The ultimate French classic car that still enriches our roads today is the Citroën 2CV, commonly known as the ugly duckling.
It’s a car that couldn’t be more minimalist, but despite its simple technology, or perhaps because of it, it soon became a crowd favorite. Citroën director Pierre-Jules Boulanger’s concept of launching a minimalist, compact car with simple technology was a huge success. It was presented on October 7, 1948, and at the end of production in 1990, about 4 million examples of the vehicle rolled off the assembly line – plus 1.2 million delivery trucks, also known as box ducks.
By the way, the name 2CV – as is often wrongly assumed – does not directly refer to the power of the engine, but to a significant figure in the French vehicle taxation system. Depending on the year of construction, engine power ranged from 9 to a maximum of 21 hp. The 2CV was eventually replaced by the Citroën AX.