visitors
this is the CITROËNS
Archives version of pages of "Car of the Century"
ici est la version Archives CITROËNS
de les pages de "Car of the Century"
 |
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Welcome to Car of the Century on the Internet.
At this moment there are 100 cars left of the couple of hundreds cars that were nominated earlier. A jury from professional journalists made the choice. Among those 100 cars left there are 3 different Citroëns:
Traction Avant (7, 11 en 16), 1934 - 1957
2CV, 1948 - 1990
ID/DS, 1956 - 1975 From sometime in 1998, the public will have a vote, via Internet !, I'll let you know. I think the Citroënists on the Internet have
to decide which type they are going to support, Give me your opinion and your vote!
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
This award has to go to the ID/DS. 2CVs are cool, but there are plenty of simular vehicles: Renault 4, VW beetles, Skoda's, Trabi's etc. But there is nothing like a ID/DS! The world did change in 1955.
Colin Morton
Mijn keuze is de ID/DS. Als er een Snoek voorbij rijdt,
dan gebeurt er iets met me. Ik blijf net zo lang kijken tot ze uit het
gezichtsveld verdwenen is. Een Snoek lijkt vele gezichten te hebben. Dat
is ook zo met de CX en XM. Het is net of ze er nooit hetzelfde uitzien.
In 1955 veranderde de wereld; voorgoed!
(My choice: the ID/DS. Whenever a "Snoek" passes by, something
happens to me. I keep looking untill she's left my sight. A "Snoek"
seems to have many faces. The same with CX and SM. It looks like they
never look the same. In 1955 the world changed; forever!) "Snoek"
= nickname for the ID/DS in the Netherlands and means "pike"
(fish).
Arthur Fryling
Hi ! I vote for the 2CV and the reasons are: its simplicity, its fair play, my memmories. Be seen'ya all.
Santina Brito
The choice between the 2cv or ID/DS is particulary difficult for me. I discount the Traction since although it's still highly regarded, it has never touched my heart. I currently own a 1972 ID20 Break and a 1987 2CV. Both these cars have found their way to the very source of my affections. Both have their own special way of delivering their goods. Both make me smile. I do stare sometimes, through the window, longer at the ID than the 2CV. Each is beautiful yet both have angles that don't quite look right, especially if the wheels are turned. Whenever something goes wrong with them it MUST be put right - whatever it takes. I could not part with either of them. If I had to vote for just one, I think it would have to be for the 2CV. It's the only car to be truly anti-car in the way that it makes all other cars (DS excluded) that aspire to be great through lavish equipment and powerful engines etc. etc., seem as grotesque as they are souless.
Gary Butcher
Hallo! Mein Auto des Jahrhunderts ist die Göttin!! Grüße aus Osnabrück, ACCM,
Simone Schmidt
Hi There, much as I would like to say DS/ID, I think the vote should go to the 2CV. Fundamentally, the principles that were to go into the DS's design were all in place in the 2CV (Linked Independent suspension, front wheel drive etc...). Although the DS was and reamins a dramatic tour de force, and a classic which will always be remembered, in every area where the DS was extraordinary, so was the 2CV. I honestly believe that the 2CV would have to take the vote - and has the best chance for Citroen enthusiasts world wide!
Your Citroenthusiastically, David Laloum
With two "ducks" and a tired old Acadiane, I vote for the 2CV
as the "car of the century". However, last week I could have
changed my mind because ,all at once, all three Citroens started with one
or two minor "problems." First, my Charleston's muffler rusted
through and it almost sounds like a 1968 Chevy SS396. My RHD is having
Carb problems and I have to repair it. And lastly, my Acadiane's fuel pump
went out and I discovered it is the push rod. Electric fuel pump time???
My votes are: American car of the century---- Corvette 1957-1968 Non-American
car of the "world"--quite definitely the 2CV
James Hood, Austin, Texas
I prefer the 2CV, because it's the car most known and loved by everyone, despite the technical innovativites of the TA and DS and their beautiful design. The 2CV is a car for ages/centuries, more than the TA and DS, that are more products of their time. And of course: everyone has driven a 2CV or at least had a ride in it.
Gerben Bloemendal.
Let's go for the 2CV.
That car is known by most people, as the Traction is too long ago and the DS more an item for "connoisseurs". And it has been on the road 1/2 a century!
With the 2CV we have at least a chance to beat the Beetle.
