Off-beat Citroens

[Gryffindor]

1. Peruvian owner's manual for the Citroen 3CV

  manual-de-propietario-citroen-3cv.pdf (Size: 2.15 MB / Downloads: 7)
Yes, 3CV!
It seems to have been a 5-door hatchback version made in Argentina and distributed across the southern Americas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_2CV


2. Technical workshop manual for the Citroen T23

  revue-technique-citroen-t23.pdf (Size: 6.33 MB / Downloads: 1)
A 2-tonne truck, 1930s-1960s
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroën_23
[Google English version]

[Gadgetman]

Please be carful about linking to Wikipdia.
I just spent half an hour reading about the 3CV, the baby-brousse and various FAF and pre-FAF cars.
Some of us are way to easy to distract with random Wiki pages...

[Gryffindor]

Sorry - it's just my Wiki streak coming out!

Mum had a 2CV once. Green and yellow IIRC. Wish we still had it. We even took it up one or two Welsh mountain footpaths and down again (shhhh)!

[Romahomepete]

One of the most versatile cars I ever had was a Citroen Dyane, it would go anywhere that my brother in laws land rover would go, it would carry anything and it took 4 of us and a camping trailer to France on more than one occasion

Peter

[Argos69]

1. Peruvian owner's manual for the Citroen 3CV

Yes, 3CV!
It seems to have been a 5-door hatchback version made in Argentina and distributed across the southern Americas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_2CV


2. Technical workshop manual for the Citroen T23

A 2-tonne truck, 1930s-1960s
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroën_23
[Google English version]

Very entertaining! I came to Citroen later on in life after meeting my Wife, who'd had them for years and driven practically all of them. I just associated PSA vehicles with over-complexity, but in fairness, all ours have not been as troublesome as every single car was, that I bought from the British Leyland stable.

I love the idea of "Fate" as a tyre brand! Like having "Hope" brake pads (sorry, shoes!).

How would we all survive now without all the modern car technology? Could we still drive from A to B without getting lost? Could we manage to switch on our windscreen wipers and lights manually? Could we reverse into a parking space using skill and judgement? Gasp!

As I grew up using manual chokes, I do hanker for a simple old car like a 2CV (or now, even a 3CV!). But then I imagine driving down a "smart" motorway (sorry, I mean a "hard shoulder-less" death trap), sandwiched between huge lorries, all wanting to get past me. Oh, and it's pouring with rain and at night!

Then I get over it for a while.... But when I read car manuals like the one you referred to (which is my preferred kind of bedtime reading!) I want one! So, shame on you for posting such a thing when I've time on my hands.....

[Gryffindor]

Duly shamed!

I agree wholeheartedly with all you say about chokes, wipers and reversing manoevres [the spellchecker thinks this should be "mangroves" BTW!) - but I remember with trepidation having to learn double-declutching in a 1960s (or 1950s?) 50-seat coach with pedals so stiff you had to stand on them and a gear stick which really was a stick a yard long, the porridge it stirred being so thick, when I took up bus driving long ago (reminds me of too many visits to the dentist after eating rice crispies without milk), and the very idea of a 16-speed split-shift truck box with overdrive leaves me with a damp driver's seat these days! No, I'm quite happy with my current truck's 12-speed auto, with manual up/down buttons disabled by the operator to stop curious but untrained in the finer arts 'modern truckers' from crunching teeth.

But we can still burn the clutch out - woohoo!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kBwYIlS-08
(fantastic dials on his dash - my Berlingo is envious!)

BTW my truck does have one very admirable feature - its wipers do not change speed by themselves like they do on my Berlingo, always at the wrong moment - instead, you get the usual off/normal/fast, plus three different fixed intermittent speeds. Most useful. Some other trucks (was it a MAN I saw it in?) have an even better intermittent setup - it can be set dynamically to whatever repeat frequency the driver wants, from turtle to humming bird, and stays there until changed again. You set it by flicking the wipers on once, and then doing it again after the delay you want programmed in. Works a treat.

The easiest thing I've ever driven in terms of gears is, perhaps curiously enough, 1970s/80s double-decker buses with semi-auto "pre-select" boxes. They had a gear 'lever' (more like a toggle switch - it was as long as half my little finger with a blob on the end), but no clutch pedal. You had to anticipate gear changes but we all do that anyway (though my truck's auto box is blindly hopeless at it). So when you knew a gear change need was coming up, you'd pre-select it with the gear lever and continue driving. In the right conditions you could do this well in advance, which was useful for e.g. traffic lights - if they changed to red on your approach your gears were already sorted for slowing down; if they didn't you could roll through and undo the pre-selection afterwards.

You would 'encourage' the actual gear change by changing the revs / road speed and then it would take place all by itself, always exactly when it was wanted. Very smooth!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0lqeqO0H3o
[At least it's not a Wiki this time...]

[jj9]

Most people these days can drive, but not many of them are "Drivers".


.

[Gryffindor]

They are if they sit in the back seat!

[Argos69]

1970s/80s double-decker buses with semi-auto "pre-select" boxes. They had a gear 'lever' (more like a toggle switch - it was as long as half my little finger with a blob on the end), but no clutch pedal. You had to anticipate gear changes but we all do that anyway (though my truck's auto box is blindly hopeless at it). So when you knew a gear change need was coming up, you'd pre-select it with the gear lever and continue driving.

Well I never. A memory from way back. Back in the days when children were still allowed to speak to adults, I recall asking a Bus Driver how this worked, whilst still not forgetting to try to scrounge some bus ticket rolls (not sure what I ended up doing with those!). A "pre-selector" was his phrase! He then showed me how it worked by irritating the other passengers by doing some incorrect changes to help his demonstration. This, by the way, was whilst the bus was in motion, with me standing by the driver, clinging on to the money tray! Yes, and even past the "Do Not Stand Forward Of This Notice While Vehicle Is In Motion" notice....

How did we survive such perils? Since I can remember, I have always wanted to know how everything worked. Amazing how such an annoying child can grow up to be a perfect adult!   Right, where's my starting handle, I'm off for a drive!

[Sol]

Liked the 1960's buses when I was a kid, with poles at the back and no rear door, death trap staircases leading straight to the opening if you ran to catch it, jumped on the back and tried to scale the stairs to the top deck while it was still moving....health and safety geeks would have a fit these days.

And you couldn't bug the driver, he was in a little cocoon.