I still have my first 2CV, but this is the second one I ever got. Well, traded. If I picked it up in Obdam and installed the engine in another 2CV on the street in front of my house, I was allowed to keep the rest of the 2CV. I loved the colour, so I saw potential in that.

I saved up for a while, as I was still a student, and eventually bought an engine from a scrapyard. One with about as many kilometers on it as the car. The chassis turned out not to be entirely sound either, so I replaced it with a solid example from a scrapped 2CV from the seventies. That’s how things went in the early nineties.

On that seventies 2CV, I also noticed that the headlights were closer together; I wanted that too. My first welding job was therefore narrowing the support, which didn’t go entirely well; it was – and is – a bit too narrow, causing the hood to rub against the headlights when opened.

When it was finished, a particularly nice lady I’ve known for a long time looked at the 2CV with great affection. It became hers. And it has remained so until now, for 32 years. I installed a 5th door and a folding rear seat so that items could be transported in the back for her to display at trade fairs.

At the beginning of this century, I restored the bodywork and the 2CV was repainted; how beautiful it was again, and how proud the lady was. It was mainly kept indoors; only in recent years—after the parking garage was demolished—did it stand outside in the summer and in storage in the winter.

So, it is no longer perfect. But it is still solid, friendly-looking, and drives well. There is undoubtedly more to tell about it, but we will do that next to the car. We are actually looking for someone who will also fall in love with it at first sight and wants to hit the road with it for another 30+ years.