Really didn't expect this video to get the attention it did, but I want to thank everyone for their stories and observations. I've been on a journey with this car and I've tried to document the ups and downs which you can follow here: ua-cam.com/play/PL1LWyGkxyU2x8mLKsUi6mPgKBXIPn-7-6.html
Hello Ben, the 2cv is a full goat ;) no pb with snow or ice, i did it twice in the alps & Pyrennées, with winter tires of course ;) Enjoy. Regards from fr.
the charge for engineers was : do cheap, 4 seats, under an umbrella, able to cross a plowed field with a basket of eggs without breaking one. If you want to test the last one beware though, French eggs are tougher because we don't wash'em.
I commuted one between Glasgow and London, hammered it off road and ran up ridiculous mileages (according to the car dealer). The only issue I had was fast wearing front drum brakes. A fun vehicle only to be driven by skilled people!
The front drive is the ticket. In my own experience, all front drive vehicles do well in the snow because the weight of the entire driveline is all on the drive wheels.
@@BlodaBlodaBloda I've found that most FWD cars do really badly in winter, a RWD car with good weight distribution will be better in most situations. I'm Norwegian and I live up a long, very steep hill and the best car at getting up it I've had so far was a Mercedes W210 with old tires (Obviously not counting the 4wd cars I've had)
In 1978 we had a huge snowstorm in Denmark, the whole country almost closed down. Cars were stuck everywhere, but our 2cv just hacked its way past all the big expensive cars. No heat, but we got through.
@@toqtoq3361 Thanks! You may notice it has the optional cover on the grille here. I once drove an old Land Rover from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Ottawa. The last 3 hours of the journey, we got -20C plus a strong wind. It simply wouldn't drive in it despite my efforts to cover the grille.
I had a Dyane that winter and shooting regional news I was a lot on “closed” roads. When I Got stuck the trick was to put into 1.gear, pull the choke out, Jump out and push. When it Got a grip you jump in and off you go. Hoping you don’t fall and lies in the snow watching you car disappear 🥶. It was a lovely car.
I drive a 83 citroen lna with a aircooled twin, and in winter i have to tape off the cold air inlet otherwise you will freeze, but we had sorta the same snow last month and it did great!
Not easy to repair. You need expensive special tools and you have many difficult to reach parts, such as the ignition contacts. We all hated the car for this, but loved it at the same time for its minimalistic design.
It’s nothing less than a miracle the thing started in the first place. I owned one and the bloody thing refused to start every time it was cold and damp! 🤬
@@wkruit Perhaps it was the coil? Did you check that? They seem to start and run in that kind of weather all over France. I would have checked the ignition parts because I lived in France for a few years and saw those little devils out in all sorts of weather. The French are quite pragmatic. They never would have bought them of they did not run in bad weather.
@@wkruit in my opinion the 2CV is perfectly able to drive in winter, due to tire specs and weight distribution. But coil and cables for the spark plugs might age and fail prematurely especially if parked outside in very cold winters
When I was living in Iran many, many, moons ago, I used my old, old 'Djian' (Iranian-built Citroen 2CV) to go skiing almost every day; up into the mountains from Tehran, and back again in deep snow. Never a problem- except not quite enough cabin heat. One time, while passing (if you can believe that!) a large VERY smoky diesel 2 1/2 truck, coincident, my entire wiring harness caught on fire. Not a speck of insulation left, just shiny copper wires. So I fashioned a connecting wire with my Leatherman, to connect the distributor to the battery, and off we went. Bought a new harness and installed it in one day. What a superb machine; in many many ways, it out-Volkswagened the VW Bug. The outcome of your video was no surprise whatsoever. Hooray for Citroens. !!!
“A lot of wheel spin” - not the most common thing said when driving a 2CV 😃 But yes, skinny tyres, great ground clearance and plenty of suspension travel works wonders! Brilliant car! 👍👍
I just wish it was a little heavier on structure, not in weight but framing. There is so little there in case of accident. Its almost Only flat panels not rolled or crimped to give it some Bones.
Yeh I burnt a piston in mine by putting 2 star petrol in it. Bought 2 new pistons and barrels and rebuilt it on the drive much to the amazement of neighbours
I adjusted the clutch cable on mine (easy job with open end spanner) on the side of the road on my way to Paris from London in 1977. I was amazed at how reliable and undaunted the " tin snail " was. Never once let me down in all my travels
It's bloody brilliant, that's what it is. My mom bought a new Dyane in 1980. Rain or sunshine, it drove to work, went for groceries, etc. In the winter of 2000, I drove it from Braga, in the north of Portugal, to Wroclaw, in Poland, with a stop in Antwerp, in Belgium. From eastern Germany onwards, it was ice and snow. It just kept going, in its summer tyres, going around other lesser cars that were stranded. It now sits in my garage.
This machine was assembled in Iran from 1970 to 1975. Many Iranians, including myself, have good memories of this machine. Especially the sound of its motor is like a sewing machine.
I am in the UK and used to drive a Citroen GS and an Ami 8 (based on the 2cv mechanical bits) and both would unfailingly go just about everywhere in snow. Having large diameter narrow tyres is much of the secret. Having a slow revving engine is another. Your 2cv looks to be a very nice example too.
I've been lusting after an Ami Break for a few years now. I remember my dad going into a Citroen dealer with me and test driving a GS when they were new. He should have bought it instead of the Volvo 340 we ended up with :)
My first car was an Ami 8. Got rear ended by a Ford Escort whilst waiting to turn right. . . . Shunted 100 metres down the road. Both front seats came off their tracks so we ended up lying across the back seats with legs in the air. . . Fixed and on our way in 5 minutes. . . The Escort was a write off!
Ou, yeah, me too had both of those, some Ami 8's and a couple of GS's. 2CV/Diana/Ami 8 platform was joy to repair, I had brake disks on it - not on wheels as nowadays, but rather on drive side of front driveshaft on gearbox (like hummer, lol). Those would not sleep on snow due to lack of torque, so they could get you anywhere.
Hehe, antique French technology for the win, no wonder we kept producing it for about 50 years. That was the workhorse of so many people, from the coasts to the Alps - before winter tires were even a thing.
By some aspects it's still futuristic tech. Onboard brakes are used on F1 racing cars but are rarely found on usual cars, except Citroën's. That realy was an ingeneers' brand.
In Iran, we called them "flip flops" in the sense that you can go with them anywhere, though slowly. My father had different versions of them, the last of which was a pick-up in which I managed to get to 100 km/h. Missed the engine sound. Thank you for uploading
I wouldn't call that 'almost no tread'. There is plenty of tread, but being skinny makes the footprint much smaller (which is why it can manage the snow...)
You would commonly see 2CVs used all year round here in Norway back in the day. On snow tyres in the winter of course. Worked superbly on snow with their skinny 125R15 tyres. If it was cold and the battery low charged, you could easily start the engine with the extra starter handle. They did rust fiercely in areas where roads were salted, esp the floorpans were susceptible to rust. I had a Dyane with which I even crossed the Hardangervidda mountain road between Oslo-Bergen in 20 cm/8 in of snow.
Hello! After reading all the commentaries from the 2CV lovers all around, I can't help but let them know of a less know and very peculiar one: The 2Cv which can run both ways! A fire brigade in south of France had a special one made of two 2CV fronts bolted and welded together, two engines, two steering wheels, so it could go "reversed"in seconds, in case they had no room to turn when trapped by fire. It did work fine!
There's a limited edition model of the 2Cv called the Sahara that was intended to be sold in France's North African colonies that had an additional engine in the trunk that technically operated independently of the front engine but was linked up to the same gear shift. It is reportedly unbelievably good at driving over sand and snow, however the loss of the French North African colonies robbed French markets of both of those major considerations.
When I was a kid my mom used to drive a 2CV, while my dad drove larger cars (and longer distances). But when it was snowy and especially when it was icy, he would use the 2CV, because his big heavy car would just slide into the gutter!
My old SAAB 95 had narrow tyres, it was great for snow. Tyres on modern cars have become a fashion item, too wide and low profile don't work well on potholed roads, and are poor in mud and snow.
