MAGAZINE TEAM James Duffell editor@2cvgb.com Yellow Dog Design Advertising: small.ads@2cvgb.com
Membership of 2CVGB is by annual subscription: UK £34, Europe £80 (£34 with Emagazine), Worldwide £100 (£34 with E-magazine). You can join or renew online at www.2cvgb.co.uk where you can also download the membership application form. If you do not have access to the internet please forward membership enquiries to the membership secretary (contact details on p60).
Welcome to another edition of 2CVGB News. Lots of official stuff this month, with annual reports from some committee members (the rest will follow next month) as well as voting for those committee members at the end of their term.
There are still some vacancies with no volunteers, which is a shame. Please take a look at the list and ask yourself whether you can spare some time to put something back into the club by volunteering for one of the vacant posts. Even if you’ve missed the deadline, the committee can coopt people to fill vacant posts. You never know, you may even find it fun!
The camping season is now in full swing. I hope many of you are able to attend a local group camp or two. If you do, please do a write up and send it to me, with some photos.
See you in a field somewhere.
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AUGUST
4TH
CHESHIRE DRAGONS TRIP TO CROSBY BEACH to see Antony Gormley’s Another Place followed by lunch at the Bus Yard pop up bar. For more information, please refer to the Cheshire Dragons Facebook page 14-18TH ICCCR TORUN, POLAND. For full details https://icccr2024.pl/en/ 15-18TH BRITISH MOTOR SHOW Come and display your A series on the 2CVGB stand which will be part of the award winning Citroën Village created in conjunction with CCC and TOC where we will be celebrating 90 Years of Citroën Front Wheel Drive. All models and conditions welcomed! For more details contact Jim Gibson on 07594 232602
22-27TH NORTH SOMERSET TIN SNAILS NSTS CAMP on a site near Wells with views across the levels to Glastonbury Tor. The campsite has toilets and showers and is within walking distance of three pubs, village shop & cafe. Scenic drive on Saturday and a camp tea party on the Sunday. Email Liz at nsts2cv@gmail. com for details and booking form. For those wishing to stay longer and travel direct to the National extra nights can be booked at the site’s normal rate
23-25TH 2CV RACING Snetterton (Norfolk). Round 7 of the 2024 2CVParts.com Championship, the legendary 2CV 24 hour race. Come along and experience this amazing round the clock event, as 2CVs battle it out with the equally impressive Mini Grands. The 24 hour race begins on Saturday 24th
30-1ST 2CVGB NATIONAL The Fire Service College, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. Please note pre-booking only
SEPTEMBER
5-8TH LANCASTER BOMBERS SILLOTH CAMP (No beer festival). To book camping (tent/caravan/motorhome) go to cove.co.uk/Solway or phone 01697 331236 (no need to mention the 2cv camp). Mourn the end of the beer festival!
13-15TH SOUTH DOWNS ESCARGOTS HAT CAMP King Harry’s Field (almost opposite Oakendene Industrial Estate), east of Cowfold, West Sussex. For more information please refer to http://www.southdownsescargots.org.uk/diary. htm or contact Maurice on 07985 091633 or at mauricedilley@hotmail.com 20-22ND POMPEY PUDDLEDUCKS “CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY” CAMP. Wicks Farm Holiday Park, Redlands Lane, West Wittering, Chichester. PO20 8QE. Full details can be found on our Facebook page. Booking highly recommended. Contact Sean at scullen.sc4@gmail.com or 07906 077139
29TH 2CVGB COMMITTEE MEETING online only from 10am. For further information please contact the Secretary.
OCTOBER
3RD AIRE COOLED ALLEY CATS – FISH AND CHIP NIGHT. Venue TBA
12TH CHESHIRE DRAGONS VISIT TO OULTON PARK. For more information, please refer to the Cheshire Dragons Facebook page
12TH 2CV RACING OULTON PARK (CHESHIRE). Rounds 8 and 9 of the 2024 2CVParts.com Championship. Two 15 minute sprint races. Other racing
series will also be present over the weekend 25-28TH MANCHESTER DUCKS CONCRETE CAMPING at the Cairndale Hotel Dumfries over 2 or 3 nights. For full details please refer to the 2CVGB Official FB page. All bookings to be made directly with Fiona Martin at the hotel on 01387 240287 or at fionam@cairndalehotel.co.uk). Please quote Citroen Car Group for discount. For any further information contact Tony Kehoe on 07565 347048 or at tonykehoe@outlook.com
27TH HUDDERSFIELD TWIN POTS BI-MONTHLY BREAKFAST & BANTER at The Oil Can Café at The Carding Shed, Washpit Mills, Green Lane, Holmfirth HD9 2RD. See Facebook group for additional events. Contact Tim Jones on 07926 272437 (trwjones500@gmail.com)
NOVEMBER
3RD CHESHIRE DRAGONS LUNCH AT THE DRUID INN, Llanferres, North Wales DECEMBER
7TH CHESHIRE DRAGONS BAR SKITTLES AND CHRISTMAS DINNER at the Bickerton Poacher, near Malpas, Cheshire. The skittles alley is booked for 5.30pm and the Carvery dinner for 7.15pm
29TH HUDDERSFIELD TWIN POTS BI-MONTHLY BREAKFAST & BANTER at The Oil Can Café.
JANUARY 2025
3RD AIRE COOLED ALLEY CATS CURRY NIGHT TBA
APRIL 2025
18-21ST 2CVGB NATIONAL Martha's Down Campsite, Hindon, Wiltshire. Further information to follow
MAY 2025
22-27TH NORTH SOMERSET TIN SNAILS NSTS CAMP on a site near Wells
AUGUST 2025
29-1ST REGISTERS DAY Gloucestershire. More to follow.
Hello all, well I can report summer Is finally here. I’m just back from a meeting in Regensburg which was called Ente trifft Bulli, (2cv meets VW camper). It was in the grounds of a brewery serving fantastic beer and food. There were an amazing array of 2cvs and various VW Beetles and campers plus some other classics. On the Saturday there was a scenic drive followed by a huge raffle and on the Sunday there was a tour of the brewery. It was my first trip to this part of Germany and I must say I’ll definitely be going to this meeting again. The organisation, cars and scenery were fantastic. If any of you want more information on the the club you can look them up on Facebook by searching for “Die Regensburger Enten” Next up I had an email from the organisers of the 2025 World Meeting in Slovenia. They write: Dear fellow 2CV friends, while we as an organising committee for the 25th world meeting of 2CV friends have been
working tirelessly for quite some time, we are now entering a phase of our organising process where we will start sending regular newsletters.
SOMENEWSFIRST:
1. If you haven't noticed yet, you can now register for our meeting also if you want to pay via bank transfer - I hope this will help some older members of your clubs and organisations; credit card payment and Paypal payment are of course still available! Everyone can register via this link: https://2cv2025.si/ registration/
2. Original prices for our meeting will stay as they are until the end of 2024!
3. Please like our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram! FB: https:// www.facebook.com/2cvslovenia2025
IG: https://www.instagram.com/ 2cvslovenia2025/
4. We will be present at some
international meetings till the end of the year, so please visit us, have a chat with our members, register or get some merchandisefrom us! 31. July - 4. August - German national 2CV meeting in Gedern. 14. - 18. August - ICCCR meeting in Torun, Poland
5. If you have any questions, please contact us atinfo@2cv2025.si or registration@2cv2025.si
6. If you want to receive regular news, please register for a newsletter on the following link: https://2cv2025.si/ and look for a subscribe button on the right side of the web page.
So if you want more WM2025 news you know where to go. My next meeting will be the German National in Gedern so I’m planning to register for the Slovenia world meeting there.
That’s it for this month, Drive on the right
Specialist insurance for 2CVGB club members
As the saying goes, make sure you compare your apples with apples, not oranges - or words to that effect. It's an idiom that is so very true of insurance, and most recently, an enquiry came through to us from a partner club that brought that into stark focus.
2CVGB CLUB INSURANCE UPDATE AUGUST
The enquiry related to a customer that had spotted in their policy documents with a mainstream insurer that they had taken cover out with via an online price comparison site. The policy stated that they were not covered for car club activities, nor even to attend or display at a car show.
As you can imagine, they were entirely concerned by this, with good reason, as taking part in events and shows is what club life is all about. Unfortunately, though, this is not uncommon at all and highlights the risks of chancing it with non-specialist insurance that, on the face of it at least, might look cheaper than everyone else.
Your club scheme has been tailored to ensure the policy best covers your needs.
This has been done with input from the people who run your club and, indeed, from you, the member, through the various calls we take, conversations we have and feedback sessions we run. That is the advantage of having a club-branded scheme such as this. The team know your cars and what sort of activities you enjoy
with them and is ultimately there to enable your enjoyment of both your historic vehicle and this car club. Furthermore, it is the understanding of those needs that creates the unique benefits that you can enjoy through your club insurance scheme, such as member-tomember cover, where you can all drive each other's cars with fully comprehensive cover here in the UK. If the worst were to happen, you would be automatically granted the salvage retention FREE of charge. Many of those mainstream policies you find online will have charges and conditions applied. More likely they will have arrangements with specialist salvage companies that will auction the salvage to the highest bidder thereby mitigating that insurer’s loss.
Self-repair also recognises that sometimes, you might rightfully feel that it should be only you to work on your car in the event of damage repairs. Alternatively, you might also have a preferred restorer or workshop you already trust to work on your car and sending it to them is OK. You're in control of what happens with your pride and joy should you need to make a claim, and we are here to help you ensure the process is as efficient as possible and that all attempts are made to preserve your vehicle and its invaluable heritage and sentimental value to your family.
We have just had our 9th (I think) annual Cheshire Dragons Carrog Camp, near Llangollen in beautiful North Wales. As always it was a great success with fairly mixed weather which is the norm recently, but lots of sunshine as well to brighten things up. Lovely to welcome old friends and new ones.
On the Friday night a number of us served up large pots of chilli, curry, stews, cakes etc., to feed the travellers, which seemed to go down really well, this was followed by our own movie night film featuring Blazing Saddles which was very apt considering there were lots of beans of all types within the food.
