Can you recall what you were doing in October 1975? Paul and Joan Gannon were shopping for a new car!
They had been married for about 18 months and had scrimped and saved, (do you remember when people used to do that), to fund a replacement car for their rather dilapidated, (read, “completely knackered”), Triumph Herald Estate. They like things that are a bit unusual and out of the ordinary so on a very cold and foggy day in the New Year, with snow covering the steep cobbled streets, they drove away from Oldham Citroen Garage in a brand new 2cv.
The purchase at £1249 99 did not quite empty their bank account, as the salesman, Steve, refused to sell the car unless they took out a £200 hire purchase agreement ! (This was the first and only time they had a HP contract…… how times have changed).
The car was a bright red “2cv Special” powered by a two cylinder air cooled engine of a “massive” 602cc capacity. All the usual 2cv features were included, such as the legendary soft suspension, convertible soft top and removable seating, but unusually it had rectangular headlights. Over the next 3 years Paul and Joan used the car as a daily driver, commuting from Bury into Manchester, and touring all over the North of England. They even ventured down the M6/M1 to the South East on several occasions with round trips of over 500 miles without a single problem. Picnics on the beach became a speciality, no need to hire deckchairs, they simply took the seats out of the 2cv. They reluctantly sold it back to Oldham Citroen (for a profit at £1400) when a change of job brought a company car, a Ford Fiesta GT, into their lives.
Fast forward 35 years….. Paul and Joan had retired to Cyprus and decided they wanted to recapture some of the motoring joys of earlier days. After years of searching they found the car of their dreams, another Citroen 2cv Special, and, it is PCVC`s Classic of the Month for October. This had been the subject of a full nut and bolt restoration, including a galvanised chassis and rebuilt engine. In addition, it had been painted and fitted out as a “Beachcomber” evocation, which is one of the most attractive of all the 2cv special editions that Citroen produced.
See the “Beachcomber” and lots of other wonderful Classic Vehicles at PCVC`s meetings and events, details of which can be found on our Facebook page, or our Website (www.paphosclassicvehicleclub.com), or telephone 97760997.