Erwin Obourdin
As the vote is for "The car of the century" which begins in 1901 and ends December 31st 2000 the Traction is no ways too old. Let's go for the Traction for the following reasons: - technical advance (self supporting body, front wheel drive, wet cylinder sleeves, hydraulic brakes etc.) being 20 years in advance at it's time - predecessor of mostly all the cars we see on the road today - It has already been elected as car of the century in an earlier vote
Tractionellement
Andreas
I just want to make one thing clear, I will under no circumstances vote for the Traction...perhaps the DS but not the Traction.. Why should I? Self supporting body..hmm as i recall it Opel was first, Adler came in together with Citroën using an American patent (from Budd).. Front Wheel Drive??? Not new in 1934, Cord had used it for years.. Predecessor of what??? Most modern cars have front wheel drive, true.. however they use a system closely related to the one used by Issigonis on the 1959 Mini, just have a look under the bonnet of any modern Citroën, the engine faces East-West rather than North-South as it does on the TA.. Hydraulic brakes?? Not new in 1934 either..
To me there is only two choices: The 2CV or the DS. The 2CV because: It was meant as a multipurpose vehicle, and a cheap simple one too. Compare the 2CV with other small cars, and you will that the 2CV is much more modern in design. Compare it to the more expensive VW, and you will find that the 2CV is much more versatile. Compare it to a Morris Minor, compare it to anything and you will find the 2CV more versatile, comfortable, and more advanced (in spite of it's simplicity). Some of the details on the 2CV was unheard of on small cars, independet 4 whell suspension, front wheel drive just to mention a few things.
DS: Well, look at any other car of the fifties, NOTHING COMES CLOSE! FWD, aerodynamic bodywork, hydraulic suspension, power steering, power brakes, semi automatic transmission... I rest my case..
Kim
I agree completely with Kim. I currently own 2CVs and a Traction. Every point that Kim makes is true. The real question here, I believe, is how to define the elements that constitute this magical "Car of the Century"? Logevity, the 2cv wins. Simplicity, again the Duck. Access to the masses, once more our 2cv. But then the chief rival is the Ford T. The DS is from its own planet. If we decide our rules of evaluation, how do we convince the other voters?
Cliff
Hi folks
IU suspect it will be something like the Toyota Corrola since more people have been duped into buying one of these than any other car....
Julian Marsh
Exactly what are our rules of evaluation? Do they concern all automobiles? Do they concern cars starting at 1900? What criteria and what weight to we put on the criteria?; style, economics, service, parts availability, comfort, reliability, impact on the world population, world transport system, and world ecomomy, world popularity (expressed in pure numbers without factoring European, North American, South American, Asia, etc.) Are we considering; petrol, solar, steam, and other forms of power? Before Ford were the Stanely Brothers (Steam was cheap and did some amazing things (Land speed record on Virginia Beach). Theodore Rosevelt used nothing but his White Steamers, even when he came to Yellowstone.Are we considering domestic and/or civilian models only - Some argue that the Willys Jeep was made in hugh numbers and without its use in the war the advancements made in this Century would have never been made (among other things). How much weight are we putting on the pure aspects of a car, a car's whose value may be less overall (i.e., a Bugatti Royale styling, the ecomony of a steam car, (or a 2-stroke engine), etc.. How much of a factor are pure numbers that are manufacturered. These numbers are in the ball-park I think; Model T's - 20 million, VW bugs - 18 million, 2CV's - 7 million. Are we considering that one mans influence led to anothers and what value is that first man's (or car) influence in a ranking of most important car of the century? Would Citroën have been so sucessful if indeed he had not studied Henry Ford's system of mass production?
Anyway, I believe in the 2CV as the winner stricktly because it is so much more than a car - yet another category! regards,
David Ullrich
Howdy,
<< Let's go for the 2cv. >>
I fully agree, the 2CV should rate, not for any dramatic scientific breakthroughs but for the way it touched those who drove them.
Happy Trails, bRad
That's sweet. I guess we are all a little touched. eh? But that is the reason I fell in with the 2cv crowd. On Raid BC in 1990,the style of travel was so appealing...easy and with humor for all. At the 1991 Friends meet in Switzerland, when it was raining, a group was huddled under a soggy shelter, and one person remarked about the H-van crowd. he said "See how they comfortably go into their row houses and we can share our misery". And that is the truth of what really did appeal to me. No one could carry enough to really be independent. We would always have to share food, tools, tents, whatever the other needed, we were in it together. It is that comeraderie that is unique in the way we travel. The car is sort of a backpack on wheels, except we fit inside instead of the other way around.
Cliff
Enough emotion and logic. 2CV is the only choice - - long live the "DUCK".
Bill Hackaday
Citroën must be 1, 2, and 3 but to be honest this will not be realistic. The best choice will be to go for the ID/DS series. Didn't a German Mercedes Benz engineer exclaim when he saw it first reveiled at the Paris Autosalon: 'So was schaffen Wir nie' or in plain English: 'We are not capable of creating such a car'.
This car can compete with many cars of its class today in categories: Comfort, Drivability, Roadhandling, Safety, Passengerspace, Good Looks and Aerodynamics.
To me it is obvious that a Citroën must win and the best chance we've got is the ID/DS although the 2CV will be second and close.
William van den Bergh
|
back to: |
retour à: |