On Saturday we had a drive out the Pontcysyllte aqueduct with lunch in the visitors centre and for most of us, the breathtaking walk across the aqueduct. The evening was either dinner in the local pub The Grouse or in own tents etc, followed by the Saturday night movie The Rocky Horror Show with our own compère Andy Donaldson, who looked spectacular even though he was frozen solid. Thanks, Andy for arranging and providing everything for the movie nights, it was brilliant.
That’s it for now,
BIG THANK YOU
I’ve just read July’s 2CVGB News and saw the article reporting the Registers Day at Martha’s Down.
I did get to attend on the Sunday and meet up with my friends from the Bath Tub Club and others I have met at previous events. Sadly, I am now restricted to driving automatics with hand controls, but Beryl the Berlingo is a fine substitute for my previous Dyane and 2CV Spécial and maybe some of the A series DNA has been passed down to Beryl. She does have a similar effect on my face muscles, which ache from
smiling whilst I drive her.
The point of this letter is to thank the members who contributed to the raffle and to the committee who generously donated the money raised to the Weldmar Hospice in the memory of my wife Carol. The Weldmar were simply superb and I am convinced that, with their care, Carol’s life was extended by months. Every minute I had with her was so precious and anyone who knew her would understand why I say that.
Thank you 2CVGB.
WALMER&DEALCLASSICCARSHOW6JULY2024
I signed up for this event at the last minute, and parked up quite early in the morning on Walmer Green. It is a very beautiful and popular spot. The Royal Marine Band gave their annual concert here the week before.
Our 1985 2cv6 Spécial, 'Margot', was No 503, so certainly more than 500 classic cars on display. We had a great day, with lots of folk reminiscingabout their first car being a 2cv, and a chatty Tesco delivery driver who wandered past onhis break, explaining that he had spent much of his earlier life under 2cvs, as a professional welder! It was a pity though, ours was the only
2cv at the show this year. Maybe next year I'll post something, when the dates are published. Here's a few photos, including my wife Sue, Tess the dog, and coastline with ship sheltering at sea.
My letter regarding insurance issues seems to have caused a few ripples (no pun intended!) and it seems to me, following Calvin’s response, leads us on to a few more important points of reference.
We now ascertain from Calvin that this link up with PJ is a commercial business arrangement, voted on and passed by the entire committee (though I am not sure the membership knew anything about it beforehand). PJ are seemingly paying for their advertising space (two pages this month, presumably at the same rate as all other advertisers) and interestingly, on top of this, they are also paying commission to 2cvGB on every car insurance policy sold to club members. Calvin says this commission should more than offset potential lost advertising revenue from other classic car brokers, who of course, are now unlikely to advertise in our pages under present circumstances. (I am also a member of the Citroën Car Club and noted that there were no less than five classic car brokers advertising in the latest edition of The Citroënian magazine).
How is this all shaping up then?
Members should be aware that PJ is not an insurance company, but a classic car broker (such as Footman James and Adrian Flux, amongst several other well known names) who all act as middlemen, using their expertise to place our insurance cover with sundry insurance companies, hopefully to our best advantage. Those insurance companies pay the brokers (including PJ) a commission for the business placed with them I believe. However, here’s the rub - if PJ in turn, now have to pay a commission to 2cvGB, where is this ‘double brokering’ commission
coming from? Surely It can only be ‘hidden’ in our PJ insurance premiums.
On to Calvin’s assumption that my cover with Footman James is not on a like for like basis. As far as I can ascertain, with the single exception of allowing a named under 25 year old driver to also drive my car (which I had no use for but was an attraction for Matt and incidentally ALSO an option with FJ) my Footman James policy is certainly like for like with PJ’s (but about £55 cheaper). Moreover, whereas dealing over the phone it seemed as though every ‘free’ option was simply included on the PJ quote, with FJ’s online form all of the various available options were clearly listed and priced, so by opting out of anything one didn’t need, the premium was that much lower. I would also confirm that at NO extra cost, the agreed value I asked for was included within the basic cover without query or photo requirements, as was the retained salvage provision for category S or N damaged vehicles. As well as I could ascertain, all provisions of PJ’s policy were also available with FJ. This didn’t surprise me, as they are all in direct competition, so I suspect this would be the case with all the leading classic car brokers. Happy to be proven wrong on this of course. At the end of the day I guess most club members will be well versed in ‘fishing’ amongst classic car insurance brokers for the best like for like deal in a free market, and would not want to be left with any slight feeling (as could now be the case ) of some disloyalty to the club, if that deal was not to be found with PJ. I know for a fact that the
chairman of our local club whose renewal came up very recently, could not get the deal he wanted with PJ and stuck with his present broker (who just happened to be FJ) but like me, he did give PJ a try when he read of the new link with 2cvGB.
Lastly, as an addendum, I noted Matt’s comments on European car insurance. One does indeed insure the car as an entity in Europe, so that any person of any age can drive it with the
CALVIN’S REPLY…
What was it that Oddball said in Kelly's Heroes....."Why don’t you knock it off with them negative waves“?
I get it. John disagrees with our decision to enter into a solus agreement (as many other clubs have done) but the decision has been made. That's how appointing a committee works.
It's a bit like many decisions taken by my council or the government. I don’t agree with some of them, I don’t like some but I have to live with them.
As I've already said, the PJ deal won't suit every member but it will work well for some. John is fully entitled to his opinion which he has now expressed at length.
Negative comments such as John's, about things we on the committee try to do to address issues, try new ways to address changing situations and demographics, the lack of volunteers etc, is one of the main reasons I am standing down this year. It doesn't seem to matter what we try to do, there's always someone who wants to moan, whinge or say something unkind. Frankly, I don’t feel inclined to
policyholder’s permission, provided they have passed their driving test and have a current driving licence, but it comes at some cost. My eleven year old Citroen C1 (owned from new) which I keep garaged in Portugal, had its insurance renewed last November at a hefty premium of 485 euros, despite me never having made a claim! That wasn’t considered excessive by our friends who live out there.
spend the hours I put in every month doing stuff, often unseen, for the club to receive such negativity. Things are changing, we are getting few volunteers and groups coming forward to run things or assist, things such as insurance have become much more complicated and take more time than used to and we try to do our best in the interests of the club. Neither I nor most of the committee members are looking for big pats on the back, but the constant negative feedback (admittedly from a minority) does wear you down after a while and for me I've got to the point I'd rather put my energies into other things that will be more appreciated. Perhaps John will consider standing for the Secretary post I’m vacating or one of the other committee posts to steer the Committee in the direction he’s more happy with? Even if he's missed the deadline we can still co-opt people. I honestly think space in future mags would be better used for something more interesting and positive … right.. .I'm off to borrow Coops' tank helmet!
SPOTTED ABROAD
Travelling across Europe on holiday (but shamefully not in our Dolly this year) and whilst in Switzerland we spotted these two beauties.
The first was in an underground car park in the small town of Bex. It appeared to be “off-road” given it had no number plates but was in reasonable condition. There were some flats above the car park so maybe….
DYANE WEDDING CAR
I thought you might like to include a picture or two of my Citroën Dyane dressed up for my son's wedding. Tom and Yolanda were married at the Hadleigh Guild Hall, Suffolk and had their reception at my sister and brother in law’s farm in Chappel, Essex.
2024 ELECTION TO COMMITTEE POSTS
POSTAL AND ELECTRONIC VOTING FORM
ELECTION TO COMMITTEE POSTS 2024
POST NOMINEE YEARS PROPOSER SECONDER
Secretary NONE RECEIVED 3
Membership Secretary Colette DickinsonClapham- 2 Sean Sowley James Duffell
Web Manager Dave Crane 1 (2nd yr of 2 yr term) Calvin Bradley Vanessa Harrison
Risk & Compliance Nigel Herring 2 David Eden Richard Sugden
The second was very much being used.
Sighted in a Co-op car park just outside another small town called Saviese.
Our travels continue - off to Devon this weekend in Dolly!
TRAVELS OF PEAPOD
I’m Just back from a jaunt to Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and France with my sister in my 34 year old 2CV, Peapod. She drove well with no issues and we managed to avoid all the LEZ areas.
I thought you’d like to see a couple of photos of Peapod at the Zandvoort F1 racetrack. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed on the track.
DVLA Liason Sean Sowley 2 David Eden Richard Sugden
Equipment Mark Dunmore 2 Mick Rollins Tim Jessop
Non Designated Carl Baker 2 Chris Jennings Paul Gowlett
Registrars Co- ordinator Mark Dunmore 2 Mike Good Will Waldron
PR/ Communications NONE RECEIVED FOR AGAINST
VOTE OF (NAME)
MEMBERSHIP NUMBER
To vote please return this form or a copy thereof (copies or scans are fine) to me at the address below by no later than 7th September 2024. Secretary 2cvGB Ltd, 212 Jayshaw Avenue, Great Barr, Birmingham B43 5RH
N.B. FORMS WITHOUT A NAME AND MEMBERSHIP NUMBER CANNOT BE COUNTED. ONLY 1 VOTE PER MEMBERSHIP
Better still, If you wish to vote by email and save postage and trees please send a scan of this completed form or a simple list of the names or posts and For or Against next to each. Also stating your name and membership no.
PLEASE SEND email votes to: Secretary@2cvgb.com with the heading ‘Election 2024’ Since the last magazine Sean has decided to stand for DVLA Liaison and his wife, Jean Sowley has offered to be co-opted into the Club Shop role which will give us continuity there. Nigel Herring is standing
for Risk and Compliance and we will be deleting the Events committee post as the way in which events our now advertised first via the club’s website and social media has necessitated a change to the way things are done removing most of the Events role. Unfortunately, still no nominations have been received for Secretary, Registrars Co-ordinator or PR/ Communications. If anyone is interested in being co-opted onto the committee into any of these posts, then please contact us.
