and my dad’s car history there and in Canada included a Panhard, Heinkel bubble car, two Renault 4CV’s, a Dauphine, an R8 and R16. Ones that got away included a Messerschmidt, Mini Cooper S and a Lotus Elan. As a boy, I imagined stuffing a BSA 650 twin into a Heinkel. This is on a whole other level, and strange as it may sound, far more practical!
In the 70's I worked in France. Visiting a car-parts store, I saw a line of racks with hanging transparent plastic bags, each filled with a 2CV engine 😂 Later I drove several 2CV's and Dyanes, in the desert and on UK roads. That pram-handle gearshift and going round corners 'scraping the door handles' was iconic and great fun. Cheap, cheerful, light, comfortable, reliable. Brilliant practical engineering. It's unbelievable to me to see the prices they now command for a good-condition car.
Sparrow automotive is a fantastic place that does wonderful things ❤
It really is!
My parents had a couple of 2CV's in the 1980's. Including the exact same model. However it was painted in Ferrari red multiple layers of paint and clear coating - just for the fun of it. One of the models were a Super 2CV with 65 ponies at the wheels. It was quick and could put some serious black stripes on the tarmack. It was nimble and relativel quick. Well over 100 ponies... Dang it sounds like a lot of fun. Especially with a few mods to the brakes, wheels, tires and suspension. Going 100mph in a 2CV with everything else close to stock is quite an experience. Over 85 mph you don't feel like being in total control. I like the mods being relative subtle and looking almost stock. There's a cargo version with a Ferrari motor - it's hardly a sleeper but extremely well built. Of course there's the 4WD 2CV's - this made me realize how awesome that could be - of course with a twin BMW engine - one in the front ... and one in the back. A tad update of the original design - but built with two tanks and two ignition keys/system like the original. Even the original is surprising good at traversing the terrain. 2CV Rally Cross is indeed a thing. An original quite normal 2 CV have been driven across Europe almost to the Tibet. A 4WD - 2 CV is the only vehicle to have crossed the Sahara unsupported after traversing a good part of Africa only being sailed from Morocco to Gibraltar and being driven back to London. That of course being done twice years apart in the same vehicle by it's owner. I can't remember the full story - it's so unbelievable that it's a testimony to facts being stranger than fiction. I think it was a year or two ago it became fully restored to it's original glory and sold at an auction. It fetched more than 150
,000 Euro - if my memory doesn't fail me. It's got an extremely unusual story. It could have been in the Guinness Book of Records - but the owner didn't do it to set a record. He fled from civil wars both times. He wanted to be getting back home and just happened to like the car so much - he simply wanted it with him back home. He couldn't afford an airlift. Why he did it twice... After the two trips it served as a daily commuter in and around London. As I recall it sat for + 20 years in a garage. Someone heard the story and tracked the vehicle down - still in possession of the original owner. As I recall only 697 vehicles were made in a production run of 25 years. It's the unicorn of cars - the story making it an even more rare car. There's only one car with that story and it's well documented - it could be in the Guinness Book of Records - if the owner asked for it .... He just didn't think it was important. A remarkable person and a remarkable car as a match made in Heaven.
It was my first ever car. Drove from Croydon to Alicante in Spain and back. Completely knackered and could do about 40mph on the straight on a good day. I'd have one tomorrow without hesitation. Love the idea of the bike engine.
Glad to jog some memories for you 😃
I cross France once a year with my 1978 2CV Fourgonnette (AKS 400). Last year, it took me 14 hours non stop from Chamonix to Lorient, average speed about 62 Km/h. I never use motorways, only go through small winding roads. France is such a charming country when you take the time to actually pay attention to it.
Thanks to my 1,65m stature I can easily sleep in it. Here is a link to my bedding/seating design in my other 2CV in Florida.
Total added weight is 7 kilos.
I will never understand why anyone would want to drive anything else... 😉
ua-cam.com/video/Xeic37T2Ugw/v-deo.html
Brilliant! I've seen the supercharged one on youtube before, I believe it was used for bergcup racing, but a road going one is out of this world!
One thing that 2Cyl novices might be unaware of, is how low the RPM's sound. Why? Because as a car enthusiast one "keys" one's ears to a 4 or more cylinder, and the result is when winding a 2cyl out it sounds like you are short shifting. There are 1/2 or less as many exhaust pulses to hear at any given RPM. Some of the drive bys in the video were probably 7K+ rpm. When the interviewer is driving, he's probably shifting at 5 or 6K. Doesn't sound like it, but it's true.
Additionally, that weird aspect makes it somewhat relaxed sounding at road speed. You can gear it to run 4k, but your ears say it's 2K. Back in the day the manufacturer of Panhard Dynas felt that was their ace-in-the-hole...gave relatively relaxed long trip driving. In that aspect at least.
In the 1980s there was a company in West Yorkshire that fitted Porsche engines into 2CVs. They were marketed as sidewinders. Significantly upgrade.
