THE STORY OF THE SLOUGH-BUILT 2CV

In April 1954, William Boddy of Motor Sport was so taken with the Citroën 2CV he wrote ‘Certainly from now on I shall look with scorn at cars of low power output which employ heavy lumps of cast-iron surrounded by water for engines’. However, he also believed the Deux Chevaux would prove more than acceptable to motorists on this side of The Channel, overcoming the following possible objections:

As I see it, the British public, always conservative in their tastes, hold the following points against the 2CV:

1. They cannot believe that such a small-engined car will be speedy enough for their needs, or comfortably spacious.
2. They do not trust a design so outrageously unconventional as to embrace an air-cooled engine, with but two cylinders, and front-wheel drive.
3. It is too expensive.
4. It is ugly.

Unfortunately, this proved to be the case, but it was not for want of trying on the part of Citroën GB. Their Slough assembly plant had commenced operation in 1926 and allowed the parent company to circumvent swingeing British import duties. As a result, 2CV assembly commenced in 1953, allowing dealers to offer a significant rival to the Austin A30, Ford Anglia 100E, Morris Minor and Standard Eight.

By that time, as Ronald Barker observed, the French motoring landscape:

looked in danger of becoming overwhelmed by these strange little mechanical mules with corrugated noses, usually laden with complete families and most of their worldly possessions. It was almost as though this new proliferation of everyman transport were touching off some latent migratory instinct.

To ensure the Slough version would stand a chance of success, the British version differed in several ways from the French model. The standard equipment included trafficators, opening rear windows, a 12-volt Lucas electrical system and opening windows in the rear doors. In addition, there was a lockable steel boot lid, extra chrome plating and a Front Wheel Drive bonnet mascot.

The price of the UK 2CV was a not unreasonable £598 7s, and in 1956 The Motor thought the 2CV “a sensible ‘buy’ for a significant number of British motorists”. In reality, too many potential buyers regarded the Citroën as transport for sandal-wearing bohemians. Slough also built the Van and Pickup, the latter serving with the Royal Marines as a lightweight vehicle that helicopters could drop.

The total production of the 2CV in Slough amounted to just 1,036 units, and by 1959, the plant had 350 chassis and 425cc engines lying surplus. Their solution was the remarkable Bijou, more of which in another blog. Citroen closed their UK assembly plant in 1966, and seven years later, they began to import the Deux Chevaux in the wake of the Fuel Crisis.

In short, Mr. Boddy was clearly right; it just took the British motoring public almost two decades to realise the many and various merits of the 2CV.

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