CHAIR
My remit in this post has been to serve the club as Chair of 2CVGB on the committee 2023-24. This role involves chairing committee meetings, writing a monthly article for the club magazine and being the general ‘face’ of the club to our membership, the wider world of the Citroën A Series, other car clubs and the general public.
It has been a year of challenges, considering we have had a lack of volunteers coming forward for hosting events. We have tried to offer the membership a choice regarding our National for 2024, by trialling a different style of event.
The solus agreement with Peter James Insurance has brought mostly positive feedback and we are pleased we can offer a solution to our younger drivers for a three-year period. We hope this will be one way to encourage young people to join 2CVGB.
For our own club public liability insurance and cover for our parts and equipment, the situation has become more involved. We now have to produce risk assessments for our local group events and not just for those at a national level. Our insurer wants those who produce the risk assessments to take a training course, which I have created. This is currently being rolled out to the local groups who have events listed in the magazine. It is
ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORTS
intended that the training course will be put in the members’ area on our website in the future.
I have been covering the risk and compliance role for the past year but this will soon be taken over by Nigel Herring.
SECRETARY
This year will be my last annual report in the post of Secretary. I joined 2cvGB in early 2011 and within less than six months I volunteered to take the minutes of the meetings in response to a request from Bean who was then fulfilling both the Treasurer and Secretary roles. Later, I volunteered to be co-opted into the Health & Safety committee post and took over the Secretary role in 2012, so this is my fourth three year term and I have spent almost all of my 13 years of club membership actively volunteering.
Vanessa will be the 5th Chair I have supported during that time. I know there are many who have and continue to serve the club for far longer (such as Matt and Julian, also standing down this year) but also I cannot help but contrast this with some others, who are vociferous in their opinions about the club but appear to have spent little or no time actively contributing to it.
This year I have been trying to fine tune the new Committee election processes which has to start for me, in
May to enable the timetable to progress to its conclusion with postal and email voting in August and results in early September ready for the elected persons to start their roles on 1st October and handovers to take place where required. I also spent a lot of time in late 2023 investigating the Solus agreement proposal made some months earlier to the club with Peter James which would offer a way of under 24 year olds to access insurance for A series cars, something we had been unable to find from any other insurer. I contacted met and/or corresponded with a number of other car clubs that had entered into such an agreement to seek their views on how it had worked or not for them and presented all the feedback received to the committee to consider. The decision to enter a three year agreement (the minimum with guaranteed income) has been welcomed by some and criticised by others but I guess that is always going to happen when you try something new.
Other than that it has been mostly the usual stuff other than having to assist in this year’s club insurance renewal which was a little challenging for reasons I’ll not bore you with.
I see the that the proposal for the 2024 National has also met with a ‘mixed response’ shall we say. The proposal to use a venue with built in staffing and infrastructure as a means of running an event with very few volunteers because no local group had come forward was an attempt by the Committee to find a solution to ensure that a National happened. Not everything is going to work and be what everyone wants but all we can do is try things. Whatever happens, the level of bookings for the rooms on site seems to have illustrated a demand that exists
and may increase as the age profile of the club gets older. Whether it’s possible to find a venue that allows a cheap enough camping option and the facilities that some other members seem to want is going to be a challenge. At the June Committee meeting I suggested that it may be that, in future, the club has two national events each year – one traditional camping based and one that has the accommodation on site plus camping if possible, to cater for both. The way things have been lately, it will probably just mean more complaints from each end of the spectrum about the one that’s less suited to them! I understand that people want to express their views and that’s fine - it’s your club but please remember that these are being directed at a small number of people who are just trying their best to keep our club going. Our social media culture now seems to encourage the keyboard warriors out there to keep chipping away with comments and for me this has got to the point where I’d rather spend my time doing things where my efforts are more appreciated. I’m heavily involved now with animal rescue and a dog shelter and it can be very hard at times but the satisfaction I get when it goes well outweighs it. I don’t think I’m the only Committee member that feels like this at present and at times it amazes me we can even find a dozen people still prepared to volunteer. On the positive side, being on the Committee has lead to meeting a number of people I now call friends and also a number of talented and inspirational people in the A series community that perhaps I wouldn’t have otherwise.
I hope that I haven’t done too badly and when the new Secretary is found,
whether it is before or after I step down on 30th September, I will of course handover to them and support them as much or as little as they require.
MEMBERSHIPSECRETARY
I have now been in the role of Memsec for almost six years and the routine administration of the membership database, the production of monthly BACS reports for Direct Debit collection, the compilation of the membership mailing list for the monthly magazine is going fairly smoothly and since the introduction of Crossmember and the new printers we are working with, who not only send out the magazine but the renewal and Direct Debit letters I produce for them which is fantastic for me – no more stuffing 500 letters into envelopes to be sent out in a month (phew!), life as Memsec is so much easier and a lot less time consuming.
The ‘missing magazines’ part of my job (i.e. looking after undelivered magazines and sending out replacements for magazines which have got ‘lost in the post’) has improved drastically, many months go by with only an odd reports of missing mags
Committee meetings is another big part of the role. However, with these being mostly online now, a lot of travelling time is saved, plus it enables members to join into the meeting from anywhere, not just if you are local. It would be great to see some members attend these virtual meetings to see what the committee does, particularly those members who are very vocal on social media and have actually little idea on what it takes to run the club by volunteers
Club Membership Statistics
Membership stats to end June 2023 v
June 2024:
Memberships:
2023 - 2069
2024 - 2105 (up 36)
Membership numbers continue to be reasonably stable, but it’s great to see the membership climbing again – this time last year we were down 74 members, so a good turnaround.
Colette Clapham-Dickenson
2CVGB Membership Secretary October 2018 - present
EDITOR
2CVGB News
The editor’s role is to receive, collate and edit articles, letters and the more or less regular columns from the club’s registrars and some of the advisers to the committee.
Some months there’s loads of material and I have to edit it and/or hold material back until the following month. In other months the deadline approaches and I’m still looking at an almost empty inbox. And, as has been said, it’s a deadline, not a target!
Still, you all get to see the end product and I think it’s appreciated. I receive very few complaints or compliments, even though I do occasionally ask for feedback. I have to assume everyone is happy with the mag. It’s often the only contact members have with the club. The other aspect of the role - and one I hadn’t even thought about when I stood for election - is to sit on the club’s committee. As with much of life, there are highs and lows. I’ve made several suggestions (e.g. that all advisers to the committee, such as registrars should be subject to elections just like the committee) that have come to nothing,
while others, such as the membership welcome pack, have come to fruition. Committee work isn’t onerous, with meetings happening every two or three months and a smattering of emails in between. Nowadays all the meetings are online, which is far from ideal, but given we’re scattered far and wide works well enough. It also means it’s easy for any club member to join us, although very few people have done so.
Members’ Handbook
I have been working on revising the handbook for almost three years. Progress has been painfully slow, with requests for information and material being ignored (even by committee members and advisers to the committee) and proofreaders working hard for a couple of months and then disappearing from view (thankfully the committee members now filling this function are much more reliable).
There are about 50 sections finished and with our designer, Dot. Almost a dozen are now available in the members area of the club’s website, with more to follow.
Membership Welcome Pack
members engage with, the more likely they are to remain members.
The pack was written, designed (at lightning speed by Dave Webmaster) and printed and are now in use by Colette who has reported good feedback. Hopefully it makes the difference we designed it for.
Job Vacancy
I am embarking on my final year as editor, so if you are interested in taking over in 2025, please get in touch and I can explain what it takes. I’m very happy for someone to work alongside me to get to know the ropes beforehand.
WEBMASTER
I took over the role of Webmaster in November just as the new website was launched. Unfortunately, the company that built the website hadn’t done a particularly good job and were very slow when it came to fixing the issues. After battling with them for four months I proposed to the committee that we admit defeat and build a whole new site. We did this and launched the site a month later.
The club currently has a high turnover, with almost as many members leaving each month as new ones joining. I proposed to the committee that we should have a welcome pack to go to new members to explain what the club is and what the club does. The intention was that the more aspects of the club that
I am pleased to say that the new site functions as it should and looks clean and modern with none of the loggingin, editing and functionality issues that dogged the previous website.
In addition, because the site is built on a well-supported platform, we can easily add extra features, such as the ticket purchasing platform.
I have yet to find the time to optimise the site for the search engines, but it is on my ‘to do’ list
Once the website was sorted, I turned my attention to getting the original club forum back up and running. The forum was running on a very old, unsupported
platform. The task was to get all the data and the databases transferred onto a new, supported platform. We achieved this in May. The forum is a great place to ask questions and find help but unfortunately most people will turn to Facebook for answers these days. Over time I will cleanse the Forum database to ensure that only current paying club members have access.
We created a small social media team and they successfully launched the 2CVGB Official Facebook page and manage it on a daily basis (thanks guys). At present, about 20% of the membership is registered on the page. We are trialling a new style of National this year. We have learned a lot from the exercise – mainly about pricing and accommodation requirements and it looks like it has prompted a few local groups to come forward with proposals for the next couple of years. Registers was well attended, but over 25% of the attendees were non-members. So, at the moment, we don’t seem to be able to host a big event just relying on members alone, regardless of how cheap it is to attend. My personal opinion is that events should be for members (and their families) only or that non-members should pay significantly more to attend our events. The age-old argument that they enjoy the event so much they join the club just isn’t supported by the data. I am hoping to put out a questionnaire to all members later in the year, covering a wide range of topics. The questionnaire will be anonymous so that we get true feedback. The answers will be collated and will help to shape the future direction of the club.
LOCALGROUPS
With approximately 59 groups making up our club I can truthfully say there is never a dull moment and I am really enjoying my position as Local Groups
Rep. I say approximately because although some are listed, they lack a leader. Groups lacking a leader are Bert’s Hill Hoppers, one of our most long standing clubs, plus The Yorkshire Coasters and the Stray Snails. Happily Leicestershire’s Leics Cars Go! are seeking a venue to reform and the Herefordshire “Wye Knots” 2CVs have been reformed by Mark Fox and are now working closely with Gloucester Lemons and Worcestershire W.A.S.P.S, who have also sourced a new leader in Jonathan Clewer, a long standing club member.