In the 70s I worked for a VW specialist who in his spare time stuck Porsche engines into Beetles and Type 2 vans just for giggles.
that first gear shrill sound - with the gear stick pulled out back alomst into the passengers face, bings back memories
Great car. I'm pretty sure I followed this a few weeks ago, I remember thinking "he's breathed on that' it was cracking on with pace
Love this!! Have attended the 2CV 24hours race - some of those running these motors - not slow at all!
Sounds 2CV! Love it - my first car was a Dyane - amazing fun in my teen years
We have something in common. My first girlfriend was a Diane. She was amazing fun in my teen years as well!😜😂👍
This is great! Tuned performance cars without the stupid laddishness that often goes with it. Subscribed.
Welcome! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Indeed. This is way cooler than a Ferrari or styled Bmw
Nice registration 👌
B767 EGC, Boeing 767 and Bergerac-Dordogne-Périgord Airport, EGC. What a top car, with a fantastic plate.
This video makes me grinning!
The engine sound and the gear whine are exactly from BMW Motorrad Motor.
I also owned the predecessor R1100R and owns R1200CL of the same R259 engine.
That model is like a tank.
Respect!🎉
What a great concept. That must shock a lot of people. Those big BMW motors have power. How Kool that is just about seems to bolt in. They should produce this combo.
Outstanding! I do believe I found my next project. Be well.
Fascinating. Some years ago I had a very nice Fiat 500F, and by chance had a spare BMW R90S engine, and I thought that would be an interesting swap - 18hp to 72hp! I seriously wanted to do it, but circumstances changed and I never got the opportunity. This Citroen is genius! Thanks for this video.
First episode I’ve seen. I love how both these guys are so understated. “It starts to get really interesting above 5000.”
You can swap the stock voltage rectifier to a series one (170 pounds) and that will stop the extra 20 amps back into the stator wich is cooled in engine oil. Most bikes have that, i think this is no exception. Oil temp will be cooler (14v x 20 amps = 280 w of heat). Nice ideea for a swap.
Congratulations on having achieved this beautiful machine, I have been thinking about the idea of something like this for a long time, and I am very happy that someone has achieved it!!! Another idea that I tell you is to run a 2Cv engine, at 2T, rotating the camshaft at the same speed as the crankshaft, using direct injection and an air compressor, to make more explosions per rpm, so that the HP could be doubled, and so could the engine torque. Nissan is developing something like this, but you can still experiment with these 2-cylinder engines, and even with a small 4-stroke 50 cc Honda-type engine, converted to 2-stroke, it would be the easiest test to experiment with, you may never be able to do it. , but I would be extremely happy to see someone else achieve it.
Brilliant. I love the fact it is in a worn '80s car.
In 1996 i had a 1960 that was running later running gear and looked standard. I wanted to do a BMW engine then but couldn't find anyone or any help in the conversion. Roll on 20 years later, plenty of them out there. I no longer have a 2CV so i no longer have that itch
That’s awesome! I want one.
I love these type of engineering projects that bring joy!
Lose those sandals 😂 that 2CV is absolutely amazing. Awesome sleeper. Usually I would not bother with these cars . My brother bought one in 1985 . Was very difficult to change gear and had little power. This machine is really what the French should have built. Great fun . Good luck with this project
Excellent video as always, this 2CV looks a riot to drive.
Certainly is!
What an awesome car!! A 2CV6 was my first car, with crazy wild 23hp 🤣🤣🤣 once I drove it on the Autobahn going almost 130km/h on a long straight downhill section. Felt like flying 😂
Love it! Brilliant conversion!!
Your smiles say it all :) superb build.
I absolutely LOVE this!! Glorious!
I love this! Good job!
Wonderful little car had 2 of they few in South Africa , my father was a Citroen nut .I had the 498 cc and the 603 cc .Father had DS20 AND the Citroen Maserati SM , we used to fix them. A
ll motor cars way ahead of there years at the time (1970's) . Miss you dad.
love Citroens!!
the guy who modified it is a true specialist .
the guy who spent money for this is a true petrolhead !!
this is a perfect outcome
Verry cool build 👌 I wondered why the channel is called "Practical" Performance but that became clear when I saw the sandals
2:24 If you push it hard - you get everything broken. If it doesn't break you didn't try it hard enough ... 😀 Thanks for showing. That would be a car Ian from Hubnut would surely like to lend out for a road test as well.
Incroyable vidéo une 2cv avec un moteur de BM c’est top 😊
That's brilliant. It even sounds like a normal 2cv at first then wow that rasp . With more than 3 times the bhp hopefully uprated the brakes 😊
Wonderful cool and unusual conversion! 👌🏻
Probably ~30 years ago I was driving along the Plymouth Parkway, downhill toward the Tecalemet roundabout when three 2cvs came diving down the sliproad from Buckland, straight into lane #2 past me & on their merry way: I was doing a conservative 75mph.
My 2CV dream...congratulations!
That sounds amazing. Glorious.
It's really surprising to hear it, at 08:55 it's typical flat bmw and then at 08:58 that's the gold old classic RrrrrRRRrr of a 2CV.
What a marvelous idea the builders had, congratulations.
