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February 27, 2008
Love at first sight. A 1955 Citroen Deux Chevaux (2CV)
After I graduated high school in England in 1968, I went to study in France for a year. And I fell in love … with the Citroen Deux Chevaux.
Described variously as “a tin can on springs,” or the “tin snail,” the small car was an iconic feature of post-WWII France along with Gauloise cigarettes and Bridget Bardot.
My first car was a 1955 model that I bought from a Dutch student whose family had a summer house outside St. Tropez. It had a dipstick in the gas tank and window wipers that were geared to the motor and supplemented by a hand knob when the car was stationary.
It was rudimentary and romantic – as are all things at the age of 18 – and I have an affection for the 2CV that I will take to my grave.
And it seems I am not alone. A recent survey of 2,000 people carried out by the British International Auto Show found that most remembered their first car better than they remembered their first kiss, first love or 18th birthday!
Certainly, a number of the stories I write are about people who have restored their old car or their father’s/grandfather’s car, or a car that is the same model as their first car. Others just have a car they dote on, or love their work in a car-related business.
That’s why I often say to people that while I may be the auto writer here at The Providence Journal, what I really write are love stories.
- Peter C.T. Elsworth
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