We have had another group mooted in Devon and I look forward to hearing Deborah Long’s news. Unfortunately a few groups have struggled, some becoming zoom only and some meeting bi monthly. Membership in each group can range from ten members to 30 or 40.
I have endeavoured to email, meet or talk to all the local groups. I have met a lot of lovely people and learnt a lot about the people who run local groups.
The local group listing in the magazine is as up to date as possible.
I have emailed all the groups to ask for a report as to their present status.
CLUBSHOP
During this last 12 months the club shop has moved from being a limited array of garments held by the club and only being available at a couple of events a year, to being online and available daily to all our members. The new online Club Shop is now up and running with a good range of items
available, all nicely embroidered with the club logo. On many items both the garment colour and the car colour can be chosen by the member to make it a more personalised item. To date the most popular items have been hoodies, fleeces, the new weekender bag and beanie hats. Take a look for yourself at https://logothatpolo.co.uk/store/c2cv/
Moving forward we will be looking to offer local groups the opportunity, if they wish, to be able to order the regalia with their own logo on (assuming you have a suitable one you would like embroidering). There is a small set up fee for creating the pattern but after that you will be able to order anything from the store with your local group logo, for further information contact us at club.shop@2cvgb.com
ADVERTISING
Classified advertising on Noticeboard within the pages of 2CVGB News continues steadily. Cars and other items sold through the pages of our own magazine tend to stay within the club which is surely a good thing. They also seem to generate a good response and result in sales as members often let me know that things went well.
On the trade advertising side, we now have an insurance advertiser who is working with the club to offer really good deals to club members through our own insurance scheme. Peter James Insurance also provide a monthly page of information on the benefits for 2CVGB members.
The other trade advertisers continue to support the club by advertising their products and services in the magazine. On behalf of the club, I would like to thank all of them for their continued support.
2CVGB News goes out every month to the entire membership and the newly revamped website is attracting more traffic than ever before, so if you have (or know of) a business or craft outlet that could benefit from reaching A-Series fans in the UK and abroad, then please contact small.ads@2cvgb. com as the prices are very reasonable.
NON-DESIGNATED
My main role as Non-Des is to organise and run the 2CVGB stand at the NEC in November for the Practical Classic Motor Show and in March the Practical Classics Restoration Show. I work with show organisers so the club has a stand at both shows.
At the November show we had the giant inflatable duck as the centre piece.This worked well at getting interest in the stand.We had a good selection of cars and help from club members to man the stand This helped make the stand a success.
At the Restoration Show we had two cars at different stages of restoration being worked on. This made our stand get attention and a lot of interest. We also had four other cars on display, which made the stand look really good.
I am now working on the November Show at the NEC.
NOTICEBOARD IMPORTANT
NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR LOCAL GROUPS WHO ORGANISE EVENTS
We need to update you about some changes which affect local group events.
In our recent negotiations with our insurers to renew our policy for public liability and event cover, we were told that we needed to extend our risk assessment practice from a national level to a local group level. From now on, we are also required to run training to educate local groups on how this should be done. The training course is less than 15 minutes of your time but will ensure that we remain compliant to our insurers mandate. We have also created a template form for you to complete for any risk assessment. How this should be completed is explained in the training course. Following the renewal of our policy, two groups successfully prepared risk assessments for their events, following the advice given in the training. I have emailed the contacts for upcoming events in August and will do the same for the September events. Ultimately, we hope to make the training available via the members’ area of our website.
If you have any questions about any of this change, please email me at the usual address given on the committee page.
WHAT’S THAT BLUE THING FOR? and other random questions
Having made the decision to swap “tech’ for mech’” I took the leap of faith and bought my A reg LHD Acadaine van at the end of summer of 2022. It had a few “getting to know you” months with me as my day to day vehicle before being handed over to John and Jono at Peak 2CV in Wirksworth to have the paintwork redone and the mechanical/electrical work sorted. 12 months and my life savings later; I was back on the road, gleaming like an (original) new pin but with all my history still evident.
My van was, and is, my one and only vehicle, and if I need to go anywhere, for anything, that’s what I use. These days I put smiles into the miles.
Most recently, my husband and I drove the Acadiane over to France, a matter of over 1717 km or 1066.89 miles, it never put a foot wrong, thanks to a pre-trip full
fettling at Peak 2CV. Driving down to Portsmouth, getting on board the ferry, then onwards through the little villages between St Malo and Caen via my sister’s farm in Oradour St Genest, we attracted a fair amount of local friendly attention and inquisition.
Since owning my low tech dream on wheels, I have been asked some very odd questions, which I suppose is fair enough if you have never had the pleasure of driving, or even being a passenger in one of these inimitable old vehicles.
HEREAREMYTOP10
QUESTIONSASKED
What’s that blue thing for? It’s the gear knob! An original World Meeting 2005 addition!
Isn’t it weird driving on the wrong side?
I don’t drive on the wrong side, I drive on
the correct side like everyone else, it’s just the driving position is on the left and you easily get used to it. In fact to me, it feels better and more natural than driving seated on the right.
Can it go on the motorway? It will keep up a decent 112 kph (70 mph in new money) and as long as you don’t expect to do any nippy overtaking you can use all three lanes.
Why is there a towel in the footwell? It leaks. . . little puddles form when it rains heavily. You get used to it.
Why are the inside door panels hanging off? It’s impossible to get them to fit properly. You get used to it.
Where is the sound system? Pardon? Sorry I can’t hear over the engine. . . . you want music? I’ll sing for you. (it’s pointless
even using Bluetooth on an iPhone) anyway it’s nice to hear the engine tone.. . . and all the little squeaks and chirrups and wheezes and tings!
What’s that bundle of wires? They connect to the lights, horn, dashboard, brakes, wipers and if they come adrift, a bit of duck tape usually sorts it out.
Oh my god!! It wobbles. . . I feel seasick! Of course it wobbles, it’s meant to wobble, thanks to its unique state of the art suspension technology (I can then share the story of the rutted field and the tray of eggs). . . and you get used to it.
Can you turn the heating down/up please? Erm no . . . its either on or off. Adjust your clothing to suit.
Aren’t you SCARED? No. I have absolute faith in this 40 year old vehicle regarding its mechanical fitness, capability, and roadworthiness. It’s down to me to ensure that I keep my hard earned driving wits about me. I take no other road users’ intentions for granted, and give myself plenty of time to pull out, apply brakes, three point turn, hill start, always indicate and remember to switch off after manoeuvring and of course. . . allow plenty of time to chat to those who are interested enough to ask me the inevitable probing questions.
Looking inside the engine bay – scruffy but sound – of my '73 Ami 8, a light bulb came on inside my bonce. On the righthand inner wing is a bracket. Not the one for the wooden chock;that's on the other side. But something like the jerrycan holders fitted to old, military Land Rovers. And, as I suddenly realised, that's kindof what it's for.
It should have a two-litre oil can – or 'bidon' in the argotslotted in there. I have no idea what brand of oil would have been used in UK-delivered cars,
if any but I thought it would be fun to look for a suitable empty can. And blow me down, on eBay.fr there are quite a few 'period', twolitre bidons for sale. So, I looked for one that seemed not too bashed about and that had that evocative French design of the era and this Antar oil can that arrived through the post this morning caught my eye.
Importing classic Citroën parts from France has, as we all know, become difficult and sometimes incredibly difficult for the private buyer, because of Brexit. The previously invaluable French online flea-market, Leboncoin, has made it
almost impossible for those without a French telephone number to make contact with sellers. But I've recently been able to buy quite a few items via eBay France. Perhaps they have made it easier for French sellers to ship to those of us in Old Blighty.
Anyhow, if I go and polish my 'new', jolie, Antar bidon d'huile with the cap unscrewed (yes, I am that sad...) might a Bibendumshaped genie appear through the spout and take me back to the D-roads of France in 1973. No? I'll just have to close my eyes and remember them then…
The Braziers at Registers
My son Charlie and I had a cracking time at the Registers weekend camp and Charlie, aged 7, has been busy over the last few days writing all about his adventure. He's also chosen some of his favourite photos and cars to send with it.
Our friends are not 2cvers but had a fabulous time and loved the friendly and welcoming vibe of the event, certainly a credit to Gary and his team for organising and 2cvGB members for being the welcoming type. They'll certainly come to future camps (albeit in their modern family cars), we even got them into 2cvGB shop to buy clothes and the kids all went home with toy Citroëns.
THEADVENTURES
OFNODDYTHE2CV.
and one by one I told them what the Citroëns were. Our 2cv is not a 2cv, well it is, but no 2cv is painted like that, it’s red and yellow. I personally call it strawberries and lemons. Then it was time to go to bed I had a good night’s sleep and was all chirpy in the morning.
KTH. I played for a while and then we went on a walk into the village, I liked seeing the cars going up and down the hill from the campsite. After that it was the drive out! Remember me talking about a green Méhari? Well we were one car behind it, I was so excited! I LOVED IT!!! I liked seeing the 2cvs bobbing along on their suspension, when we got to Alfred’s Tower we went to the ice cream shed and got some yummy ice cream, even my dog got some dog ice cream, his name’s Jagger. We went into the forest for a nice little walk, when we came out we got into the 2cv and went home to the camp, my friends came in the back and Phoebe wanted the roof down. At the petrol station we put the roof down, Phoebe and Xander loved it a lot with the roof down. Most surprisingly, when we left a petrol station our friend’s mum left her boot open and drove off, we beeped our horn but she couldn’t hear it and a lady had to run out of the petrol station to tell her to pull over so she could shut it. A 2cv horn is very quiet and friendly!
We got home to the tent eventually, after our BBQ dinner we collected some sticks and roasted marshmallows. Once I had my pyjamas on and cleaned my teeth it rained and we had to rush back to the tent. We didn’t need to put out the BBQ as the rain would do it for us.
bought a green 2cvGB badge and my friends and dad bought smart snugly hoodies with 2cvGB on them.
