-By Eric Fantin-
Another ambitious project!
A friend of mine bought this 1955 2CV as a project. So far the dismantling phase has started. Removing the body from the frame and the drivetrain from the frame. Both body and frame will be media blasted and primed for now. I am going to assess the health of the drivetrain. So here are a few facts about the car. It is an early example of the long life span of the product. Around 5 million cars were produced from 1948 to 1990. This model has the 425cc engine with a 12 hp rating.
The early cars are very interesting partly because most of them disappeared overtime and also some of the early features, or lack thereof, makes it conversation pieces for any car enthusiast.
For starters we have the all steel one piece steering. There is a bicycle speedometer driving the wipers mechanically when the car rolls (no wipers at rest, kind of a problem in the rain at a stop sign!!). The fabric top goes all the way down the rear of the car to incorporate the trunk (later cars have a steel trunk). There are no shock absorbers, just dampeners on the suspension arms and cardan axles versus CV axles. The rear lower panel has three raised sections for the license plate versus 2 or none later and last the little quaint turn signals.
There is a lot to do; the plan is to have a complete driving chassis ready to receive the painted body. An ambitious project indeed.
Eric Fantin can be reached at straigh8@gmail.com