quoted from the ft, the 2cv is " an abiding symbol of liberty in france's collective memory. built as a transition from horse and cart to motorcar for the peasantry, it industrialised the agricultural economy and made the working class mobile. engineer pierre-jules boulanger's 1930s prototype, dubbed "quatre roues sous un parapluie" (four wheels under an umbrella) was designed to drive "100kg of produce to market at 60 km/h on unpaved country roads using just three liters of petrol to travel 100km" - and, famously, to carry a basket of eggs across a ploughed field without breaking them".
all you could ever need from a car, really.
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for doing
(1) the ft article featured a 28-strong fleet of 2cvs which are used to give personal tours of paris. the 2cv's are driven by 'erudite and bilingual' guides, and one can pick from a range of alternative themed tours. perhaps someone should start something of this sort in singapore, in protest against these horrid bus-tour type thingys
(2) read somewhere about ikea producing a car. think the world could do and would embrace a cheap, back to basics car (not the nano which has no design panache) that is packed full of character and design flair both inside and out, green and safe. in other words, the same laid-back coolness of say a lambretta (and someone really should revive lambretta - last i checked the brand belonged to scooters india limited - to break piaggio/vespa's monopoly of designer scooters) but with four wheels, tad more safe and keeps the rain out. if ikea has dropped the idea someone else should take it up. a muji car perhaps?
below a few lambrettas from yesteryears
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