I agree Modern tyre and design is terrible for driving in snow. If you watch the rally competitions on ice and snow they are often driving on tyre the look absurdly narrow.
This genuinely didn’t surprise me. I remember as a teenager stumbling upon a Porsche owners club meet up where they had a little ‘auto test’ on grass. Lots of revving and sliding. After a short time, a 2CV owners club turned up and joined in. They wiped the floor with all the 911 s 😀
I had a Dyane in 1977, a 2cv in disguise. I was living in South of England and we had snow like that one evening. The plan had been to meet up at a pub out in the countryside, 10 miles away. We gave it a go and made it, no problem. There were only 3 other cars there; another Dyane and two 2cv’s🙂
in the Netherlands we call this car the "ugly duck" it is highly appreciated as a classic car. It was made for french farmers to drive through snow and mud on farm fields without eggs breaking. im not surprised it did well through the snow. it is basically made to do that for the farmers. This is a french workhorse from its period. very simple car, but genius in its simplicity
I have had four 2CVs and a Dyane, all brilliant in snow mud or whaterver. Never got stuck, made it everywhere I wanted to go. These cars were designed for life away from tarmac being designed for French farmers. I think the 2CV is teh most intelligently desined car of all.
the skinny tires, high clearance and suspension where the reason these cars did very well in the deserts... I have a Charleston that is coming out for spring soon!
Those damned things will go through anything!! Many people scoff and underestimate them but those cars were made for people with very little money, many of whom lived in the remote areas of France where roads were poor and services few. They had to be tough, reliable, easy and cheap to own and run and they were all that. They're becoming very popular and desired by collectors. Yours looks like a real gem! Take good care of it.
I owned one in the late 70s, summer tires year round in Switzerland, never ever had one issue, it's a very capable car, missing power. Mine was the < 500ccm engine as well. It was one of my most favorite cars ever.
Robert, if you want some oupfh (Go-Power) take out the 2 cylinder and drop in a . . . Harley 1200 or better a HD 1600. And see how it will FLY !! (Don`t forget to upgrade the brakes!
@@wimschweer6738 I live in Switzerland. Here we live in a country where nothing can be changed to vehicles. In my eyes a huge loss and shame. Upgrading anything to any vehicle for the better or safety needs special permits. Even if you choose to add better brakes. That's more than insane. And good vehicles are sold to other countries due to rust or such. That's why most vehicles are newer models. Old-timers are in beautiful shape, anything else will be scrapped. Too many beautiful things died based on the laws. Thanks for your note!
Tuve un 2cv y disfruté mucho viajando en invierno, por carreteras nevadas, sin problema alguno y sin cadenas. Era insuperable. Solo habia que saber conducirlo en esas circunstancias. Jamás he conocido un vehiculo mejor para circular tranquilamente sin cadenas. Lo añoro.
A 2CV4 with astonishing 23hp was my first car. And we did not take any care about winter tires (here in Germany, it was the early 1980ties). No problems with snow and ice. The 2CV is born for that.
Best car ever build after the S class 600. Easy to fix, cheap to run and an amazing ability to stick on the road. Some guy went around the globe with 2 CV Citroën . Many thanks for this upload. Reminded me how fun it was to drive the beast.
There was a time when most cars had narrow tyres, low-powered engines and manual gearboxes and they all managed in the snow, perhaps with a set of Town & Country tyres on the driving wheels if it was really bad. It's only the modern trend to wide, low-profile tyres, needlessly powerful engines and automatic transmission that has made driving in snow difficult.
Its not like you necessarily have to use the engine power.... On the other hand modern cars have traction control. Automatic is if anything an advantage. Softer starts. Narrow tires though is the key. And front heavy if fwd.
@@martinsv9183 Agree with most of what you said, but automatic gives rougher starts than a manual if you use the clutch properly, unless you left foot brake the automatic, then they are even.
@@GoldenCroc Its virtual impossible to get a rougher start with an automatic. Its in its nature. Some of them even have 2:nd gear start. Its fluid creating the friction between the drive shaft and the engine. Its NEVER going to get as rough as 2 friction plates directly against each other.. no matter how carefully you try to push them together. Never going to get close to the inherant damping effects of a friction fluid. And I'm off course talking about a classic torque converter auto... Not some double clutch auto or somethign like that. With an auto the engine revs at start wont fluctiate even 1 rpm back and forth before you get going. Its a steady increase of revs according to your throttle input. With a manual you will have to regulate that with 2 pedals. Is NEVER going to get as smooth. Pure theoretically you might get up to the SAME level... but then you have to be an experienced manual driver.. and keep your tounge right and not make ANY small mistake or misjudgement as you launch.
@@mikescudder4621 so? We can push technological development towards weight reduction and keep the safety features. Cars would be more expensive while the new materials and design are being developed. Consider that nowadays the only pish in automotive technology is towards electrification, which implies either more components or more batteries, and both translate into more weight. If there's no demand for lightweight cars, the manufacturers will keep making them heavier. Unfortunately for some reason lorries are in fashion nowadays! Pardon, sport utility vehicles..
@@ValentinoMariotto I'm not against the idea! My vw bug weighs half of a modern car and can match most of them for fuel consumption. The thing is, the biggest hurdle to getting more fuel efficient cars is weight. If manufactures could get the weight down without cutting on safety OR increasing costs, they would. But basically what your calling for already exists, its just that you have to pay $100,000's for them (in the form of sports cars). Unfortunately.
@@mikescudder4621 I agree, but a sports car isn't just expensive because of the materials, but because it's engineered to sustain greater stress. You could have a cheap utilitarian car with a polycarbonate rear mirror or a resin bonnet, for example. ECU could use more efficient IC and require less bulky heat sinks. Insulation could be achieved with lightweight expanded polyethilene rathen than heavy glass wool. There's ample margin for cost effective weight reduction in ordinary cars. And once the car is lighter, you'll be able to shave a little bit from the chassis too, and ultimately use a smaller and lighter engine. Weight reduction is cultural and has to be intentionally sought after. Cars are getting heavier because manufacturers are lazy (read greedy).
Never drove 2CV in the snow, but did run a Renault R5 here in rural eastern Pennsylvania, USA for several years, and it was astonishingly good in snow ( which we get plenty of here...). As some of the other viewers observed, front drive + skinny tires + loads of suspension + low horsepower can in fact work really well in lousy conditions.Also great in the rain... Nice job on you video!
That's what the 2CV was designed for. It's an off road car for the pre-war rural France with no paved roads what so ever. Citroën was the first auto firm to conduct a market study before charting down the specs. Among those specs the car was supposed to drive through a field with a basket of eggs on the passenger seat and not brake any. Front wheel drive, skinny tires, soft suspensions, lighweight car is the secret receipe. I have seen 2CVs cruise with no pain where landrovers stop. And all that with nothing more than a motorbike 2 cyl. air cooled engine.
Food for though : Both the 2CV and the VW were designed before 1939 but had to wait till the end of WWII to start their commercial life, and had a similar lifespan. Despite that the two cars are conceptualy the extact opposite of each other. I am not just talking about technical choices, such as front drive vs rear drive. I mean that the way of life implied by each design was based on opposing concepts. The 2CV is a car designed for autonomy and self reliance. No paved roads needed, no dealers network to maintain the car. Everything was designed to be self maintained with minimal coasts. The WV on the other had was the car designed to bring the german masses to the highways network the nazi regime was building. It was a conventionnal car designed to be serviced by professionnals. Here is an example : the 2CV wheels are designed to auto balance. A french peasant was therefore able to change his tire and place the wheel back in place without worrying about balancing it with a stroboscopic machine. Barn maintenance.
I'm really growing to appreciate that. Once you get your head around the fact that nothing is quite the way you expect. It's funny that the Type 4 engine in the van is very simple in concept - and sure you can build one - but to build a good one takes a real professional
I expected nothing else but this beautiful behavior of the Duckling. I never had a problem with my 2CV in Germany during wintertime in the early 70's. And that was the one with 16 HP.
If there is a lot of snow, the 2CV can be blocked, it is enough for the passenger to sit on the front hood, with the weight the car will go everywhere, this is what we do in our region (Auvergne) to pass the passes.
