In ’57, the 2CV in France was still delivered with the long roof, you rolled up the rear part to get to the trunk. At the end of ’57, the body was modified slightly to also be able to mount a metal trunk lid, which could be ordered from the factory as the AZLP, with Porte de Malle.

This AZL is one of the first with such a modified body – the rear light panel is different, among other things – but still the long roof. In fact, it is still the original, factory-mounted roof. Delivered in dark green, because the interior is also green.

When we bought this car, we were already very impressed by its originality. The paint is very thin, but still original and it has a nice patina. When we looked a bit further, it turned out to have very little wear in places where this is normally quickly visible, which made us more and more convinced that the 18,000 km on the counter are its real kilometers!

There is no paper evidence for this, but we are sure of it, and we are happy to show you our arguments.

The dealer plate on the back shows that it was delivered to garage Rusu in Colombes. The garage building on the Avenue Henri Barbusse still exists and now houses a Mercedes dealer. The stamp on the bulkhead shows that it was built on 20 October 1957, the registration number tells us that it came on the road 2 days before Christmas. The original painted registration number shows that it was moved to the department of Yonne, around Auxerre, in mid-1958.

This region is somewhat humid, which explains why the wafer-thin original paintwork did not hold up everywhere. But it did not really rust, the floors and chassis are still in perfect condition.

In 2011 it came to the Netherlands and was prepared for the road with a new set of tyres, brakes and battery. We have now just upgraded that.

It is not pristine, but it is wonderfully weathered and beautifully original. Maybe we should just keep it for ourselves…because when will one come across something like this again?