Before we put our car into the registers we had a look round the other Citroëns, I loved seeing all the cars together, it was a
When we first arrived I was amazed by how many Citroëns there were, Méharis, Dyanes, 2cvs and many, many more. A few minutes later we found a cute little space and pitched our tent next to a plums and custard 2cv. After we had pitched the tent I went on a walk with my greatest, best friends, Phoebe and Xander,
As soon as I woke up I had some delicious sizzling bacon in a bun it was so tasty, exactly 100% tasty! After that I went to the flea market and bought two DSs (one was red and one was white), one 2cv, one SM and one H-van! My favourite toys were the DSs, my actual real favourite car at the camp was a light green Méhari C54
On Sunday morning we had breakfast and then I went to the 2cvGB shop and bought a stylish orange t-shirt with a lovely white 2cv on it, one of my friends, Phoebe, bought a pink one with a 2cv. I
rainbow of colour. After that we got back to our tent, put the roof down, stood up on the seats hanging out of the roof and drove off to park our car in the disc brake section. A few minutes later we went to the entrance, got some voting sheets and started voting. First we went to the vans, I chose a nice blue 2cv van and my dad chose the Belgian one that was a very dark green. Then I went to the Acadiane section and chose a light blue one, so did my Dad. My favourite section was the Méhari one with my favourite car in the whole camp in it and I voted for it. Then it chucked it down with rain
and we had to shelter in the tent, it went on for ages and made patterns on the roof of the tent.
That night I got to sit in the light green Méhari, I’ve sent a photo of it to you, the man was so kind to let me sit in it and that was my favourite part of the whole camp.
The next morning I really didn’t want to leave but we had to, we said goodbye to all the 2cvs that were left and we beeped our horn at the green Méhari and its cute husky as we drove home.
I loved the camp, we had such a good time and I never wanted to leave but when we got home I was excited to tell my sister Molly and my mum all about it. I will always want to go to other 2cv camps.
The Sobeys at Registers
We came to Registers staying at a BnB. On Saturday morning the Ami battery was flat. A very helpful host lent us jump leads and Saturday was spent on the site getting help from loads of people and
they managed to fix it. The problem seems to have been slack drive belt, worn alternator and poor connections and tarnished points in the regulator. Moral? Check you have voltage lift when the engine is running and do check your drive belt…
On Sunday we were very pleased to receivethe Ami 6 award! Not possible without such help. The pointis this is not just a club for the cars but what makes it a great club is the friendship and help over many years.
802101 2CV4/2CV6/Dyane4/AZU van FRONT drum brake stainless steel eccentrics (set of 4) £33.50 802102 Dyane6/Ami/AK400/Mehari FRONT drum brake stainless steel eccentrics (set of 4)
Hi Guys! We’ll start off gently with a little bit of local club news from Bill and Gill Harwood of the Surrey Madhatters, who recently attended their hometown summer event with their ripple.
"Staines-upon-Thames Day, is the day the town puts on a festival of fun. Music and dance, charity and societies have stalls, fun fair rides etcare organised all around the town centre. Boat trips are available on the river, the town’s museum hosts activities and has a special display based on the area’s history. Highlights of the afternoon are the charity duck races on the River Colne for adults, children and local
businesses. Last year a classic car display was added to the event,which proved popular. This year, 12 post war cars and a 1940s Morris commercial made up the display, one of which was my 1957 AZLP.
“The cars assembled in the Riverside recreation park on the outskirts of
Bill Harwood’s ’57 AZLP in Staines
Staines, before parading around the town, finally ending up in the pedestrianised High Street. The ripple generated a lot of interest among passersby, particularly with the ‘lack of luxuries on offer’. People were astonished at the rudimentary fuel gauge of the dipstick in the petrol tank, and the relative ineffectiveness of the gearbox driven
windscreen wipers! However, those who sat in the car were pleasantly surprised at the comfort of the seats, with their deckchair like resemblance, supported by rubber rings.
“With the bonnet raised, heads disappeared inside looking for the engine.Nearly everyone was unfamiliar with the flat twin 425cc air cooled engine, which gives a cruising speed of only 47 mph, as well as the importance of the car’s place in motoring history. Perhaps I should have put a tray of eggs on the bonnet! Our car was getting more attention than the modern classics displayed, with such comments as “My Mum had one of those cars.” Some people had even regretted selling them.It proved to be a very enjoyable day and the constant conversation made the day pass quickly, and we’re looking forward to taking part again next year."
Many thanks Bill it sounds like you both had a lovely day out.
Antipodean news now with yet another Slough 2cv coming up for sale in Australia. I don’t have much detail and I can’t, as yet tie it to an existing car on the Slough Register, but the car is said to be a 1954 build. If so, that would make it an SA model, which would originally have had a 375cc engine. Sprayed in a standard Slough colour of Regal Red, it’s clearly an unfinished restoration project. On the plus side, most of its Slough specific parts seem to be present. No asking price is mentioned, and for the moment, that’s about all I know, but enquiries are ongoing and hopefully, I will soon have more information to share.
CLUB
2cvGB events. By the time you all read this, the deadline for confirming the National will have come and gone. Hopefully a positive decision will have been made and we can all look forward to a good meeting. Unfortunately, there have been quite a lot of negative comments about this event on social media, with amongst others, complaints about the cost of tickets and the necessity of pre-booking. Some members have even decided not to attend the event as a result. I think that the committee have made a brave decision, and we should all support them wholeheartedly. Be in no doubt, without
them, there would be no National this year. That would be a great shame and could quite possibly spell the beginning of the end for 2cvGB as a club. Arguably, the main problem is that (with the notable exception of Gary Dicks and his crew) none of the local groups feel that they could organise such an event. Given the ageing population of the club, that’s perhaps understandable. I have been thinking about the problem for some time and have come up with the following suggestion. A permanent site, to be used every year and with the necessary infrastructure could be chosen and booked by the committee. The St Ives site that we have often used would be a likely candidate and would only need very minimal input from the club to book extra loos etc. Then, each local group would be contacted and asked to give a firm commitment of a couple of members who are intending to go to the meeting and who would be prepared to put in a couple of hours or so volunteer duty. I’m sure that on that basis, most members would be prepared to help. That way the load and responsibility does not all fall on the committee or any one local group. What do you think? The future of the club is at stake! That’s it for now Gang. See you next month.
Yet another Aussie Slough for sale
DISC-USSIONS
A very warm welcome to August. It may even be warm, although the way things have been going weatherwise up to the second week of July this year, it might not. I must admit after awakening to the early morning radio news on the 5th, the colours in the garden seemed more vivid, the birdsong sweeter and the sun, when it made a brief appearance, seemed warmer and brighter. Then it started raining again. Never mind, we have some cracking cars this month, let’s get into it.
NEWREGISTRATIONS
a nicely made and reassuringly expensive bit of bling. Condition B, Les says.
First up this month is a very nicely restored green and white 1987 Dolly, D62 ACF, now owned by Fraser and Sharon Liversage who bought “Monique”, as they renamed her, from the only other club members to register her, Richard and Helen Houlston from Cromer. They were the tenth keepers and added her in 2015, having owned the car since July 2014. Before that she was owned by a retired metal worker in Stockton-on-Tees who carried out the eighteen-month fully documented nut and bolt rebuild onto a German galvanised chassis at 97,000 miles. Seeing as that happened at least ten years ago,
she has obviously been extremely well looked after since, because she still looks like new. (above) Richard and Helen, who over the years had owned seven 2cvs between them, scoured the country to find one as good as “The Dolly Roger” and ten years later when Fraser, who had decided he needed a 2cv in his life after a friend got one, also searched for a decent example before this one came to light. He said that it just took a lengthy phone call with Richard to decide this was going to be the right car for them. He wrote, “Sharon and I are thrilled to now be out and about in this quirky and charmingvoiture. As Coco Chanel once said, “Fashion fades, only style remains.”
Monique is very different to some of the classics we’ve owned in the past, but she fully meets the brief of what we want now and we look forward to looking after her for many, many years to come.We’re booked in for the Saturday
B977 AFJ Charleston 1985 Grey/Grey Les Jeans Solihull
E961 OAJ Dolly 1988 Green/White Marie Adams Pontypridd
FNC 487Y Special 1983 Sky Blue Cristine & Peter Caswell Woodhall Spa
A116 BAU Charleston 1983 Yellow/Black Stephen Green Sheffield
of the “National” and we look forward to meeting many owners at the event, let’s all hope for perfect weather!”
Other than the new chassis, Monique has 123 ignition, a high-level LED brake light, a USB charging point and the horrid dim-dip removed. Condition A they say, I think I would agree.
Our second car is new to the register and is a 1985 grey Charleston, B977 AFJ, owned since May 2023 by Les Jeans. (above) He found this car in WestonSuper-Mare and says it is mostly original although had a light restoration a few years ago. It was undersealed from new and he has tried out the Lanoguard underbody protection system that I have seen a lot of advertising for recently. It will be interesting to hear how well it works, Les. The car is named “Mimi” has had a few electrical upgrades and a full set of Robri trims fitted, and no, they are not stone protectors, just
Another new addition in third place is Marie Adams with her green and white 1988 Dolly, E961 OAJ, which she has owned since 2012, She says the car has had six former keepers and the last owner had only had the car for two months before moving it on. He told her that the car had been off the road for at least five years before he acquired it. No pictures of this one, which arrived by post in a real envelope, which doesn’t happen often these days. Condition C and Marie, if you email me a decent picture of your car, I will put her into a later edition of my column.
Our fourth entry is from Christine and Peter Caswell, who bought their latest 2cv, a 1983 blue Spécial, FNC 487Y (below) from Will Waldron at Cambridge 2cv in May. The car replaces their old 1988 green and white Dolly,
F994 LRX, called “Olly” - the register has been altered accordingly, thanks for telling me about it. The Caswells bought a new 2cv in 1987 and have always had one or two of them ever since. “Best car in the world” says Peter, I can’t argue with that. Even their youngest son Philip has the one Peter helped him build from the best bits of two ‘unhappy’ cars and a new chassis twenty years ago. Anyway, the new one is an honest, tidy looking car, Condition B they tell me and it is showing 82,000 miles and had five former keepers.