Hello, I am French, the 2cv4 and 2cv6 (dodoche) were designed to go to the fields at harvest for supplies. They must carry a basket of fresh eggs on the bench without breaking them, and they must be able to drive in any weather on the road and in the worst conditions.
It does just as well off-road! Amazing vehicles! My friends and I got our hands on one when we were still in our teens in the early 1970's. We thought the thing would be a joke, but as it turned out the 2CV commanded our respect in a very short period of time.
40 years ago (i was a child), me and dad were stuck in the snow in the middle of a climbing road. I remember this weak 2CV, still rolling without any problem, passing our heavy rear WD sedan car (Peugeot 504)... Yours is perfect. From France...
Back in the sixties, driving up the last miles to ski resorts, in the Alps, when everybody had to stop to put the chains, 2cv would pass gracefully, with one passenger sitting on each front wing, clinging to the headlights, to add more weight on the front wheels! 2cv were famous for that !
Sitting on a 2CV wing you'd be lucky the wing didn''t snap off! Bodywork was ridiculously thin and you could fold the bonnet (hood) in half just by twisting it too much.
35 years ago I had a 2cv6 Charleston and I was living in the black forest (Germany).The duck was a very good car to drive in the winter to go skiing. No problems to climb hills during other cars had problems with the grip on snow.
Cool thing to do is to invite the neighborhood kids to go skiing. All the skis in the 2CV, kids in other cars together with their families. And just watching other people starting to stare as you pull out 10-16 pairs of skis from out of the boot (you need to accept some dirt on the floor and under the seats, though - but it's worth it).
Great video thanks for that. My first car back in 1989 was a ten year old 2CV in bright yellow with square headlights and the engine sounds in this video took me right back. I never got stuck in the Yorkshire snow - the challenge was starting it up as it lived outside - but it was so light I could bump start it myself by running alongside and jumping in!
yes 2CV so clever made car,build for french farmer,so can in mood snow hills , and was cooled by air ,not water that could froze.i still 2 of them for winter drive here in Denmark 40 old cars still run great.
About twenty years ago i was crossing the Pyrenees to get to a wedding in northern Spain, because I had just bought a soft top MG we drove the small old roads right over the top. Just before we reached the highest point we came across a 2CV going in the opposite direction. Being a previous 2CV owner I was impressed but I was even more impressed when I saw it was pulling a small caravan.
25 years ago, I owned an Citroën Ami 8 break (It is mechanically like a 2CV : flat twin, slim tires, suspensions with the same principle, but with a more classic body), and one day as it snowed a lot in south of France, I was the fasest on the highway, ower passing several modern cars lying on the side after an uncrontrolled slide. It was so fun !
There is another advantage 2 CV had (compared to other cars of the era) - it has no distributor, and it will start on the first try every time, no matter how cold or wet the weather may be...
I used to drive my mother's 2CV in Finland a lot during winter. I never had any problems. However, the car was fitted with winter tires that had studs in them. That was a big help. In those days the winters were cold, which made the driving with a 2CV even more fun.
My dad restored a '64 2CV in the early '70s, and I had the pleasure to drive it for a couple of years in Ontario, and during the winter, and it had way shittier tires than what you have on yours, I'd regularly passed 4x4s that were in the ditches or plain stuck, and the few times I did get stuck , like in more than 6 inches of snow, it wasn't much to get the old gal going again. With chains on I'd go rescue folks through a foot of snow no problems. Fantastic in the snow due to most of the weight sitting over the front wheels, the driving wheels, still amazes me to this day nearly half a century later, what a little 17hp French car could do. When I left home to travel dad had just salvaged a Mahari 4x4 ( sort of a version of a VW 'Thing', )that he was going to fix up, wish I'd seen that project finished, unfortunately it never was. I had so much fun in the 2CV it still makes me grin whenever I see one, I miss that little duck :) Thank you for the stroll down memory lane!
Thanks for the wonderful story. I rented a Mehari once on an island called "Belle Ile" in Brittany, France. If we still lived in California, that's the car I would want :)
The problem with modern cars is that they have wider tires for plenty of grip and handling on most road surfaces, but when it snows then the tires are to wide to cope, in a lot of counties that have regular snowy winters and there is a requirement to use winter tires then these are always narrower than the summer tires. These narrower tires just like what's on your 2CV impart more weight on the tyres contact patch and allows form more grip. Having said that I came across a similarly snow covered road that should have been ploughed, however the road was narrow and I had a 4 x 4 landrover behind me so I had no option to stop as I was starting to climb a hill so I put the car in third and pressed the accelerator to try and power up the hill, the car had other ideas and it dropped the revs and put the traction control system on and the car just climbed up the hill with no fuss or wheelspin, when I got up the hill to a wide part I slowed down and signalled to allow the Land Rover to pass me, he stopped and said how the hell did you get up there as I was slipping and siding. My car has tires which are 9" wide but the traction control system did it's thing and got me where I needed to be safely, often it can be a case of how you drive on snow, I have passed 4wd vehicles in previous snowy winters which where stuck but I managed to get past then with careful driving.
All 2CVs have names. They're that sort of car. I had one named 'Poppy' because she was red (and this was the name her previous owner gave her and you can't change a 2CVs name). Before that I had a Dyane named Kermit because he was green. A few people asked me how you can tell if a car is male or female. I used to say 'you look underneath at the back, how else?'
I used to have one, and before that a Dyane which like the Ami used the 2CV mechanicals, and even now on the very rare occasions when I hear that distinctive sound I know it is a 2CV. Nothing else sounds remotely like it.
We drove Citroen twin pots for years, in all sorts of conditions, snow, floods, country tracks, aything. And, yes, we actually did try the original design requirement. We drove one in third across bumpy ground with a small basket of eggs in the passenger seat - and not one egg broke. Wondeful little cars!
Hello from France ! I had a 2CV when I was 20 years old (I am now 56 !). I have drive many kilometers on snow with this car and it never let me down, staying always on the road. Very good car on snow with the thin wheels. This car is a "Art de Vivre" ! Happy to see there are 2CV in USA ! Good choice, very good choice !
My father who is 60 now told me that when he was about 20 or 25, he had a friend who owned a 2cv, and one day they were going somewhere in our swiss mountains on a snowy day, and they actually arrived at their destination with abolutely no problem, overpassing a lot of modern cars of the time that were stuck in the snow, even some serious 4x4s. he always told me the lightweight and thin tyres were the key to this success! And this video shows that really well! Btw, 2cv means ''2 chevaux'', which litteraly means ''2 horsepower'' in french. i guess most enthusiast know that! cheers everyone!
I had a 2CV (Transat) for years and drove it everywhere I could, even on a racetrack and off road trials. It was utterly reliable and great fun. And with snow chains fitted it would do circles around the land rovers stuck in the mud!
I had a Renault 4L. Similar sort of car, narrow tires, light and high suspension. Went everywhere in the snow in Newcastle (UK) in the late 70s and early 80s when we had big snowfalls. Just kept a shovel and a couple of small mats to get out of drifts. Virtually only car on the road. Great little cars.
Those thin tires helped out tremendously. I used to drive a 1930 Ford model A year round even though snow up to a foot deep in Colorado. It was about 2300lbs and had 3 1/2×28 inch wheels. You have a good looking car!
FANTASTIC..... we had a freak week of snow here in tennessee about the same time and I pulled the old mini out too, roads were empty and way too much fun, what a brilliant video showing its capabilities....
We lived long years in frozen highlands of central Spain, and the SOLE car daring to attack the mountain passes of Navacerrada, Guadarrama and so on when things got serious was the 2CV.
A number of years ago I had Dyane 6 in which I covered 175,000 miles. The off-road capabilities of these little cars never failed to amaze me. A lovely example of a 2cv you there.
Not surprising...A light car with narrow tyres is always good for snow! the Renault 4L was performing very well in such conditions too! In France the 2CV is a legend, everybody smiles when one is passing
My wonderful old 2CV spent a good chunk of the 80s taking me to the Swiss Alps every year, and, from a base of Kandersteg, I would commute to a different ski resort each day, with friends and our skis poking up through the open roof. Without ever using the snow chains that I had bought, it would behave impeccably in some amazing snow conditions; skinny tyres absolutely, but I think more down to not being overpowered than being lightweight. Fabulous memories, great video!
