Javi Martin
Few cars are as friendly and charismatic as the Citroen 2CV. It is curious how the most humble models, but also the most ingenious, win the favor of ordinary people over other more innovative, expensive and powerful cars. Perhaps it is because of the proximity to these models or because of the memories that many fans have linked to these cars, but the "popular classic" moves the masses.
El Citroen 2CV is one of those "popular classics”That move masses. It is a car with an uncountable legion of followers around the world, almost as uncountable as the units manufactured throughout the years that it was in production. Between 1948 and 1990, a total of 5.118.889 units were produced, of which 1.246.306 are the Citroën AK350, the beloved 2CV based van as mythical as the saloon.
In fact, the Citroën AZU, as it is also known, or “Citroneta”, was the first vehicle of the chevron firm that was manufactured on Iberian soil from 1958. And to make matters worse, the PSA factory in Vigo was built at first to give life to the AK350.
After the van came the saloon, something that is currently completely unthinkable but which in those years was the logical thing to do. With a population still suffering after a civil war and a total shortage of modern or "working" vehicles (almost all of it was scrap recovered from the war) starting with the vans made perfect sense in the world. Although that did not stop the Citroën 2CV from having unstoppable success.
It was simple, cheap and hard as granite. It perfectly met the requirements that were established when its development began: an umbrella with wheels capable of carrying a basket of eggs through a sown field without breaking them.
The last Citroën 2CV was a Charleston
It was on July 27, 1990, at 16,30 p.m., when the last Citroën 2CV left the assembly line located in Mangualde, Portugal. It was a Citroën 2CV6 Charleston, painted Nocturne Gray and Cormoran Gray. It was in production for 42 years and is the fifth best-selling car in history, behind other illustrious ones such as the Ford T or the Volkswagen Beetle.
Production of the Citroën 2CV started in 1948, just three years after the end of World War II. One of the secrets of being able to launch such a car so quickly after a catastrophe of the magnitude of a World War, was tremendously simple: the development of the Citroën 2CV began several years before, specifically in 1939, when 250 prototypes were manufactured under the name of POS, Très Petite Voiture, something that we could basically translate as “very small car”.
The war came and Citroën decided to destroy the prototypes so that they would not fall into enemy hands, leaving only five copies that were used after the war to complete the work and put the model into production. Of course, the Citroën 2CV was manufactured in Spain, in the Vigo factory from where almost 300.000 units came out.
It was first a limited edition, but it ended up being one more version of the range
The Citroën 2CV Charleston was born as a limited edition within those more than five million copies. It appeared in 1980 and took as its starting point the 2CV Club, on which some things were changed such as the upholstery (of the “crow's foot” type) or the headlights, which became round like those equipped on the Citroën 2CV Special. It added upholstery on the inside of the doors, a gray fabric that was accompanied by a black plastic band that included the door handle. It was offered in Delage Red and Black, but the Hélios Yellow and Black option was added in 1982 and the Nocturne Gray and Cormoran Gray livery was added in 1983.
It was presented at the Paris Motor Show and initially, it was intended to manufacture 8.000 units. The fact is that it was so successful that the French firm decided to keep the Citroën 2CV Charleston in production as one more version within the range since 1981, being able to recognize it by the chrome headlight housing and the gray upholstery with diamond motifs.
Production of the Charleston took place at the Citroën plant in Levallois, in France, integrated into the assembly line of the rest of the versions. It was also manufactured in Portugal, as already mentioned, being possible to differentiate these versions with their crystals, which were manufactured in Spain by the specialist “Covina”.