Lastly, we have a freshly restored and beautiful black and yellow 1983 Charleston, A116 BAU, making a second appearance on the register and now owned by Stephen Green who decided he deserved a decent 50th birthday present. We first heard of this car when Nick Farange of Didcot, the car’s sixth keeper, added her to the register in 1995. He named it “Chex” and when recovered from the barn it had been left in for years and taken to Warminster for restoration, the name could still be seen on the vent flap (top right) of this somewhat individual looking example. No idea why it ended up being abandoned for so long, the last MoT it
had was in 2006. Steve wanted it and after checking with me at the end of last year that it was indeed a genuine black and yellow Charleston, he went ahead and had the 2CV Shop rebuild it for him. I gather he is very pleased with the result, which indeed looks splendid. I believe he is going to write up the story of why and how this came to be for the magazine, so I’ll just add this picture of the car now it is finished. (below) Not surprisingly he rates it Condition A.
UPDATES
John Wallis updated his registration with some more history of the 1985 red Spécial, B632 YUR, he bought in 2019 and uses as his everyday car. Now showing around 83,400 miles, all is well with this pretty Condition B 2cv. He also sent a picture, which being home-printed then posted to me may not look that great in print. I’ve done the best I can with it. (top left) I have to say that if you have taken a picture with either a digital camera or your phone, there really is no need to waste a large amount of toner printing it yourself when you can just email me the full-sized file. It will look so much better in print this way. But thanks for the thought, John. Loraine Jerrard, who added D709 VTW, her Blueberries & Cream Dolly, “Violette” in June; got a picture of it not quite finished into the July edition and has now returned from their holiday to the French National and her husband has added the missing grille to the car he beautifully restored this year. So, as I haven’t many pictures this month, I thought I’d add these two, (top right & above) the second shows just how shiny the Midnight
Blue paintwork is, in the reflection is “Mavis”, who belongs to Chris Jennings the Broadland Ducks organiser, and no Loraine, I don’t think it looks like Violette is pregnant with Mavis, but it does look like Mr Jerrard has some seriously good painting skills.
I also received some photos of a rather pleasant looking grey Charleston owned by Ian Bowden, but for some reason the registration form wasn’t with them and I ran out of time before he got back to me. Sorry Ian you will have to wait until September to see her in the mag.
OTHERSTUFF
No fleet news this month, now they have new batteries, both cars start when I turn the key, I couldn’t ask for more at the moment. Well, some motivation to do anything to Delilah would be handy, as would a new spine, but we can’t have everything we want, can we?
Please keep your registrations coming, email me full-sized pictures as attachments if you want to see your car in these pages. If it’s a lot of pictures, then Dropbox is the best way to go about sending them. May I remind you that my absolute deadline is the 5th of the month for inclusion in the next magazine. If you want it in the September issue then it needs to get here by 5th of August and so on. Any questions, other than about the website, where Dave Crane is your best bet, I can’t be doing with it yet, just drop me a line. Have a lovely summer and enjoy your cars!
FOURGONNE CONCLUSIONS
THEVANS,ALLTHEVANS ANDNOTHINGBUTTHEVANS
Your knees are turning red and a gentle beer buzz is building a mood of mellow relaxation. The kids and the dog are keeping each other entertained, a tasty lentil burger is ready to tease your tastebuds and you’re camped in a field of 2CVs. ‘Sun is in the sky, oh why, oh why would you want to be anywhere else?’ As the song says. You should be in a state of euphoria, but still there’s something not quite right, something that could be better. But what, what could be better? Then you realise. Yes! What could be better is that all the 2CVs could be vans! Of course, why hadn’t you thought of that before? It’s so obvious, if one van is good, lots of vans must be better and nothing but vans must be best. But how
can this dream of a van shaped Utopia be realised? Well puzzle not, our Dutch friend, and for many years 2CVGB member, Walter Woets has the answer, simply hop on a ferry and get yourself to the 2CV van only meeting (no Acadianes) – 25e int. Besteleendenmeetng 27-29 Sept. Camping BoterbloemAdres: Amerongerwetering 23958 MD
Amerongen Pays BasEmail: info@boterbloem. com. Details at - https://forum.2cv.nl/ viewtopic.php?t=17589
Walter’s wife wanted a van (he has a 2CV saloon) and they found their AKS400 ‘Bluebelle’ (left) in Hampshire. Walter says it was the only one he could find in the whole country at the time and luckily it was just twenty miles from their home. The van meeting looks amazing, so many great vans, here are just a few images. (3 to left & 4 to right) Take a look at the website for many more. One that got my attention shows a modification to make AZU camping a little more comfortable. Height in a 250 is limited but raising the roof would spoil its looks. Here’s a solution, lower/remove the floor! (below & top of next page)
BANGONBEERS
So you’ve made it to the perfect van meeting, now you need a perfect van beer. Yes there is such a thing, thanks to our friends at the Bang On Brewery you can have your very own
customised beer. (below) Send them a picture of your car, pay some money and there you are. Christmas sorted. Take a look at www.bangonbrewery.beer
NEWREGISTRATIONS
Patrick Aldridge has an Acadiane. (both above) A62
OEL is now named Henri and arrived early in May to join his 2CV6 Spécial B616 NAJ, Mariane, which he restored over lockdown. Having had a better look at the van Patrick has decided to do a bit of a restoration which will involve taking the body off the chassis.
Little is known about Henri but the log book shows he was registered in the UK in 1995 with a note to say year of manufacture 1984. Luckily Henri still has his stamp ‘2384’ on the bulkhead. (top left of next page) Lucy Cutler kindly interpreted this as meaning that Henry was built on 20th May 1983. Good news as it means Henri is already entitled to ‘Historic’ status. There’s no real code to interpret with these numbers, they just started numbering on a certain day. If your
van has one don’t paint over it, it’s like a birth certificate.
HOMENEWS-ATALEOFTWOVANS
There have been recent mentions in this magazine of VW campervans so as 2CV van stories are in short supply this month let’s compare the VW and the HY. I share a 1975 VW with my daughter Hannah. It’s been in the family for years and I’ve had a lot of fun with it but somehow have never actually used it to camp because all my camping is done at 2CV camps or else on backpacking trips.
My HY was a 1981 totally original empty van that I fitted out for the French World Meeting in 2011. Fittings were basic, a seating/bed arrangement, cooker and some curtains. The VW is a professional ‘Devon’ conversion much better equipped with a proper ‘rock and roll’ rear seat/bed and a sink with plumbing, a gas cooker, electric hook up and diesel powered heater.
The two types originated around the same time, the HY announced in 1946 and the ‘VW ‘Bulle’ (bulldog) becoming available from 1950, with its evolution going back to 1946, and the camper followed in 1951. So how do they compare?
The HY has a 1911cc four cylinder water cooled petrol engine which
sits between the front seats. Noisy but conveniently comfortable if you need to work on it in the rain. Other items are accessible under the easily removed floor panels. The VW has a 1600cc four cylinder air cooled petrol engine with twin carburettors. It’s a VW Heritage replacement engine and looks pretty but on the road it’s just as sedate as the HY. It’s at the rear end so you have unrestricted room for your legs but it takes up what would otherwise be boot space and its position makes it more awkward than the HY, rather like working inside a cupboard. (below) It also has an automatic fire extinguishing system, bit worrying that such a thing is thought necessary. You’d soon know if the HY engine was ablaze and you could make a quick exit facilitated by the suicide doors. Both have rather poor gearchanges. The HY gear lever is positive with gears easy to locate but top gear is located almost behind you and can cause an aching shoulder. Fortunately you need 1st and 2nd only to get moving and 3rd covers most of the speed range. The VW is more conventional and four speed but with a linkage of around 10ft it’s rather vague
and the gears sometimes don’t seem to be where you left them.
The VW has a pop up roof with an opening vent that gives the interior a light and jolly holiday atmosphere. The HY is taller and has a lower floor so doesn’t need one. It’s much darker inside but very trustworthy in a storm. I once camped in it when the weather was so atrocious that it was featured on an extreme weather TV programme. Nothing bad happened apart from a bit of rocking. The VW roof might well have blown away. The HY seems bigger on the inside than it is outside. Plenty of room to walk around in it, wide and bulky but actually shorter than many everyday cars. The VW is long and narrow so cornering is reminiscent of negotiating a canal bend in a narrow boat, you need to almost drive past the corner and then pivot in to avoid cutting across. They both struggle with hills and headwinds and any manoeuvres require forward planning. That may sound like both are undesirable but actually the opposite is true. They’re both characterful and joyful to have. They need a certain amount of patience and effort to use but they reward you with a memorable and very enjoyable driving experience and like the 2CV they attract nice people to talk to you. They’ve both become expensive to buy but they hold their price or increase in value so if you eventually sell them you should get
all your money back. Looked at from that perspective they are effectively free. If you live in a normal suburban type road then I guess the VW would probably be more welcomed by neighbours but in my opinion the standard wheelbase HY is one of the best looking vehicles ever made. Everything about it is visually just right or else just wrong in a way that makes you laugh, from its epic snout to its shed like rear and what other vehicle has a full size drawer in the dash? Here’s my old one (top left) long gone but to a good home and with current owners Rob and Dal it won Best H van at last year’s Registers Day. And here’s the VW (top right) keeping the AZU company at a local show. Climb aboard the VW and you’re instantly in holiday mode, in the HY you can almost smell the coffee and garlic and see the avenues of plane trees stretching out ahead. Daydreams aside, the VW is easier to maintain with fewer special tools and knowledge required and spares and upgrades are readily available. They’re also right hand drive and have more transparent bits to see out of. HY ownership needs more effort but really does give a memorable ‘times gone by’ experience and it’s also much more useful as a van. See you at the National!
MÉHARI MISSIVE
Greetings to you all. It’s August in the magazine time zone, but it’s early July in reality. The weather is grim again, the European Cup football semi-finals are on and we now have a Labour Government.
