Citroen 2Cv Fourgonette

Arturo Benedetto Giovanni Guiseppe Pietro Archangelo Alfredo Cartoffoli da Milano has been taking our friends on a roller coaster ride in his Lancia Aurelia through the streets of various Swiss towns towards the Bordurian border, chasing the villains who escaped with Professor Calculus. The GT car was being driven at breakneck speed through the narrow street, narrowly missing various vehicles parked as well as being driven. Another vehicle shown in the background, narrowly missed by Arturo is a French icon, the Citroen 2CV, this time in the commercial vehicle avataar, the Fourgonette.

The Fourgonette was launched in 1951. It was a panel van based on the Citroen 2CV. There was a “Weekend” version of the vehicle which had rear windows and collapsible rear seats. This allowed for the vehicle to be used by small businessmen for work during the week and as a family car on the weekends. This vehicle soon became the preferred transport of most small entrepreneurs and artisans. A pickup version of the vehicle was mounted with recoil less guns and used by the Royal Navy Marines. This vehicle was selected because of the payload limitation of the Westland Wessex helicopters. The Fourgonette had a payload of 250 Kg.

These vehicles were powered a two cylinder 375 cc (22.88 Cu-inch) boxer petrol engine which was inspired by a BMW motorcycle engine. This engine produced 9 HP at 3,500 rpm and 19.6 N-m (14.46 lb-ft) of torque at 2,000 rpm. This tiny engine transferred the drive to the front wheels through a four speed manual gear box. This tiny engine could push the Fourgonette, which weighed 600 kg to a maximum speed of 60 km/h (27 mph). Stopping power was provided by drum brakes on all four wheels.

It was a small vehicle with an overall length of 3,610 mm (142.1 “), width of 1,490 mm (58.7″) and height of 1,710 mm (67.3”). A unique feature was the working of the wind screen wipers. They were powered by a purely mechanical system which comprised a cable connected to the transmission. In order to reduce cost, this cable also powered the speedometer. Therefore, speed of the wipers was dependent on the speed of the car. Also, when the car was stopped, like waiting a crossroad, the wipers had no power. To overcome this limitation, a handle was provided under the speedometer which  allowed wipers to be operated by hand.