In the sixties my father drove a 2CV. We lived on top of a hill here in Belgium. The road was quite steep 13%. In the winter - with snow - it was first up to my father to drive the 2CV up and down the mountain a few times to make a track. Only then did the neighbors dare to descend the snowy slope with their rear-wheel drive Mercedes, Ford Taunus, Opel Record or Volkswagen Beetle,...
Depends on the tyres. If it is a recent range rover on ex-factory performance (road tyres) then not surprising at all. A defender or Series or disco on the correct tyres would be unstoppable. The devil is in the detail (of the tyres).
@@bimble7240 Not necessarily. It depends. Our Landrover Defender gives up in the freezing cold (well below freezing) - diesel pump gets clogged up (Ford pump). So the petrol 2CV just merrily goes on. It all depends on several things. If the engine runs, the LR is more capable going uphill in a straight line. Of course. At least with same type of tyres. The LR slides more easily off the road, though, than the 2CV. Both car's history goes back to their launch in -48, I guess. Both icons.
50 years ago I lived in Quebec City. In winter time, with a lot of snow there, I could drive the same as the 2CV with my Renault 8, adapted to Canada ( raised, stronger battery, Michelin X tires ….). It had a rear engine and a rear-wheel drive. On the other side, the heavy American cars of that time with a front engine and a rear-wheel drive were trapped in the snow.
I was amazed upon how you were amazed...my first experience in deep snow with the 2CV, in the UK was the fall of 1979/80. We had at least 13 inches & Hedge high drifts, we borrowed my late nan’s 2CV for a spin up the hills, this thing was going where 4x4 Landrovers didn’t.. totally amazing with their 602cc engine.. These days to buy one, refurbished cost as much as a Landrover.
I had 2 of these back in the early 1980s. Our Bedfordshire village was snowed in for two days. My wife, a nurse, was one of the few people in the village able to get in and out in our 2CV. Its also good in small snowdrifts because it goes over them rather than through them.
The designers got the order to build a car in which a farmer could transport his wife and two 30 liters cans of milk from his cows in the field back to his farm. unpaved road, criss cross over the grassland... and they made it! so actually no surprise this works in the snow :-)
did you know this car had a mechanic connection between front- and rear axle through a shock absorber? when one wheel in the back extended because in went through a hole, the front suspension compensated by going inwards to stabilize the main structure
There is this story that back in the 1960s at the Monte Carlo Rally during a night stage in the snow, several participants reported that a car had literally stuck to their bumper, when the car drove by it was two nuns in a 2CV. The overpowered cars with wide tires just couldn't plow through the snow like the 2CV.
Simply the best car in the world. Yes, i'm French, and so what...? :) Seriously, i didn't expect to see a "Deuche" in such a place, but this car born just after WW2 prooves that it survive any conditions on any continent. Keep yours alive as long as possible, and enjoy!
It has all the advantages to leave any premium BMW Mercedes or even an Audi Quattro desperately behind: - FWD - no powerrrr - hughe wheels - narrow tyres - no weight at all. - bibilical ground clearance All you need is a blanket on your lap to keep you warm.
What?? Leaving an audi quattro behind Lol u clearly know nothing about cars The 2cv is an average car in the snow I remember thet the fiat 500 and 126 had much more traction Not to mention any 4x4 car is obviously better
I have a Subaru WRX STi R-type Version V with 300 HP (the street version of which the famous Impreza WRC cars were made ) which is useless in the snow, yes AWD but to get off the bloody things goes in all directions and needs a lot of work to keep it under control. But of course I no nothing about cars LOL !
Really didn't expect this video to get the attention it did, but I want to thank everyone for their stories and observations. I've been on a journey with this car and I've tried to document the ups and downs which you can follow here: ua-cam.com/play/PL1LWyGkxyU2x8mLKsUi6mPgKBXIPn-7-6.html
I think you can only have good moments!
Hello Ben, the 2cv is a full goat ;) no pb with snow or ice, i did it twice in the alps & Pyrennées, with winter tires of course ;)
Enjoy. Regards from fr.
Like your car stuff & surprise! Your Music Videos really got my attention. Greets Tom
@@tomdeville5292 Thanks Tom! I miss my band
the charge for engineers was : do cheap, 4 seats, under an umbrella, able to cross a plowed field with a basket of eggs without breaking one. If you want to test the last one beware though, French eggs are tougher because we don't wash'em.
It was designed to get you anywhere in France, including the Alps and the African colonies.
And even for the colonies they produced a two engine (designed to drive through sahara dunes in search for oil) one
I would add "get you anywhere in the fields with a basket full of unbroken eggs in the trunk"
I commuted one between Glasgow and London, hammered it off road and ran up ridiculous mileages (according to the car dealer). The only issue I had was fast wearing front drum brakes. A fun vehicle only to be driven by skilled people!
@@Swaggerlot And the deserving... Les
@@pascalolivier4458 In fairness, the eggs might not always be unbroken when you arrive.
Narrow tyres + large range suspension + perfect weights balance + front drive = she can go everywhere
Dont forget when it cant start she had a crank
The front drive is the ticket. In my own experience, all front drive vehicles do well in the snow because the weight of the entire driveline is all on the drive wheels.
-Less snow in front of a narrow tire Wide tire lots of snow in front
And don't worry about the temperature, air cooled flat twin!
@@BlodaBlodaBloda I've found that most FWD cars do really badly in winter, a RWD car with good weight distribution will be better in most situations.
I'm Norwegian and I live up a long, very steep hill and the best car at getting up it I've had so far was a Mercedes W210 with old tires (Obviously not counting the 4wd cars I've had)
In 1978 we had a huge snowstorm in Denmark, the whole country almost closed down.
Cars were stuck everywhere, but our 2cv just hacked its way past all the big expensive cars.
No heat, but we got through.
I just fixed my heater boxes and given time it warms up OK
@@toqtoq3361 Thanks! You may notice it has the optional cover on the grille here. I once drove an old Land Rover from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Ottawa. The last 3 hours of the journey, we got -20C plus a strong wind. It simply wouldn't drive in it despite my efforts to cover the grille.
Absolutely, just like the Renault 4
I had a Dyane that winter and shooting regional news I was a lot on “closed” roads. When I Got stuck the trick was to put into 1.gear, pull the choke out, Jump out and push. When it Got a grip you jump in and off you go. Hoping you don’t fall and lies in the snow watching you car disappear 🥶.
It was a lovely car.
I drive a 83 citroen lna with a aircooled twin, and in winter i have to tape off the cold air inlet otherwise you will freeze, but we had sorta the same snow last month and it did great!
In Germany we call this car "Ente", which means duck. It is an easy repairable and cheap car, with a great heart. Thank you for the video.
🦆 oh yeah ❣
WAS cheap. Not nowadays.
in Holland they are called "lelijke eend" translates as ugly duck. Never owned one but I've always loved them
Not easy to repair. You need expensive special tools and you have many difficult to reach parts, such as the ignition contacts. We all hated the car for this, but loved it at the same time for its minimalistic design.
@@Herr_Bone I don't think so. Maybe you have always problems to repair a car?
What did you expect??!! It is a 2CV!
It’s nothing less than a miracle the thing started in the first place. I owned one and the bloody thing refused to start every time it was cold and damp! 🤬
@@wkruit Perhaps it was the coil? Did you check that? They seem to start and run in that kind of weather all over France. I would have checked the ignition parts because I lived in France for a few years and saw those little devils out in all sorts of weather. The French are quite pragmatic. They never would have bought them of they did not run in bad weather.
😆😆😆😆😆
@@wkruit in my opinion the 2CV is perfectly able to drive in winter, due to tire specs and weight distribution. But coil and cables for the spark plugs might age and fail prematurely especially if parked outside in very cold winters
@@zoltankaparthy9095 Il existe un kit "allumage électronique" pour la 2CV et les problèmes de démarrage disparaissent.
When I was living in Iran many, many, moons ago, I used my old, old 'Djian' (Iranian-built Citroen 2CV) to go skiing almost every day; up into the mountains from Tehran, and back again in deep snow. Never a problem- except not quite enough cabin heat. One time, while passing (if you can believe that!) a large VERY smoky diesel 2 1/2 truck, coincident, my entire wiring harness caught on fire. Not a speck of insulation left, just shiny copper wires. So I fashioned a connecting wire with my Leatherman, to connect the distributor to the battery, and off we went. Bought a new harness and installed it in one day. What a superb machine; in many many ways, it out-Volkswagened the VW Bug. The outcome of your video was no surprise whatsoever. Hooray for Citroens. !!!
“A lot of wheel spin” - not the most common thing said when driving a 2CV 😃
But yes, skinny tyres, great ground clearance and plenty of suspension travel works wonders! Brilliant car! 👍👍
I just wish it was a little heavier on structure, not in weight but framing. There is so little there in case of accident. Its almost Only flat panels not rolled or crimped to give it some Bones.
love your spelling of tires man,
@@jeremypilot1015 - I am from Denmark so UK spelling is what I learned in school 😃
@@arkeys74 yeah it’s cool. Some of Americans have been educated to the ways of the world. I like alternate spellings of words. 👍
I thought I saw the Tesla Cybertruck at the1:55 mark
The scariest part was how fast you pulled back into the garage!
I was just waiting for the kid to dart out in front🤦♂️😉
hiding from the neighbors.....
they are so light that they brake very quickly, plus the suspension helps balancing the act.
Best car ever! I remember changing the engine on mine... alone! On my latest car I can't even change the lightbulb!
Yeh I burnt a piston in mine by putting 2 star petrol in it. Bought 2 new pistons and barrels and rebuilt it on the drive much to the amazement of neighbours
I adjusted the clutch cable on mine (easy job with open end spanner) on the side of the road on my way to Paris from London in 1977. I was amazed at how reliable and undaunted the " tin snail " was. Never once let me down in all my travels
In Finland we call those "circular saw tyres" - as they are so narrow, they just cut their way through the snow :)
Yup, winter tyres are best bought with a narrow tread width. Less likely for the chains to damage the suspension as well.
I bet 'chain saw tyres' sounds better in Finnish!
The 2 CV is such a great piece of engineering . Also a hoot to drive.
She is so simple that we can't imagine it's the car which needed the longest time of design and development in France. About 15 years!
@@xavier9147 remove the 6 years ot he WW2.
Yes, there’s quite a bit of clever engineering in this lovely little car. More than you’d expect.
@@xavier9147 Because of WW2.
It's bloody brilliant, that's what it is.
My mom bought a new Dyane in 1980. Rain or sunshine, it drove to work, went for groceries, etc. In the winter of 2000, I drove it from Braga, in the north of Portugal, to Wroclaw, in Poland, with a stop in Antwerp, in Belgium. From eastern Germany onwards, it was ice and snow. It just kept going, in its summer tyres, going around other lesser cars that were stranded. It now sits in my garage.
Do you still take it for a spin every now and then?
2CV Winter tires! Where to get those?? ;-D
This machine was assembled in Iran from 1970 to 1975. Many Iranians, including myself, have good memories of this machine. Especially the sound of its motor is like a sewing machine.
@@koorosh.p always such a friendly sound.
When you consider the agricultural background of these little cars, it is no surprise that they are so good in the snow and mud.
La 2cv fierte française toujours dans nos coeur
Increvable, qui passe partout et facile à réparer. Un bout de France éternelle
I am in the UK and used to drive a Citroen GS and an Ami 8 (based on the 2cv mechanical bits) and both would unfailingly go just about everywhere in snow. Having large diameter narrow tyres is much of the secret. Having a slow revving engine is another. Your 2cv looks to be a very nice example too.
I've been lusting after an Ami Break for a few years now. I remember my dad going into a Citroen dealer with me and test driving a GS when they were new. He should have bought it instead of the Volvo 340 we ended up with :)
I have an Ami 8 now, lovely cars.
My first car was an Ami 8. Got rear ended by a Ford Escort whilst waiting to turn right. . . . Shunted 100 metres down the road. Both front seats came off their tracks so we ended up lying across the back seats with legs in the air. . . Fixed and on our way in 5 minutes. . . The Escort was a write off!
Ou, yeah, me too had both of those, some Ami 8's and a couple of GS's. 2CV/Diana/Ami 8 platform was joy to repair, I had brake disks on it - not on wheels as nowadays, but rather on drive side of front driveshaft on gearbox (like hummer, lol). Those would not sleep on snow due to lack of torque, so they could get you anywhere.
The world needs cars like this again
Hehe, antique French technology for the win, no wonder we kept producing it for about 50 years. That was the workhorse of so many people, from the coasts to the Alps - before winter tires were even a thing.
By some aspects it's still futuristic tech. Onboard brakes are used on F1 racing cars but are rarely found on usual cars, except Citroën's.
That realy was an ingeneers' brand.
@@srfrg9707 I've had a couple Jags with inboard brakes and they were a nightmare to work on :)
@@corrieb74 ...the english specialise in rubbish cars.
@@michaelschulz336 True dat
@@michaelschulz336 And winning wars.
In Iran, we called them "flip flops" in the sense that you can go with them anywhere, though slowly. My father had different versions of them, the last of which was a pick-up in which I managed to get to 100 km/h. Missed the engine sound. Thank you for uploading
100 km/h :-O Must've been the stong 2CV6 'Club' one with 36 HP - and the wind AND the Sun pushing ;-D
@@dallesamllhals9161 and of course a very steep road :)
@@officealireza9097 Downhill! ;-D
However these days you can find just rare healthy ones in Isfahan only
@@dallesamllhals9161 I go 110 km/h on LA freeway with 78 Charleston.Replacing the air filter with K&N was huge boost.
I wouldn't call that 'almost no tread'. There is plenty of tread, but being skinny makes the footprint much smaller (which is why it can manage the snow...)
You would commonly see 2CVs used all year round here in Norway back in the day. On snow tyres in the winter of course. Worked superbly on snow with their skinny 125R15 tyres. If it was cold and the battery low charged, you could easily start the engine with the extra starter handle. They did rust fiercely in areas where roads were salted, esp the floorpans were susceptible to rust. I had a Dyane with which I even crossed the Hardangervidda mountain road between Oslo-Bergen in 20 cm/8 in of snow.
Hello! After reading all the commentaries from the 2CV lovers all around, I can't help but let them know of a less know and very peculiar one: The 2Cv which can run both ways! A fire brigade in south of France had a special one made of two 2CV fronts bolted and welded together, two engines, two steering wheels, so it could go "reversed"in seconds, in case they had no room to turn when trapped by fire. It did work fine!
There's a limited edition model of the 2Cv called the Sahara that was intended to be sold in France's North African colonies that had an additional engine in the trunk that technically operated independently of the front engine but was linked up to the same gear shift. It is reportedly unbelievably good at driving over sand and snow, however the loss of the French North African colonies robbed French markets of both of those major considerations.
When I was a kid my mom used to drive a 2CV, while my dad drove larger cars (and longer distances). But when it was snowy and especially when it was icy, he would use the 2CV, because his big heavy car would just slide into the gutter!
My old SAAB 95 had narrow tyres, it was great for snow. Tyres on modern cars have become a fashion item, too wide and low profile don't work well on potholed roads, and are poor in mud and snow.
This generation of drivers played with Hot Wheels toys for too long. the only thing they know is big wide tires. LOL
I agree Modern tyre and design is terrible for driving in snow. If you watch the rally competitions on ice and snow they are often driving on tyre the look absurdly narrow.
Practical swedish design! I grew up with the splendid Saab 95. Aged 1972, it is still around and driving amazingly - as an oldtimer though.
Narrow tyres cut down rolling resistance and therefore improve fuel efficiency.
@@oceanheadted For fast driving on snowy and icy roads yes. That said, if the goal is just to drive through snow/mud/sand wider tires are better.
This genuinely didn’t surprise me. I remember as a teenager stumbling upon a Porsche owners club meet up where they had a little ‘auto test’ on grass. Lots of revving and sliding. After a short time, a 2CV owners club turned up and joined in. They wiped the floor with all the 911 s 😀
I had a Dyane in 1977, a 2cv in disguise. I was living in South of England and we had snow like that one evening.