REGISTERSDAY2024. EPISODE2;THERETURN
You may remember from last month that, having driven Rufus the Méhari to Registers on the Saturday, the forecast for Registers Day, the Sunday, was for rain, so I went with Michael Warwick in his Ami 8 Break. You may also remember that the passenger winding window had failed when I opened it and the glass had dropped into the door.
Registers Day was great. Everyone seemed to have a good time. There were a very welcome number of Méharis, good people to talk to and Register winners to announce. Time flew, coffee was drunk, chatting was had. Towards the end, the forecast rains did come. It rained heavily, for about 30 minutes, but then it passed and brightened up again. It was only when it was time for us to go home that I realised that I hadn’t shut the passenger door window. . . It was facing the prevailing wind and so much rain had got in that it was standing in a puddle on the seat.
I put my coat on the seat for the journey home, but we’d not even left the site before my underpants were wet. I also realised that I had something in my left eye, which was really painful. . .
Mike had decided to drive back via Bradford on Avon. Just before we turned off the A36 Bath Road onto the A361, it started to rain again. Mike turned the wipers on and the one on his side immediately decided that it was bored with wiping the screen. It wanted to wipe the bonnet instead.
Some of you may remember the September 2014 issue of the Méhari Missive, written by the much missed Colin Jenkins. Colin wrote that, in August, 10 years ago, I was on the way home from Registers at St. Ives, when Rufus’ wipers ‘cammed over’ during a rain storm on the A14, just before the M6. History was repeating itself and the same thing had happened to the Ami. It seems to be me. Sorry Mike. Anyway, we stopped. Mike got his tools and we took the dashboard off. The wiper cam and spindle had rotated by 180 degrees. We took the mechanism apart, corrected it and tried again, to no avail, so we took the wiper off and set off towards home again.
Now, picture the scene. I was holding the passenger window up with my arm, I was in pain with what turned out to be an eyelash poking me in the eye whenever I blinked and I was sitting in wet trousers and underpants. All I could do to help Mike was to turn the passenger wiper on and off, so that he could at least see the kerb, whilst straining to focus on the road ahead through the rain on the screen in front of him.
Thankfully, eventually, the rain stopped. We stopped at Pennsylvania Garage, on the A46, where I was finally able to correct the eyelash. By now, Mike could see the road, and we were back on the way home, so I was no longer aware of my wet clothing. Once we reached the M4, most was well with the world again.
I was able to stop wishing I’d brought the Méhari after all. . .
MÉHARINEWS
John Stenhouse. John has very kindly sent me an article. John wrote: “My Méhari has been at my house near Mirepoix, in the Ariège Department of
Southern France this year. The car has needed a couple of jobs doing to it. One, long standing issue has been with the carburettor. It’s needed a touch of choke to get it running right. I’ve been able to solve it, at last, with a better carburettor. It was pre set up by Rick Pembro, so all I had to do was fit it. Job done and it runs miles better. It turns out that the old one had no accelerator pump.
“The other issue was a rear light. It was new when the car was rebuilt, but the internal base of the light has been rotating in use, so the lights would stop working. I would have to take the lamp apart, turn the base back to where it was supposed to be and it would work for a couple of weeks, then fail again. In the end, I have now fitted Land Rover LED rear lights which were easy to mount, they're the same size and have fixed the problem perfectly.
“So, with the Méhari freshly fettled and with my Renault minibus in for a wheel bearing replacement at the local garage, the wife suggested we do a bit of Méhari travelling. I quickly did an oil change and greased up (the car) and we left a damp Mirepoix and headed down the valley to Perpignan and over the border into Spain.
First stop was just after the Axat Gorge, for a spot of lunch.
Right: Méhari ‘OBU’ in the Gorges de Saint Georges, Axat
“Our lay-by was next to
the Red Train track. The Red Train is a tourist train that comes up the same valley we were going down. As the train passed, they gave us a cheery wave.
Above: The Red Train (Train du Pays Cathare et du Fenouilledes) and a Green Méhari
through Banyuls sur Mer, to Cerbère and on into Spain. “Collioure is a very pretty old fishing village, now famous for selling anchovies and souvenirs to tourists. The castle was built by the King of Majorca, who also owned the Earldom of Montpellier and Cerdanya. This chap was itinerant, staying in Palma de Majorca, Collioure, Perpignan or Maguelonne near Montpellier. It must be nice to have so many castles to choose from.
Above: Cerbère Swimming
“The day we travelled was the second round of the French elections. We could see the polling station across the road. The train yards at Cerbère are huge. It's the changeover from SNCF to Renfe, French to Spanish railways. A lot of freight goes through the rail tunnel under the border; including Renault vehicles from France to Spain and Seat vehicles from Spain to France.
“Tea and sandwiches finished, we trundled on, passing a Porsche club meeting, who also gave us a wave. We met some other classics, including a beautiful SM, just before entering Saint Paul de Fenonouillet. This is where we saw our first of two Méharis on this trip. It was a beige one, which was parked by the side of the road, with no one in attendance.
“We passed through Perpignan with very little hold up and arrived at our favourite piece of coast. The D914 road runs from Argelès sur Mer, detours on to the D114 through Collioure and Port Vendres, then back onto the D914,
Above: Collioure
“Cerbère is the last town in France. We stop here frequently for a swim, as the water is flat calm inside the harbour, and the water is incredibly clear. They have set up a floating dock complete with a diving board, which is fun.
“Leaving France and entering Spain, we passed our second Méhari, a green one near Llanca. We had a lovely toot and wave from both driver and passenger.
Above: Cerbère Railyards
Below: Bienvenida a España
Above: Cerbère, the Seafront
Llanca, it's just 20km to Roses. Roses is a seaside town, famous for its beach and also the citadel, which has been there since the fourth century BC. It’s one of the most visited tourist places in Catalonia.
“We had a lovely trip. The little car ran really well, with no issues. The weather improved the farther down the valley we went; it was a little cloudy by the time we got to Axat,it was sunny by Perpignan and a balmy 27ºC in Roses in the evening, where we sat on the balcony of our apartment, overlooking the Méhari, having just had tapas in a restaurant in the town. We strolled back down the front, watching people learning to Salsa in Boxtes square.
“If you are wondering, ‘Boxtes’ is the Catalunyan name for ‘Boules’, which, like the Méhari (and us, I guess), is another
export from France.”
Thanks for writing about your trip, John. That coast looks like perfect Méhari territory.
Rufus. I bought Rufus in September, 2013. He came to me with a very special, right hand rear wheel. It’s a 15” steel wheel, with a fully domed centre, with no hole in it.
Above: Rufus in 2013, with one domed, hole less wheel
The more conventional steel wheels have a flat centre, with embossed writing around a square hole, in which a cage nut fits, for the stainless steel enjoliveur (hubcap) bolt to fit in.
The thing is, after the original eight, Series 0, launch day Méharis were introduced to the press in Deauville on 16 May 1968, I’m pretty sure that Méharis were never sold with enjoliveurs. The ‘solution’ to the centre hole is a badly fitting, grey plastic wimwom that pops into the hole and rattles. I’ve always wanted Rufus to have fully domed centred wheels with no central holes.
I soon discovered that there is an iteration of steel wheels that have the fully domed centre, but have the square hole. I’ve been collecting them.
I finally found four of these and had the
centre holes welded shut. I carefully filed and, sculpted the welds and sent them of for blasting and painting.
I can’t tell you how delighted I am with the finished product. Fully domed wheels, with no centre holes, long wheel nuts (even though they’re a bit rusty) and Michelin X M+S 89 tyres are, I think, a joy to behold.
Above: Rufus in 2024, now with five, domed, hole less wheels
Joolz Smith. Joolz has a Méhari Azur. He’s kindly sent me an article about Méhari doortops.
In my opinion, Méhari doortops are one of the weak links in the overall design. Some may say that the original, Series 1 production car came without doors, but had a chain across the ‘door hole’, presumably for side impact protection.
Anyway, the Series 2 cars had an ABS half door, with a slam lock. To fill the remainder of the door aperture, soft doortops could be added with the hood frame and soft top roof, sides and rear panels to gain some level of water resistance. The Heath Robinson, sketchy nature of the connection between door bottoms and door tops means that the doortops always flap. Right by your ear. . .
I’ll let Joolz take over: “I find that the lift-off door tops flap about at any speed. The top rear corners constantly slap and bang against the 'B post'.
“My solution is for the ‘Azur’ hood frame, but should be adaptable to others.
“I used a punch to make a neat hole in the door top canvas, inboard of the internal metal rod frame. This prevents stress on the stitching. You could add a reinforcing grommet of some kind, but I've not found it necessary.
“I then used a lorry or scaffolding tarp elastic. I think they’re often called ‘ball bungees’. Essentially It’s just a loop of elastic terminating in a plastic ball. The knot in the elastic hides in a hollow in the ball. They’re available online for pennies, or you could just make your own, possibly with a motif instead of the ball.
“Anyway, I found it easy to undo the knot inside the ball and poke the two free ends through the hole, from the inside. Then I threaded them through a stainless penny washer, to further protect the canvas and re-tied the knot.
Above: Roses, the Citadel [Photo 09 Caption]Masayo at Roses
“The elastic loops can be hooked onto something suitable in the interior, et voila. In my case the Azur frame has some internal projections that are perfect for this. But other sticky-out things may be available. If not, plastic hood elastic hooks could be riveted onto the inside of the ‘B’ posts or on the crossbar.
“To make it easier to hook up or release the loops, I've added 'zip pulls', which are sold to loop onto zip fasteners to make them easier to use. Again, these cost pennies online, or fashion your own. That's it.”
Below: Joolz’ Ball bungee Restraints, Inside View
Thanks for the idea, Joolz. I tend to drive Rufus with my homemade windcheaters, rather than doortops, but I occasionally add doortops and they really do flap. . .
I recently received a delivery from Rod, the local postman. It was a small packet. Inside, was a Father’s Day present from Myfanwy, my daughter. It had taken a while to wend its way from Germany. It’s a Méhari biscuit cutter! It came with a note, which read ‘Caru ti Pappy!!
