When you look at a modern 2cv with its wide lamp bar compared to the narrower bar of the 50's and 60's I think it loses something.
(I was going to ad 'aesthethetically' but I can't spell it )

Does anyone know how much narrower the old bar was toward the latter versions? I've had 6cm cut off mine but I'm still not sure it's right.

If only you'd asked last weekend, I had an old car at my house, I could have measured it.

I wonder whether the different headlamps also make a difference, they have a much bigger chrome surround and different markings which although small, might make a subtle difference when looking at it?

Not sure about that but I understood that the bar was lengthened to allow the square headlamp to be fitted. When they went back to round lamps they kept the same bar so it looks a bit odd compared to the earlier version.

That's how I understand it too, there's a lot of subtle things that make the early cars look nicer than the later ones (IMO), the lack of indicators in the wings, the bumpers, the nicer wheels, the narrower headlamps and the different lights. I'm sure they more pleasing aesthetics of the early cars are a combination of all of these things.

Belgique FTW!




Anything 15" used the same rims, surely? All 2cvs between early '59 and '90.

Anything 15" used the same rims, surely? All 2cvs between early '59 and '90.[/quote]

i think some had slots? and some had small wheels i am led to believe???

No idea what the headlamp bar measurements are, but as a matter of interest, I'm fairly certain that on the Slough built cars, the bars were longer(wider), to comply with British law Another 'interesting' 2cv fact is that it actually fell foul of a British law in the late 40s early 50s, by having in-board brakes, only when the law was repealed, was Slough able to build them .

I dont know the exact cut off date, but some time around 1970, the rims went to the nasty style found on dollys and all that, but the 15" rims before that, and post 400/slotted types had a much softer radius to the raised sections, and look much nicer. It's not something that stands out, but when you see two wheels next to one another, the earlier ones are far more pleasing.



SWC, I understand Porsche fell foul of the inboard brakes thing, and it was as a result of them appealing against it that enabled Citroen to sell the 2cv. Have a look at the Slough car in the Deuches specials section, the headlamp bar, and the Butlers headlamps are different to French market versions.

[quote="toomany2cvs

Anything 15" used the same rims, surely? All 2cvs between early '59 and '90.[/quote]


Go and cut a 1965 wheel in half, and compare the profile to that of similarly disected 1990 wheel, you'll see the difference really obviously. If I get time I'll take some pictures of the wheels on my bamboo and a set of D*lly wheels, you'll be able to tell the difference.

'74/'75 Ami Super and Mehari Azur had slots - but are otherwise exactly the same wheel. Mehari 4x4 had 14" rims.

But that's not exactly a big stack of cars... They only built 42,000 Supers - and 33,000 of those were built in '73, without the slotted wheels.