Tiny Rig from Belgium

[jacqueg]

Seen along the Columbia River - 

Citroen, made in 1948

French guy and his sweetie. Picked it up in Belgium, traveled through Germany, Spain, and Senegal, then drove it to France where they embarked for the southern tip of South America. Drove it up the west coast, heading for Barrow, thence to New York, where they will catch the boat back to France. The DC you can see on one of the rear doors stands for Deux Chevaux. Goes about 50 mph. That trailer probably holds a whole two suitcases. I asked him what he does for parts. He laughed and said it doesn't break down, but if it did, there is an international network of people he can call upon.

This is my first attempt at uploading photos, so this will be a new experience for all of us. 

 

[bullfrog]

It's beyond belief that it made it, as replacement quality parts are hard to find for most old cars. He must be a very lucky person. Most people can not even keep a Volkswagen bug on the road even with the simple design and huge number made!

 

[ckelly78z]

Wow, what an epic journey, and sheer determination to succeed. It takes guts to hit the open road in one's own country, let alone circling the globe in a 70 year old truck...Wow !

 

[MrNoodly]

More details about the Citroën 2CV, including the fact the van variants are called fourgonnettes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroën_2CV

 

[user 423]

Drove it up the west coast, heading for Barrow, thence to New York...

Geez. I wonder what roads they took?   If it tops out at 50mph that would be one helluva white-knuckle experience.

 

[B and C]

I don't think 50 is as near white knuckle as 90. I drove to Alaska two years ago. Going through northern Canada there is a lot of frost heaves and they can do a lot of damage even at 45. Ask me how I know.

 

[jacqueg]

Geez. I wonder what roads they took?   If it tops out at 50mph that would be one helluva white-knuckle experience.

No clue. He was very polite, but clearly didn't want to get into a lengthy discussion. 

I saw him a little while later on the highway, and although he was in the right lane, he had no trouble keeping up with traffic. I'll bet any steep grades slowed him down though!

 

[jacqueg]

More details about the Citroën 2CV, including the fact the van variants are called fourgonnettes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroën_2CV

Thanks, very interesting context.

About the repair issue - I started wondering whether the thing was so simple that you could just take your broken part into a machine shop and have it replicated.

 

[AeroNautiCal]

These are superbly comfortable and nice to drive whilst getting 50+ mpg.

These are really simple and hugely reliable with a little aircooled flat twin engine.

The shock absorbers lie horizontally along the chassis.

A guy that wrecked the car version of this in a desert converted it to a two wheel motorcycle and rode himself to safety before his water ran out!

As you can probably tell, I love them!