Myfanwy’. ‘Caru ti’ is Welsh for ‘Love you’. We will be making Méhari biscuits.Thank you, my lovely. What a great surprise.
Above: Myfanwy’s Méhari Biscuit Cutter
Next month’s Méhari Missive will be my 100th. How the devil did that happen? I will do my best to write a good one. . .
See you next month.
A bientôt. . .
MODIFIED AND CONVERTED
Hello all. As I built and run around in a Lomax 223 I was asked, as there was a vacancy for the MODCON Registrar, would I like to have a go, and I replied positively even though I’m new to 2CVGB and have lots to learn.
First let me thank the previous MODCON Registrars and if they want to pass on any hints and tips please do.
Some of you may have seen me and the Lomax 223 as I recently attended the Register Day at Martha’s Down, but photo attached for those who have not.
Building my Lomax 223 (over five years and three countries) was a great learning experience, working with suppliers and helpful people. Registers’ Day
provided many MODCON examples including the useful coffee van.
So as I go on this MODCON Register journey I look forward to any articles you can send so I can continue to learn about MODCONs and share with the 2CVGB club.
HY THERE!
It is a shame that I could not make Registers Day, but thanks to the help of both Mike Good and Lucy Cutler, I can report that there were at least two H vans present, the winning green van, we think, belongs to Colin and Ruth Hughes from Dorset, and a yellow example belonging to John Rowe from Devon. Pictures of both vans are included. The yellow van is clearly an example originally built in Holland and is fully fitted out as a camper, the green French-built example is a lovely very early van, split screen and very sound. Assuming that I have the owners listed correctly, perhaps you could both write to me and let me know a little more about your vehicles and what your ownership history is? It would certainly be nice to hear from someone!
It is sad, though that so few H vans appeared on the day; we know that there are a huge number of H vans in the UK, but where are they? Are they not members? Perhaps 99% of H vans are
now trade vehicles and are not owned by enthusiasts. So, a couple of events where I will definitely be with one or other of my vans coming up soon; Capel (Surrey) Classic Car Show on Saturday 17th August - this show always attracts around 700 classics of all sorts but also always has an excellent Citroën presence, an excellent day out if you do not live too far away, but you must enter if you want to show your vehicle. Brooklands Classic Car Day on
28th August - if you have never been to Brooklands, there is an awful lot to see with all the car and bus museum exhibits and all the aeroplanes, many of which you can go inside, including Concorde! No need to book in advance, but there is an entry fee.
The third picture shows my 1960 long wheel base H van at Goodwood Revival on the Lavant Bank last year - we will be there again this year on
Saturday 7th September; do please come and say hello if you are there. There are always a number of catering H vans at Goodwood, but rarely any non trade in the car parks. Unfortunately this event gets very crowded, but if you have never been, it really is worth a visit, even if you only ever do it once, as there is so much to see and do. One day is never enough to see everything. My wife and daughter are not really interested in the
racing, but they love to see everyone (well, most people) dressed up in fashion of the period, and there is plenty of shopping for them to do as well as there are a number of period fashion shops along with dancing, food, drink.....you name it! Just don't drink too much champagne because it is about £95 per bottle!
My other long wheel base H van, picture four, is finally running, driving and braking - yes, it can now be driven on the road, at last. The last job was to get the brakes piped up - new brakes had been fitted before I bought it in the South of France, but one of the many tasks that they had not completed was piping it all up. Once piped up, we then discovered
that the master cylinder had failed, and as this is a late (1979) van, it has the twin circuit master cylinder which is expensive! Luckily Citroën Classics had one in stock.
Yesterday my wife and I met our daughter at the totally redeveloped
Battersea Power Station in London for lunch - an amazing development but filled with very expensive shops and slightly bizarre restaurants. We were there courtesy of Goodwood for the IWC Lewis Hamilton temporary exhibition, where the watches were fabulous but, sadly, too good for my arm! But, no surprise to see amongst all the shops two H vans, one pink and one orange but both selling coffee. Both were very nicely painted and looked very smart. A picture of the orange van is attached. If anyone is on the lookout for a cheap starter H van, either standard length or long wheel base, I know of two camper versions that are available at very sensible
prices. Contact me for details. There are currently a number of food H vans for sale, but campers seem scarce and, of course, an H van lends itself to becoming a camper far better than a VW - more headroom, no engine at the back, lower floor and so on. When I had my company selling H vans, it was amazing how easy it was to convert potential VW camper buyers into H van camper buyers! Sadly, once again, I have to report that nothing has been forthcoming, in terms of emails/news/pictures from H van owners - I offered to look after this column because I assumed that there still were some H van enthusiasts/owners in the club, but maybe there are not? I will soldier on for a bit, but not forever.......please tell me what you are up to with your vans and send me some pictures.
BIJOU
THEUPSANDDOWNSOFCAR RESTORATION,EPISODE1
I’ve had some funny cars in my car ownership years and one day I went and bought a Citroën Bijou.
I had a couple of 2CVs so was familiar with the mechanics. As I got started in renovating the car it became clear that it needed this and it needed that.
The chassis was corroded and twisted which then meant a total dismantle.
Parts, well I just might as well have bought a spaceship!
Final picture this month is another lovely period shot of a chaotic Paris traffic scene, back in the period that I first experienced and loved so much - a simpler life!
Were the windshield wipers 2cv, mini or Moggy Minor? What interior mirror did the Bijou have and is this level of detail really necessary for a collaboration car that amounts to a cobble of bits from two or more companies? Incidentally the Triumph Acclaim is also a collaboration car with limited parts available which tend to be pricey.
Going back to the Bijou; Were the bumpers made uniquely for a Bijou or borrowed from another British car that was conveniently around at the time?
Where did the front screen and rear window come from?
There is probably someone, somewhere with boxes of unused parts used to create the Bijou in a lock up somewhere in in Slough.
Episode 2 to be scratched out with a bony finger next time.
A 1960 steel chassis was acquired from the Paris, not modern. The farmer’s galvanised gate type which is good for a more modern 2cv but for me seems out of place coupled to an older 2cv based car . . .we have the skeleton now, it’s alive!
Festival season is in full swing in the UK; Glastonbury has come and gone, Rewind will be underway roughly when this magazine hits your doormat and Reading festival is only a few weeks after that. If you venture onto Ticketmaster there seems to be so many to choose from, located all over the UK, bringing you folk, americana, rock and much, much more.
As part of my big birthday celebration, we made it to Glastonbury this year. Our very own Jonjon Shelley has been no less than ten times, so was happy to share a tome full of tips and tricks, all of which came in very handy. For example, wellies are out and walking boots are in. Showers are out and staying smelly is considered socially acceptable. Don’t even bother packing a kettle because it isn’t worth it; there are food and drink
REALALEONORDER
At the time of writing, we are eagerly awaiting more bookings for our National at the end of August, and wonderfully the event is set to run as we have a good number of folks who have signed up so far. Thank you to everyone who has supported this experiment. What we have discovered is that the needs and preferences of some members in our club have either changed over time or have never been met at all. I don’t know in
What’s Cooking?
choices galore. There was so much to see and experience, it wasn’t possible to take it all in, but I am happy to report that I did stumble upon a 2CV while we were mooching about at the Carhenge installation, set up by artist Joe Rush of the Mutoid Waste Company. As the name suggests, the giant sculpture is modelled on Stonehenge and each lintel, and I quote*, ‘plays [sic] tribute to an iconic pillar or counterculture, a culture liberated from conformism and consumerism’. I would agree with the statement when thinking about my childhood experience of growing up with 2CVs, but now, just like Glastonbury itself, things have changed and evolved, and in some ways only echoes of the original ethos remain. But that’s enough philosophy for this month so let’s turn our attention to our own club events.
which camp you might sit, but it bothers me that in a club as large as ours we have not catered for more diverse tastes before now. I have heard opinions from many of you stating why you think a mixed camping/bricks and mortar event is a good idea or a bad one, but, equally, why can’t we do both? It has certainly opened the dialogue, especially from the sizeable minority who would like to occupy the rooms on-site. Whatever happens in the future, we must remember that the
rooms have been popular, with a number of members really concerned not to miss out. There have been several suggestions, two of which have been mentioned by more than one person; 1) if we had one national event a year, instead of two, that might resolve the problem of having a lack of volunteers and 2) if we do stick with two national events a year, why not flip the model for one of them? That is to say, Registers Day could be a hotelstyle event with those preferring to camp finding their own camp sites in the vicinity, coming on-site to join the event during the day. (Instead of the main event being camping, and those staying off-site having to find a hotel.) If we flipped the model for Registers Day, that would give us room to leave the National as a camping and more festival-style event.
There have been some good questions coming in about the National, including about the sale of real ale. When we asked the college what they could do, they responded by saying they could certainly put some different real ales behind the bar to choose from. We were also asked about the choice of film for the outdoor cinema experience, and we are open to suggestions for this, although we would suggest that it might be family friendly with an appropriate rating, so as to appeal to the wider group. Answers on a postcard please, or rather, to the usual email address.
ATRIFLINGTIME
As you might have guessed, a big birthday always gives me permission to go out and stuff my face, which I did in Birmingham last weekend with my good friend Kate. We dined out at The Ivy, ordering three
starters and four desserts between us, as well as our mains, all washed down with Veuve Clicquot and Whispering Angel rosé wine, with a coffee to finish. I have to say, I am really partial to an English trifle, and the elderflower and strawberry one on offer did not disappoint. Trifles are quite a fascinating quirk of the English kitchen as I well know, since I even possess a book on its history, but more on that another time.
At Glastonbury, (where I spent my actual birthday) I can honestly say that one of the big plusses of the event was the variety of the cuisine on offer and that you could eat healthily, which was a pleasant surprise. It wasn’t just all burgers and chips. On the subject of my birthday, some of my fellow revellers said they couldn’t believe my age, and I don’t think they were just being polite, a few even enquiring after my skincare routine. To which I replied ‘skincare routine? I don’t walk past a cake shop without going in!’
