It may look more than a bit, um, quirky, but so did the iconic 2CV that the C-Cactus concept was meant to embody. Built to do more with less -- materials that is -- the Citroen C-Cactus concept that was shown last year at the Geneva Motor Show used innovative construction techniques to cut the number of components required to manufacture it in half and is what Citroen calls an essentialist vehicle. A production version would attempt to follow that same pattern and could be powered by a version of the French automaker's new HYmotion2 hybrid system, consisting of a 1.0-liter diesel coupled to an electric motor. The powertrain could return over 100 miles per gallon according to the automaker. Another possibility would be to go full electric with the goal of achieving a 100 mile range and a 70 mile per hour top speed. Just how much of the concept's radical look would be carried over remains to be seen, though being Citroen, we're sure it would be suitably radical no matter what.
There are a lot of big birthdays in the car industry this year, and the Citroen 2CV joins GM and Land Rover in the candle-blowing crowd. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the deux-say-vay, Hermes created a special version of a 1989 Citroen 2CV6 Special for the Paris Auto Show. If you saw the Bugatti Veryon by Hermes you know what to expect, with hand-stitched swathes of Hermes trademark gray-beige leather contrasted with white on the front and rear benches. Of course the Hermes treatment is worth as much as the car itself, but anything the 2CV lacks in luxury is more than made up for by character.
Last month we noted that Citroen was gearing up to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its most iconic model, the 2CV. For those not familiar with the 2CV, it is to France what the Beetle was to Germany or the Cinquecento was to Italy. Although some suggested that Citroen could be preparing to resurrect the model with a retro throwback of its own, it now appears the French automaker has had its hands full preparing the Hypnos concept, the C6 Office and the new C3 Picasso. So to mark the 2CV's birthday, Citroen is launching a special edition of its quirky little convertible called the C3 Pluriel Charleston. The special edition takes the same name and paint scheme as the original 2CV 6 Charleston, but that only begs the question as to why a French automaker has named a French car for the French market after a city in South Carolina that the French can't even pronounce. The Pluriel, now on the market since 2003, features an awkward multi-function roof that can be deployed in different configurations... a setup we hope Fiat manages to improve on with the upcoming 500 Cabrio Coach. The Charleston edition, meanwhile, upgrades with a leather interior, chrome trim, 15-inch alloys (don't get too excited now) and a special interior. There are many European cars we wish we could get in the United States. We'll let the French keep this one.
Resurrecting the cars that put automakers on the map seems to be all the rage in the industry these days. Volkswagen brought back the Beetle a few years back and, more recently, Fiat resurrected the 500. Porsche... well, the 911 never really went away. But you get the idea. One iconic turning-point of an automobile that has yet to be awakened is the Citroen 2CV.
Launched after the end of WWII in 1949, the Citroen 2CV (so named because of its two-steam-horsepower equivalent rating) grew extremely popular due to its low cost and versatility. It could go anywhere, consumed little gas, and was extremely simple both to build and to maintain. By the time the last one rolled off the production line in 1990 – now that's one heck of a run – over 3.8 million units were built, and the 2CV gained iconic status and a cult following. Next year Citroen will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 2CV. Given the momentous occasion, the coincidence of the show's alternate location in Paris this year and how poised the current economic climate would be for such a vehicle, it would seem an ideal time for PSA to give us a new 2CV that could put the French automaker back on the map with a low-cost vehicle to rival the Tata Nano, only with more character. Whether Citroen actually has any such plans is of course pure speculation at this point, so we'll just have to sit back and wait until October to find out.
