The ideal Toad
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[ADMIN note - Tom, you can't send attachments through GMCnet.
Thanks-Patrick]
I found one that weighs 1080 pounds or there about in the fall of 1997,
just before I found the GMC. It was a Citroen 2CV (I have attached the
JPEG file) from France. Two cylinder opposed motor, front wheel drive,
kinda manual tranny, 55 MPH full out,50+ MPG, air conditioning (top down),
turn signals(arms out the door), variable rate suspension (combination of
stange hydraulics and rubber bands),variable elevation head lights (as you
add passengers there is a control on the dash that turns the lights back
down on the road). fenders come off with one bolt, trunk pulls off in about
30 seconds, full air control(windshield pushed up to let the air in,
automatic windshield wipers (as long as you turn the carank). Only one
problem, could not get it registered, as it had been illegally imported
from Belgium. Woe be to me, the perfect toad (I thought so) and could not
buy it. Wouldn't it have been a real conversation piece hooked to the GMC?
A classic GMC towing one of under a 100 Citroen 2CV's in the US.
>
>
>>AL
>>
>>Thanks for the info. Can you tell me what yours weighs? The one I am
>>looking at comes in at 2700 pounds. To many toys on it I guess.
>>Has anybody found a good 2000 pound car to tow?
>>
>>Take Care
>>Arch
>>>
>How about a 2,360 lb Saturn. Just bought a 99 SW 2 to replace my '97 SW
>2. Great tow car with enough stowage to bring the weight up........?
>
>
> David Lee Greenberg
>GMC Motorhome Registry
>200 MacFarlane Dr PH4N
>Delray Beach, FL 33483-6829
> 561/243-0402
Thanks-Patrick]
I found one that weighs 1080 pounds or there about in the fall of 1997,
just before I found the GMC. It was a Citroen 2CV (I have attached the
JPEG file) from France. Two cylinder opposed motor, front wheel drive,
kinda manual tranny, 55 MPH full out,50+ MPG, air conditioning (top down),
turn signals(arms out the door), variable rate suspension (combination of
stange hydraulics and rubber bands),variable elevation head lights (as you
add passengers there is a control on the dash that turns the lights back
down on the road). fenders come off with one bolt, trunk pulls off in about
30 seconds, full air control(windshield pushed up to let the air in,
automatic windshield wipers (as long as you turn the carank). Only one
problem, could not get it registered, as it had been illegally imported
from Belgium. Woe be to me, the perfect toad (I thought so) and could not
buy it. Wouldn't it have been a real conversation piece hooked to the GMC?
A classic GMC towing one of under a 100 Citroen 2CV's in the US.
>
>
>>AL
>>
>>Thanks for the info. Can you tell me what yours weighs? The one I am
>>looking at comes in at 2700 pounds. To many toys on it I guess.
>>Has anybody found a good 2000 pound car to tow?
>>
>>Take Care
>>Arch
>>>
>How about a 2,360 lb Saturn. Just bought a 99 SW 2 to replace my '97 SW
>2. Great tow car with enough stowage to bring the weight up........?
>
>
> David Lee Greenberg
>GMC Motorhome Registry
>200 MacFarlane Dr PH4N
>Delray Beach, FL 33483-6829
> 561/243-0402
Nope Arch it is all metal, except for the top which rolls up. many
americans called them Cigarette rollers because of the top. It rolled up
very much like the WW2 cigarette rolling machines. Wish there was some way
that I could send pictures but haven't got my scanner yet. I think there is
still some in Canada.
>Thomas
>
>I think I know this beast. Is the body Plywood? Love it.
>
>Take Care
>Arch
>
>> urn signals(arms out the door), variable rate suspension (combination of
>> stange hydraulics and rubber bands),variable elevation head lights (as you
>> add passengers there is a control on the dash that turns the lights back
>> down on the road). fenders come off with one bolt, trunk pulls off in about
>> 30 seconds, full air control(windshield pushed up to let the air in,
>> automatic windshield wipers (as long as you turn the carank). Only one
>> problem, could not get it registered, as it had been illegally imported
>> from Belgium. Woe be to me, the perfect toad (I thought so) and could not
>> buy it. Wouldn't it have been a real conversation piece hooked to the GMC?
>> A classic GMC towing one of under a 100 Citroen 2CV's in the US.
