The Citroën 2CV was designed to bring affordable motoring to rural communities in France, but during a production run that spanned more than four decades it achieved far more than that. When already 25 years old, it presented an affordable solution to increasing fuel costs after the first Oil Crisis, and gained a legion of new devotees as a result. To help maintain its sales in this era, Citroën created a number of colourful special editions, which in some cases were specific to just one country, and in others differed between one country and the next.

Along the way, the 2CV also became the foundation for a whole family of other small Citroëns, which were known collectively as the A-series models. The Ami, the Dyane and the Méhari provided simple and affordable passenger transport, and both these and the 2CV itself were further developed to provide light commercial vehicles as well. Meanwhile, licensed overseas assembly plants developed their own derivatives, which added further colour and interest to the 2CV story.

There were far more varieties of these cheap and cheerful Citroëns than most people realise, and this book aims to catalogue them in an easily accessible format. It begins with an examination of the 2CV’s origins in the 1930s and then follows the evolution of the production cars before going on to look at the Ami, Dyane and Méhari models, in every case detailing the multiple special editions as well as the mainstream types. There are special chapters on the commercial derivatives, on the less well-known variants that were built in Europe, and on those created far from the car’s French home. The book closes with a look at the aftermarket conversions and accessories that became an important part of the 2CV story from the earliest times.