The plan had been to meet up at a pub out in the countryside, 10 miles away. We gave it a go and made it, no problem. There were only 3 other cars there; another Dyane and two 2cv’s🙂
wonderful 2CV probably the most iconic french car from Citroen. Amasing to see an American guy fond of his french old car.
I would expect a 2CV to do well in the snow. I would expect it to do very poorly in the salt.
It was already rusting in the brochure.
Luckly you can buy every part new and built a completely galvanised 2cv. Means the parts come galvanised.
Yes mine was. Rusting underneath from new. If I'd kept it I would have fitted a galvanised chassis
@@franklinvanproosdij I suspect that you could re-create those body panels out of roof flashing with ball-peened-hammer and an anvil.
Especially if it was a Portuguese built 2CV from 1988 to 1990.
in the Netherlands we call this car the "ugly duck" it is highly appreciated as a classic car. It was made for french farmers to drive through snow and mud on farm fields without eggs breaking. im not surprised it did well through the snow. it is basically made to do that for the farmers. This is a french workhorse from its period. very simple car, but genius in its simplicity
I have had four 2CVs and a Dyane, all brilliant in snow mud or whaterver. Never got stuck, made it everywhere I wanted to go. These cars were designed for life away from tarmac being designed for French farmers. I think the 2CV is teh most intelligently desined car of all.
You are quite right, sir!
the skinny tires, high clearance and suspension where the reason these cars did very well in the deserts... I have a Charleston that is coming out for spring soon!
Those damned things will go through anything!!
Many people scoff and underestimate them but those cars were made for people with very little money, many of whom lived in the remote areas of France where roads were poor and services few. They had to be tough, reliable, easy and cheap to own and run and they were all that.
They're becoming very popular and desired by collectors. Yours looks like a real gem! Take good care of it.
Merci pour cette super vidéo! La 2 CV n'est pas morte!!!
Eh oui une sacrée voiture 👍👍. Mon père était facteur en campagne... Le courrier était toujours distribué quelle que soit la météo
Fresh deep snow and the 2CV is always a good choice, so much fun!!
The only time you could leave everyone else behind you in the 2CV, smelling your exhausts, was in snow and ice.
Marvellous
I owned one in the late 70s, summer tires year round in Switzerland, never ever had one issue, it's a very capable car, missing power. Mine was the < 500ccm engine as well. It was one of my most favorite cars ever.
Robert, if you want some oupfh (Go-Power) take out the 2 cylinder and drop in a . . . Harley 1200 or better a HD 1600. And see how it will FLY !! (Don`t forget to upgrade the brakes!
@@wimschweer6738 I live in Switzerland. Here we live in a country where nothing can be changed to vehicles. In my eyes a huge loss and shame. Upgrading anything to any vehicle for the better or safety needs special permits. Even if you choose to add better brakes. That's more than insane. And good vehicles are sold to other countries due to rust or such. That's why most vehicles are newer models. Old-timers are in beautiful shape, anything else will be scrapped. Too many beautiful things died based on the laws.
Thanks for your note!
Tuve un 2cv y disfruté mucho viajando en invierno, por carreteras nevadas, sin problema alguno y sin cadenas. Era insuperable. Solo habia que saber conducirlo en esas circunstancias. Jamás he conocido un vehiculo mejor para circular tranquilamente sin cadenas. Lo añoro.
A 2CV4 with astonishing 23hp was my first car. And we did not take any care about winter tires (here in Germany, it was the early 1980ties). No problems with snow and ice. The 2CV is born for that.
Best car ever build after the S class 600. Easy to fix, cheap to run and an amazing ability to stick on the road. Some guy went around the globe with 2 CV Citroën . Many thanks for this upload. Reminded me how fun it was to drive the beast.
There was a time when most cars had narrow tyres, low-powered engines and manual gearboxes and they all managed in the snow, perhaps with a set of Town & Country tyres on the driving wheels if it was really bad. It's only the modern trend to wide, low-profile tyres, needlessly powerful engines and automatic transmission that has made driving in snow difficult.
Its not like you necessarily have to use the engine power.... On the other hand modern cars have traction control. Automatic is if anything an advantage. Softer starts.
Narrow tires though is the key. And front heavy if fwd.
Fancy, expensive alloys are wasteful and prone to cracking. You can’t see them when you’re inside.
@@martinsv9183 Agree with most of what you said, but automatic gives rougher starts than a manual if you use the clutch properly, unless you left foot brake the automatic, then they are even.
@@AmigaA-or2hj They are also often heavier than steel wheels, believe or not. Probably because of looks taking priority in construction.
@@GoldenCroc Its virtual impossible to get a rougher start with an automatic. Its in its nature. Some of them even have 2:nd gear start. Its fluid creating the friction between the drive shaft and the engine. Its NEVER going to get as rough as 2 friction plates directly against each other.. no matter how carefully you try to push them together. Never going to get close to the inherant damping effects of a friction fluid. And I'm off course talking about a classic torque converter auto... Not some double clutch auto or somethign like that.
With an auto the engine revs at start wont fluctiate even 1 rpm back and forth before you get going. Its a steady increase of revs according to your throttle input. With a manual you will have to regulate that with 2 pedals. Is NEVER going to get as smooth. Pure theoretically you might get up to the SAME level... but then you have to be an experienced manual driver.. and keep your tounge right and not make ANY small mistake or misjudgement as you launch.
The simpler, the better! I once had that „mehari“ version. Unbeatable!
Is the mehari version the one wo heating and fuel gauge?
@@knkjkjn search for Citroën Mehari
*** let's make cars LIGHTWEIGHT again ***
Let's stop people driving four ton suvs to the grocery store
It's all the safety features the manufacturers have invented over the years...
@@mikescudder4621 so? We can push technological development towards weight reduction and keep the safety features. Cars would be more expensive while the new materials and design are being developed.
Consider that nowadays the only pish in automotive technology is towards electrification, which implies either more components or more batteries, and both translate into more weight. If there's no demand for lightweight cars, the manufacturers will keep making them heavier.
Unfortunately for some reason lorries are in fashion nowadays! Pardon, sport utility vehicles..
@@ValentinoMariotto I'm not against the idea! My vw bug weighs half of a modern car and can match most of them for fuel consumption. The thing is, the biggest hurdle to getting more fuel efficient cars is weight. If manufactures could get the weight down without cutting on safety OR increasing costs, they would. But basically what your calling for already exists, its just that you have to pay $100,000's for them (in the form of sports cars). Unfortunately.
@@mikescudder4621 I agree, but a sports car isn't just expensive because of the materials, but because it's engineered to sustain greater stress. You could have a cheap utilitarian car with a polycarbonate rear mirror or a resin bonnet, for example. ECU could use more efficient IC and require less bulky heat sinks. Insulation could be achieved with lightweight expanded polyethilene rathen than heavy glass wool. There's ample margin for cost effective weight reduction in ordinary cars. And once the car is lighter, you'll be able to shave a little bit from the chassis too, and ultimately use a smaller and lighter engine.
Weight reduction is cultural and has to be intentionally sought after. Cars are getting heavier because manufacturers are lazy (read greedy).
Never drove 2CV in the snow, but did run a Renault R5 here in rural eastern Pennsylvania, USA for several years, and it was astonishingly good in snow ( which we get plenty of here...). As some of the other viewers observed, front drive + skinny tires + loads of suspension + low horsepower can in fact work really well in lousy conditions.Also great in the rain... Nice job on you video!
That's what the 2CV was designed for. It's an off road car for the pre-war rural France with no paved roads what so ever. Citroën was the first auto firm to conduct a market study before charting down the specs. Among those specs the car was supposed to drive through a field with a basket of eggs on the passenger seat and not brake any.
Front wheel drive, skinny tires, soft suspensions, lighweight car is the secret receipe.
I have seen 2CVs cruise with no pain where landrovers stop.
And all that with nothing more than a motorbike 2 cyl. air cooled engine.
Food for though : Both the 2CV and the VW were designed before 1939 but had to wait till the end of WWII to start their commercial life, and had a similar lifespan. Despite that the two cars are conceptualy the extact opposite of each other. I am not just talking about technical choices, such as front drive vs rear drive.