>>
>
>
Tom & Marg Warner
Vernon Center NY
1976 palmbeach
americans called them Cigarette rollers because of the top. It rolled up
very much like the WW2 cigarette rolling machines. Wish there was some way
that I could send pictures but haven't got my scanner yet. I think there is
still some in Canada.
>Thomas
>
>I think I know this beast. Is the body Plywood? Love it.
>
>Take Care
>Arch
>
>> urn signals(arms out the door), variable rate suspension (combination of
>> stange hydraulics and rubber bands),variable elevation head lights (as you
>> add passengers there is a control on the dash that turns the lights back
>> down on the road). fenders come off with one bolt, trunk pulls off in about
>> 30 seconds, full air control(windshield pushed up to let the air in,
>> automatic windshield wipers (as long as you turn the carank). Only one
>> problem, could not get it registered, as it had been illegally imported
>> from Belgium. Woe be to me, the perfect toad (I thought so) and could not
>> buy it. Wouldn't it have been a real conversation piece hooked to the GMC?
>> A classic GMC towing one of under a 100 Citroen 2CV's in the US.
>>
>
>
Tom & Marg Warner
Vernon Center NY
1976 palmbeach
You described it perfectly..It has a wonderful suspension. You might be
interested, found a Maserati Cirtroen earlier this year. Located about 20
miles from me. What a machine, low, very very fast and very plush.
Hydraulic suspension. Just sitting at a garage for the last year.
>
>> I found one that weighs 1080 pounds or there about in the fall of 1997,
>> just before I found the GMC. It was a Citroen 2CV (I have attached the
>> JPEG file) from France. Two cylinder opposed motor, front wheel drive,
>> kinda manual tranny, 55 MPH full out,50+ MPG.......
>
>Tom,
> Now I know why I like this group, there are folks as crazy as me here!
>I'm a long-time Citroen fanatic (2nd car I ever drove was an ID19 wagon, I was
>about 14 at the time, ca 1961). For about 6 glorious years ('76-'82) I owned
>a "big" ID19B, and still would were it not for New England rust.
> More germain to this discussion, I was parts manager at a foreign car shop
>near Amherst, MA, around '78. One of our customers was a school teacher who
>commuted in a '67 2CV, about 20 miles each way to work through the wild and
>lonely hills west of Quabbin Reservoir. One cold winter evening (around
>zero), she was flying down a long hill on US 202 at about 65mph when the
>little Cit swallowed a valve. Somehow she avoided hypothermia, and the 2CV
>arrived at our shop on a hook.
> Well, none of the mechanics wanted to touch it, and since I was the French
>car crazy, I was volunteered to fix it, even though I was only "the parts
>guy". The 2CV engine is a little jewel, sort of a 2 cylinder VW assembled by
>a Swiss watchmaker. I was getting intimidated, until I recalled that this
>thing was designed to be repaired by a French farmer with pliers. So I got
>out my pliers and a junk engine I located and fixed it.
> The big day for a road test came, and I managed to need a part from a
>dealer over the river in Northampton, and off I went. Rowing through the
>gears is a bit of a chore, and acceleration is leisurely at best. The
>suspension is actually a forerunner of our GMC rear suspension, with leading
>bogies in front, trailing bogies in back, interconnected by springs and shocks
>mounted horizontally along the frame, IIRC.
> The ride was sort of like a rocking chair at low speed, but just like a big
>Citroen (or a GMC!) you floated over potholes and frost heaves with barely a
>tremor. Descending the sweeping bend from the Connecticut River bridge, we
>reached 55mph and the 2CV took on a new personality; smooth, stable, it felt
>like a Mercedes. You could cruise one of those things all day, barring steep
>hills or headwinds.
> To complete the GMC analogy, there are 2CV owners clubs on most continents.
>In Europe and Africa, they have organized 2CV races. There is even an
>exclusive club of 2CV owners who have driven their cars around the world,
>driving across Europe, Asia, one of the Americas, etc, with a little boat ride
>in between. At one time (maybe still) the 2CV held the world altitude record
>for wheeled vehicles, around 16,000 feet in the Chilean Andes!
> If you can find one, and can stand another hobby vehicle, a 2CV would make
>a wonderful toad for a GMC.
>
>How do they say? -- "Laissez rouiller le bon temps!", or something like that!
>
>Rick Staples
>'75 Eleganza
>Louisville, CO --- 71 degrees again today, but winter's coming.
>
>
Tom & