Techno Classica Essen March 26 - 30 2008.

VIP, Preview day March 26.

20th TECHNO-CLASSICA ESSEN from 26 to 30 March 2008:
The Classic Fair of the Superlatives

Citroën

What the "Beetle" is for the Germans, "The Duck" is for the French: the legendary 2 CV, with 3,872,583 exemplars produced between 1948 and 1990, is more than just a car. It represents the pure French attitude to life. This year the mobile French national sanctum celebrates its 60th birthday - and on this occasion, Citroën Deutschland brings a splendid specimen of the "Tin Snail" or "Dolly" to Essen from the Citroën museum in Paris. When this publication went to press it was not available to us if it is a red 2 CV from the final production of the French plant Levallois near Paris or if the grey 2 CV 6 Charleston with the chassis number VF7AZKA00KA376002 will come to Essen to the TECHNO-CLASSICA. This car is the last "Dolly" produced on 27 July 1990 in the Portugese Mangualde plant.

It is for sure however that also this year Citroën Deutschland will arrange the large exhibition stand under the logo of the twin-angle again in cooperation with the German Citroën clubs. These are traditionally good for a successful and entertaining surprise, which is revealed only shortly before or at the opening of the classic world fair. There is no lack of topics for automotive Citroën special shows: after all, the Citroën 15 CV Six is celebrating its 70th birthday in the year 2008 and the all-terrain 2 CV and Dyane derivative Méhari (French for dromedary) will be 40 years of age.

For this purpose lots of interesting information is offered around the issue of Citroën. Enthusiasts can for example get information on the origination of the German nickname "The Duck" for the 2 CV: Already in 1948 a Dutch journalist is said to have exclaimed "ugly duckling!" when he initially saw the 2 CV - probably thinking of the fairy tale of the same name Hans Christian Andersen. In France the 2 CV never had the nickname "canard". Instead of the "deux cheveaux", many French people instead used the abbreviated "deuche" or "la deuche" - which even was adapted as an own term in renowned dictionaries.

By the way: as usual for motorcyclists and drivers of vintage cars, drivers of the 2 CV are greeting each other in road traffic - ever since production was launched. However, as a principle, drivers of the Charleston-type 2 CV's were not greeted, as these models were deemed to be rather "burgeois" vehicles to many owners of 2 CV's, when the cars appeared in the nineteen eighties - but today, "Tin Snails" of the Charleston type are accepted as real 2 CV's...