I mean that the way of life implied by each design was based on opposing concepts.
The 2CV is a car designed for autonomy and self reliance. No paved roads needed, no dealers network to maintain the car. Everything was designed to be self maintained with minimal coasts.
The WV on the other had was the car designed to bring the german masses to the highways network the nazi regime was building. It was a conventionnal car designed to be serviced by professionnals.
Here is an example : the 2CV wheels are designed to auto balance. A french peasant was therefore able to change his tire and place the wheel back in place without worrying about balancing it with a stroboscopic machine.
Barn maintenance.
I'm really growing to appreciate that. Once you get your head around the fact that nothing is quite the way you expect. It's funny that the Type 4 engine in the van is very simple in concept - and sure you can build one - but to build a good one takes a real professional
I expected nothing else but this beautiful behavior of the Duckling. I never had a problem with my 2CV in Germany during wintertime in the early 70's. And that was the one with 16 HP.
And you can hand crank start it when the battery's flat!
If there is a lot of snow, the 2CV can be blocked, it is enough for the passenger to sit on the front hood, with the weight the car will go everywhere, this is what we do in our region (Auvergne) to pass the passes.
Hello, I am French, the 2cv4 and 2cv6 (dodoche) were designed to go to the fields at harvest for supplies. They must carry a basket of fresh eggs on the bench without breaking them, and they must be able to drive in any weather on the road and in the worst conditions.
It does just as well off-road! Amazing vehicles! My friends and I got our hands on one when we were still in our teens in the early 1970's. We thought the thing would be a joke, but as it turned out the 2CV commanded our respect in a very short period of time.
40 years ago (i was a child), me and dad were stuck in the snow in the middle of a climbing road.
I remember this weak 2CV, still rolling without any problem, passing our heavy rear WD sedan car (Peugeot 504)...
Yours is perfect.
From France...
In my first job as agronomist I worked in the country with it. It was 1972. I always remember crossing a very deep mud with no problems. Chile
Hi Claudia. I remember in Chile they converted the rear end of the 2CV's to make a sort of pick-up. I think you paid less tax that way. Argentina
Back in the sixties, driving up the last miles to ski resorts, in the Alps, when everybody had to stop to put the chains, 2cv would pass gracefully, with one passenger sitting on each front wing, clinging to the headlights, to add more weight on the front wheels! 2cv were famous for that !
We did the same thing with the beetle, only the two passengers standing comfortably on the rear bumper leaning against the heated rear window.
Sitting on a 2CV wing you'd be lucky the wing didn''t snap off! Bodywork was ridiculously thin and you could fold the bonnet (hood) in half just by twisting it too much.
@@theprior46 No, because the shape gives the wings rigidity!
35 years ago I had a 2cv6 Charleston and I was living in the black forest (Germany).The duck was a very good car to drive in the winter to go skiing.
No problems to climb hills during other cars had problems with the grip on snow.
Cool thing to do is to invite the neighborhood kids to go skiing. All the skis in the 2CV, kids in other cars together with their families. And just watching other people starting to stare as you pull out 10-16 pairs of skis from out of the boot (you need to accept some dirt on the floor and under the seats, though - but it's worth it).
I’m not surprised, a 2cv is fantastic to drive on snow (it was my first car). Sometimes it’s better to start in 2nd gear for a better grip.
Great video thanks for that. My first car back in 1989 was a ten year old 2CV in bright yellow with square headlights and the engine sounds in this video took me right back. I never got stuck in the Yorkshire snow - the challenge was starting it up as it lived outside - but it was so light I could bump start it myself by running alongside and jumping in!
The thin tires cut through the snow like a knife through butter, while large tires have difficulties.
Pure old fashioned Gallic logic at work.
yes 2CV so clever made car,build for french farmer,so can in mood snow hills , and was cooled by air ,not water that could froze.i still 2 of them for winter drive here in Denmark 40 old cars still run great.
About twenty years ago i was crossing the Pyrenees to get to a wedding in northern Spain, because I had just bought a soft top MG we drove the small old roads right over the top. Just before we reached the highest point we came across a 2CV going in the opposite direction. Being a previous 2CV owner I was impressed but I was even more impressed when I saw it was pulling a small caravan.
25 years ago, I owned an Citroën Ami 8 break (It is mechanically like a 2CV : flat twin, slim tires, suspensions with the same principle, but with a more classic body), and one day as it snowed a lot in south of France, I was the fasest on the highway, ower passing several modern cars lying on the side after an uncrontrolled slide. It was so fun !
There is another advantage 2 CV had (compared to other cars of the era) - it has no distributor, and it will start on the first try every time, no matter how cold or wet the weather may be...
I never considered that - you're absolutely right!
I used to drive my mother's 2CV in Finland a lot during winter. I never had any problems. However, the car was fitted with winter tires that had studs in them. That was a big help. In those days the winters were cold, which made the driving with a 2CV even more fun.
My dad restored a '64 2CV in the early '70s, and I had the pleasure to drive it for a couple of years in Ontario, and during the winter, and it had way shittier tires than what you have on yours, I'd regularly passed 4x4s that were in the ditches or plain stuck, and the few times I did get stuck , like in more than 6 inches of snow, it wasn't much to get the old gal going again. With chains on I'd go rescue folks through a foot of snow no problems. Fantastic in the snow due to most of the weight sitting over the front wheels, the driving wheels, still amazes me to this day nearly half a century later, what a little 17hp French car could do. When I left home to travel dad had just salvaged a Mahari 4x4 ( sort of a version of a VW 'Thing', )that he was going to fix up, wish I'd seen that project finished, unfortunately it never was. I had so much fun in the 2CV it still makes me grin whenever I see one, I miss that little duck :)
Thank you for the stroll down memory lane!
Thanks for the wonderful story. I rented a Mehari once on an island called "Belle Ile" in Brittany, France. If we still lived in California, that's the car I would want :)
@@corrieb74 if you can find one ! They start to be rare and pricy !
I love and have Citroens for many years. Thanks for sharing this great and lovely experience.
The problem with modern cars is that they have wider tires for plenty of grip and handling on most road surfaces, but when it snows then the tires are to wide to cope, in a lot of counties that have regular snowy winters and there is a requirement to use winter tires then these are always narrower than the summer tires.
These narrower tires just like what's on your 2CV impart more weight on the tyres contact patch and allows form more grip.
Having said that I came across a similarly snow covered road that should have been ploughed, however the road was narrow and I had a 4 x 4 landrover behind me so I had no option to stop as I was starting to climb a hill so I put the car in third and pressed the accelerator to try and power up the hill, the car had other ideas and it dropped the revs and put the traction control system on and the car just climbed up the hill with no fuss or wheelspin, when I got up the hill to a wide part I slowed down and signalled to allow the Land Rover to pass me, he stopped and said how the hell did you get up there as I was slipping and siding.
My car has tires which are 9" wide but the traction control system did it's thing and got me where I needed to be safely, often it can be a case of how you drive on snow, I have passed 4wd vehicles in previous snowy winters which where stuck but I managed to get past then with careful driving.
I remember when we had heavy snow and I had my "Edith " 83 2cv , she passed every 4x4 around.
All 2CVs have names. They're that sort of car. I had one named 'Poppy' because she was red (and this was the name her previous owner gave her and you can't change a 2CVs name). Before that I had a Dyane named Kermit because he was green. A few people asked me how you can tell if a car is male or female. I used to say 'you look underneath at the back, how else?'
I love the 2CV. I had one in the 1970s in sky blue. I wish I still had it. Fun to drive; zero rust and small petrol bill!
such an unforgettable engine sound.
I used to have one, and before that a Dyane which like the Ami used the 2CV mechanicals, and even now on the very rare occasions when I hear that distinctive sound I know it is a 2CV. Nothing else sounds remotely like it.
The problem wasn`t traction. It was the lack of heating.
Pickups with summer tire :oh god i cant even move
One frech boi: *hold my skinny tires*
We drove Citroen twin pots for years, in all sorts of conditions, snow, floods, country tracks, aything. And, yes, we actually did try the original design requirement. We drove one in third across bumpy ground with a small basket of eggs in the passenger seat - and not one egg broke. Wondeful little cars!
