Watch this BBC video about a Bradford company that rebuilds Citroen 2CV French classic.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1 The CV2 was designed for glamorous people.
2 In 1990, one company in Bradford decided to keep the CV2 going.
3 There’s more demand for 2CVs than Citröen Dolly can keep up with.
4 When Citröen Dolly started refurbishing 2CVs the other car dealers ridiculed them.
5 Citröen Dolly has orders for the next six years.
6 The H van was developed around the same time as the 2CV.
7 The H van can be adapted to meet the buyer’s taste.
8 The H van costs around €13,000.
The car unveiled to the world in 1948 with probably one of the more unusual design briefs to be driven across a ploughed field by a French farmer taking his eggs to market. But it became a design classic eventually. The flying dustbin, the upside down perambulator, tin snail, none of them particularly complimentary but I think it’s fair to say that the world was smitten when it came to the 2CV. However, they had to say au revoir to them in 1990, but one company in Bradford have made it their mission to keep the love affair going.
2CV City builds and refurbishes the Citröen Dolly, and in fact it’s so busy it can’t keep up with demand. And one of its biggest customers, the French. Next week in one shipment alone it will send 30 chassis across the Channel, but they haven’t always been so popular.
No, I liken them to my mate, love them or hate them. When I first started in the business I was basically ridiculed by all the major motor traders for doing them. Now the tables have turned a bit, really and they’re all saying, you were very lucky to get into that in the first place. But it wasn’t luck. I just worked at it for a long time. For three, four years we’ve become more focused on the job with the new premises and everything else, and business is going extremely well, with probably turnovers of by probably 40%. We’re very busy with the 2CVs, you know, we’ve got orders to fulfill the books for the next six months really.
And it’s not just the 2CV that Tony is struggling to keep up with demand for. It’s another quirky-looking vehicle the H van. Designed in the late 1940s like the 2CV, the quirky H vans are used increasingly by fancy food stalls. Just perfect for those who want to stand out from the crowd.
It was to look at a van that would fit sort of my brand mate. I tossed him what I wanted to present to people and the French, the French H van, provided the perfect thing for that, so, yeah, it’s completely “accesorizable” in terms of you give it your own personality and things to reflect your business and what you are doing, now that’s part of the fun really. It suits the person’s identity.
But before you get too excited about taking a drive down memory lane, you might need to start saving. The H vans cost around £13,000 and the Dolly I was driving today, 10½, or 10 for cash. Well, the company says they’re on course to break all of their profit records. I guess we’ll just have to wait 2CV if that happens. Sorry!
Key:
1F 2F 3T 4T 5F 6T 7T 8F
