Bonjour eleves, editor of
Cahiers du Cinema here: Just thought you might like to know that the appearance of the 2CV in George Lucas's
American Graffiti is significant in that it's a direct homage (by way of a visual joke) to Nouvelle Vague movies in general, and Jean-Luc Godard's 1959 classic
A Bout de Souffle in particular. I can't be bothered to watch the latter film right now, but there is a scene somewhere in it where the protagonist, played by Jean-Paul Belmondo, kicks a car (I seem to remember it's a quintessentially American car). Much of the subtext of
A Bout de Souffle is a muse on the love-hate relationship between post-war France and creeping Americanisation, culturally and economically.
American Graffiti is set at more or less the time that
A Bout de Souffle was made... so the kick of the 2CV is kind of saying, in a fairly gentle and filmic way "Yeah, well, you say you hate us? Well, yah-boo-sucks to you, but your films rock and kick ass etc.".
In his early career George Lucas was massively influenced by the Nouvelle Vague, as have been loads of American movie directors with pretentions to being film-makers (or as we French say, auteurs) such as Quentin Tarantino (who's movie company is called
Bande a Parte, named after another of Godard's early classics).
Oh, and for all true 2CV/movie nerds, the 2CV that is driven in American Graffiti, with 3 windows on each side, was not in production until 1966. The film is set in 1962. Fail!!
You can watch
A Bout de Souffle on YouTube. It's a treat for all people who like to spend their spare time spotting 2CVs.
Salut maintenant. Vive le cinema!
But...is that it? 