Very happy to hear that next time I need to transport eggs, it will perform like a champ!
My first car ever in 1964 was a 2 cv , in Belguim we name it " geit " ( goat ) it never let me down , best memorys. Take care of it 👍.
Hello from France !
I had a 2CV when I was 20 years old (I am now 56 !). I have drive many kilometers on snow with this car and it never let me down, staying always on the road. Very good car on snow with the thin wheels.
This car is a "Art de Vivre" !
Happy to see there are 2CV in USA ! Good choice, very good choice !
I miss my old citroen ax in the snow - it was a beast (unless the snow got so deep it ran out of clearance). Narrow tyres are awesome.
My father who is 60 now told me that when he was about 20 or 25, he had a friend who owned a 2cv, and one day they were going somewhere in our swiss mountains on a snowy day, and they actually arrived at their destination with abolutely no problem, overpassing a lot of modern cars of the time that were stuck in the snow, even some serious 4x4s. he always told me the lightweight and thin tyres were the key to this success! And this video shows that really well!
Btw, 2cv means ''2 chevaux'', which litteraly means ''2 horsepower'' in french. i guess most enthusiast know that!
cheers everyone!
I had a 2CV (Transat) for years and drove it everywhere I could, even on a racetrack and off road trials. It was utterly reliable and great fun. And with snow chains fitted it would do circles around the land rovers stuck in the mud!
I had a Renault 4L. Similar sort of car, narrow tires, light and high suspension. Went everywhere in the snow in Newcastle (UK) in the late 70s and early 80s when we had big snowfalls. Just kept a shovel and a couple of small mats to get out of drifts. Virtually only car on the road. Great little cars.
I have heard, that they performe pretty good bacause of the thin tires.
not only thin, very big too! 15"!!!
And weight 600 kgs..
Renault 4 is good also same reason.
Also the weight is over the driving wheels and very little weight at the rear.
Lol
Those thin tires helped out tremendously. I used to drive a 1930 Ford model A year round even though snow up to a foot deep in Colorado. It was about 2300lbs and had 3 1/2×28 inch wheels. You have a good looking car!
Front wheel drive is super in the snow. With a warmed up engine drive of in second gear. She loves it and it's easier
FANTASTIC..... we had a freak week of snow here in tennessee about the same time and I pulled the old mini out too, roads were empty and way too much fun, what a brilliant video showing its capabilities....
This car has enough power to keep rolling, but not enough to dig in, great, gets you everywhere!
We lived long years in frozen highlands of central Spain, and the SOLE car daring to attack the mountain passes of Navacerrada, Guadarrama and so on when things got serious was the 2CV.
A number of years ago I had Dyane 6 in which I covered 175,000 miles. The off-road capabilities of these little cars never failed to amaze me. A lovely example of a 2cv you there.
Not surprising...A light car with narrow tyres is always good for snow! the Renault 4L was performing very well in such conditions too!
In France the 2CV is a legend, everybody smiles when one is passing
Before watching the video I knew that the 2CV would perform very good in snow because I've had a Renault 4 GTL that performed very good in snow too.
My wonderful old 2CV spent a good chunk of the 80s taking me to the Swiss Alps every year, and, from a base of Kandersteg, I would commute to a different ski resort each day, with friends and our skis poking up through the open roof. Without ever using the snow chains that I had bought, it would behave impeccably in some amazing snow conditions; skinny tyres absolutely, but I think more down to not being overpowered than being lightweight.
Fabulous memories, great video!
In the sixties my father drove a 2CV. We lived on top of a hill here in Belgium. The road was quite steep 13%. In the winter - with snow - it was first up to my father to drive the 2CV up and down the mountain a few times to make a track. Only then did the neighbors dare to descend the snowy slope with their rear-wheel drive Mercedes, Ford Taunus, Opel Record or Volkswagen Beetle,...
Wonderful video. I drove a 2CV every day for 10 years - also in snow. Never got stuck.
A friend has long recounted the story of when he overtook a Land Rover up a long steep bank in heavy snow, in his 2CV.
That is because the LR was parked.
Depends on the tyres. If it is a recent range rover on ex-factory performance (road tyres) then not surprising at all. A defender or Series or disco on the correct tyres would be unstoppable.
The devil is in the detail (of the tyres).
@@bimble7240 I agree.
My friend once borrowed our 2cv to go to the mountains in the snow and had to sound the horn for a Land Rover to get out of the way :)
@@bimble7240 Not necessarily. It depends. Our Landrover Defender gives up in the freezing cold (well below freezing) - diesel pump gets clogged up (Ford pump). So the petrol 2CV just merrily goes on. It all depends on several things. If the engine runs, the LR is more capable going uphill in a straight line. Of course. At least with same type of tyres. The LR slides more easily off the road, though, than the 2CV. Both car's history goes back to their launch in -48, I guess. Both icons.
50 years ago I lived in Quebec City. In winter time, with a lot of snow there, I could drive the same as the 2CV with my Renault 8, adapted to Canada ( raised, stronger battery, Michelin X tires ….). It had a rear engine and a rear-wheel drive. On the other side, the heavy American cars of that time with a front engine and a rear-wheel drive were trapped in the snow.
2CV is an amazing little car. There's a reason it had a 42 year production run!
I was amazed upon how you were amazed...my first experience in deep snow with the 2CV, in the UK was the fall of 1979/80. We had at least 13 inches & Hedge high drifts, we borrowed my late nan’s 2CV for a spin up the hills, this thing was going where 4x4 Landrovers didn’t.. totally amazing with their 602cc engine..
These days to buy one, refurbished cost as much as a Landrover.
I have a 1966 Series IIa that I've owned for 20 years that needs restoring. Those have really got expensive!
Sir, you have a jewel, please take good care of her.
I had 2 of these back in the early 1980s. Our Bedfordshire village was snowed in for two days. My wife, a nurse, was one of the few people in the village able to get in and out in our 2CV. Its also good in small snowdrifts because it goes over them rather than through them.
The designers got the order to build a car in which a farmer could transport his wife and two 30 liters cans of milk from his cows in the field back to his farm. unpaved road, criss cross over the grassland... and they made it! so actually no surprise this works in the snow :-)
and sufficient space for the driver to keep his hat on his head.
absolutely right :-)
Not to mention the basket full of eggs. Without breaking any.
D
did you know this car had a mechanic connection between front- and rear axle through a shock absorber? when one wheel in the back extended because in went through a hole, the front suspension compensated by going inwards to stabilize the main structure
There is this story that back in the 1960s at the Monte Carlo Rally during a night stage in the snow, several participants reported that a car had literally stuck to their bumper, when the car drove by it was two nuns in a 2CV. The overpowered cars with wide tires just couldn't plow through the snow like the 2CV.
Adequate ground clearance, FWD, high profile but narrow wheels, good handling... Lots of factors contributing to this!
Simply the best car in the world. Yes, i'm French, and so what...? :) Seriously, i didn't expect to see a "Deuche" in such a place, but this car born just after WW2 prooves that it survive any conditions on any continent. Keep yours alive as long as possible, and enjoy!
It has all the advantages to leave any premium BMW Mercedes or even an Audi Quattro desperately behind:
- FWD
- no powerrrr
- hughe wheels
- narrow tyres
- no weight at all.
- bibilical ground clearance
All you need is a blanket on your lap to keep you warm.
Take away the narrow tires and you are describing my current wintercar, a Fiesta mk1
What??
Leaving an audi quattro behind
Lol u clearly know nothing about cars
The 2cv is an average car in the snow
I remember thet the fiat 500 and 126 had much more traction
Not to mention any 4x4 car is obviously better
@@ocoet3575 Think he is ironic if not autistic, so its not nice to say sth bad
@@ocoet3575 fiat 500 ? Nice troll guy, you made my evening
I have a Subaru WRX STi R-type Version V with 300 HP (the street version of which the famous Impreza WRC cars were made ) which is useless in the snow, yes AWD but to get off the bloody things goes in all directions and needs a lot of work to keep it under control. But of course I no nothing about cars LOL !