I loved my 2CV Fifi, she wasn't fast but I did make a full crash cage when I built her up onto a new chassis. The body sat up on some wood and four deck chairs while the chassis work was done !
Great memories 😂
It still has that 2CV sound ......amazing.👏
Hope it's got bigger brakes and stiffer suspension?!!
I had both the R1100 and R1200 BMW bikes, both engines were quite strangled with lean burn emissions. I had the R1200 remapped on a rolling road and it made a huge difference, torque was up and so was the engines ability to rev, it went like a turbine in the higher revs making for a lovely road bike.
Very cool!, love the stance lowered with widened wheels looks angry!
Great dry wit and a cool car. Best wishes from Tasmania :)
Thank you! 👍
Not unlike rescuing an abandoned puppy. Pure love of a man.
Seriously cool! Love the wheels and the stance, very tasty indeed!
Super thing! I like the fact there's authentic rust and dings on the bodywork. Please tell me you uprated the brakes though? Really good anchors make cars like this so much more fun to drive.
Very nice. Thank you.
200k views already 😮! Well done chaps!
Amazingly, this car seems to keep the savor of legacy 2CV but with much more power. It should be a piece of pleasure to drive it. Congratulation from France!
Thanks Frederic! Glad the video has made its way across the water to the 2CV's spiritual home :)
I miss my first car a green bamboo 2cv. Great to learn how to drive fast, revving it out and braking for those slow corners...😂
This 2cv is very special indeed.
😊 i love it👍👍👍and i also love the exhouse sound, it soundss like ...the original engine was charged up. I mean this POP POP POP 😜 👍
A while ago i see a black 2vc with bmw engine on a race track. The curve speed was very high. Was fun watching the 2 cv overtake the others in the corners on the outside and stuff.
My favourite type of engine swap - keeping the original configuration but adding more character.
Great conversion.
Brilliant. DO IT because you LOVE IT! 😁
Magnifique pocket rocket!🙌🏾
Last year of the r1150rt was 2004. Great build👍👍
If Carlsberg made 2CV's they would be just like this! Lol. great stuff guys, thanks for sharing!
Glad ppc are back I always loved the magazine - subscribed
It's the best-sounding 2CV I've ever heard!
My, own, first car was a Citroën 2CV, she was yellow and I called her Fifi ❤. An absolutely fantastic time we had together before, sadly, her drive shaft went kaput 😢 Shall I get another one...WHY NOT!!
I've been in a 2CV on a b road and it handles brilliantly
Passed my test in a standard 2cv , but this is something else. A proper sleeper
Take care with the heat, people who forgot their R1150RT wenn letting the bike warm up for checking Oil level, had the bike burn down… But you could always ad a fan for each cylinder. Great sleeper in any case😊
Some 35 years ago, I saw an unusually low riding unusually grunty sounding and most unusually fast 2CV going through my home village here in the mainland, in that Germany. I never got my head around what might have been done with it to be that much of a beastie. I get a rough idea what it actually was now. 🤗 Wondeful! 🤩
Back then it would have been a flat 4 from a Citroen GS
Glad you enjoyed it! Welcome 😁
I'm so amazed that it sounds very stock-like !... This guys could be the ultimate sleeper !
It's the gearbox whine that is so characteristic.
@@althejazzman Yes - definitely 👍
@@althejazzmanthe intake sound is characteristic,too
Great video 👍 In the 80s Car magazine did a story on a 2CV turbo upsetting lots of BMW & Peugeot 205 GTi,it eventually caught fire 😂😂😂
We'd love to see that!
@@ppcmagazine I have the original car here and the copy from CAR magazine from 1988. Just ask if you want it. They guy that built it, Steve Cropley, has been to see it. She's not pretty but its all there.
That's the coolest 2CV ever, a very fun car.
That car is so cool, brilliant idea
Great vid, cheers.
Glad you enjoyed it!
great line ......" it s not a Volvo ....." ........ i would suggest there is more steel in the bonnet of a Volvo than the whole of a 2CV body ......... but a great piece of work & a good sound ...
Many years ago I nearly bought a Diane with a 4 cylinder 1100 engine..
The builder had started with an Ami Super which had a 4 cyl chassis, so it would take a GSA engine. then dressed the chassis with the Diane body panels. It was a monster.
He generally held that the 1100 engine was a good starting point. it was seriously quick..
There was a factory 4 cyl 2CV as well following the use of a 2CV as a Bond chase car. They were yellow with stick on bullet holes on the boot lid..
The Bond limited edition 2CVs were standard engined cars - the cars used in the film had the GS engine though.
What a car, classic with speed.
A beautiful beautiful car
Now this is the epitome of a Practical Performance Car! 👏
Cheers Andy!
This is completely epic.
Nice ! hope the brakes are upgraded as well.
Well here’s a blast from the past. I still have the first thirty or so issues of PPC magazine.
These BMW engines can make for good aircraft conversions as well. Their power to weight ratio is quite good. A reduction is needed for the propeller but some of the weight can be recovered by removing the original gears and even the gearbox section itself. A dry sump is also preferable.