Hour Rule: French Friday!

"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris) 09/25/2015 at 04:38 • Filed to: Hour Rule, French Friday, Citroën Bijou

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RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Jobjoris 09/25/2015 at 06:48

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2CV Bijou...? Very uncommon....hard to believe they had the same underpinnings as the humble 2CV! :P

Jobjoris > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 09/25/2015 at 06:56

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Even harder to believe this one didn’t sell better than it did: just over 200! It’s such an adorable nimble car.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Jobjoris 09/25/2015 at 07:06

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Agreed! The 2CV may not have had speed, but it handled surprisingly well, and that fiberglass coupe body was fairly stylish for the time! Also, 2CV mechanicals are invincible, so...haha!

Jobjoris > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 09/25/2015 at 07:13

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This one was even quicker due to it’s lower drag and fewer kgs. If you like 2CVs so much check my LaLD-post on Live and Let Diecast in a minute, I’m showing a 1/43 Fourgonnette “Spirou”!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Jobjoris 09/25/2015 at 07:28

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I’m a big fan of French and Italian rides, especially the more “simple” ones like the 2CV, Ami, FIAT 500, FIAT 126, etc.

Would love a 2CV, Ami, 500 or 126 as a “fun” car sometime! :) I saw a 2CV for sale for $8K CDN in Quebec not that long ago...pity it’s so far away from me and it’s not financially feasible at the moment...

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-voiture-coll…

Berang > Jobjoris 09/25/2015 at 08:18

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More like British Friday amirite

duurtlang > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 09/25/2015 at 08:22

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If you’ve got a little money to spare I’m sure you can find someone here (like Jobjoris, or me, or someone else) willing to ship you something from Europe. Hell, as a Canadian you could even import >15 year old French and Italian vehicles. Assuming you want something that isn’t appreciating too much (see: 2CV) you can have something interesting at a Canadian port starting at about $6k CAN including shipping. French vehicles between 15 and 25 years of age, so from the 90s basically, are especially cheap nowadays and tend to be quite good/reliable/rust resistant and still quite plentiful. Simple and cheap: Renault Twingo? Citroën AX? Peugeot 106? All are dirt cheap. Even nicer cars, like my own 306 convertible and 406 coupe imho, are dirt cheap nowadays. And bulletproof as well.

Surprising by the way how the values of CAN and US dollars differ nowadays. €4k is $4.5k US or $6k CAN apparently.

Ed, for the old good times > Berang 09/25/2015 at 09:13

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Totally British:

http://www.citroenet.org.uk/foreign/slough…

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > Jobjoris 09/25/2015 at 10:16

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hon hon hon oui!

Jobjoris > Berang 09/25/2015 at 13:28

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Touché! French Fish & Chips Friday.

Jobjoris > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 09/25/2015 at 13:32

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That 126 you can get easily in Poland. The 2CVs and Amis are getting harder/more expensive to get. Fiat’s 500 seems to be pretty stable now when it comes to value.

Good luck finding one, if you need help: Just ask as Duurtlang already said.

Jobjoris > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 09/25/2015 at 13:41

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God it still looks incredibly good.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > duurtlang 09/26/2015 at 19:27

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Yeah, sadly the value of the CDN dollar is quite a bit lower at the moment....usually they are relatively on par.

I’ve thought about a 2CV down the road, but I think I would go for a FIAT 126 first and foremost....I LOVE the 500, but they are getting quite high in value at the moment, so quite expensive to buy.

The 126 is an underappreciated classic I think, outside of Poland. It’s pretty much the historical “people’s car” there though, and, seeing as it was sold there up until 2000, parts are still quite cheap and easy to find, as are the cars! Rust is the big issue with them. The nice thing about the 126 is they are dirt cheap compared to the 500 and have the same running gear and engine. As a result, you get the same fun, basic, unassisted and charming driving experience (albeit slow, yes :P), and they are dead simple for maintenance. You also have the plus of a gearbox with syncros on the 126 (well, on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears anyway) where the original 500 never had any syncros.

I’m trying to save up around $4000 CDN to import one someday down the road. Borsuq and members of the Rezerwa126p.pl forum say you can get a very good condition 126 for around $1500 CDN, plus I allowed a few thousand for shipping and import costs. :)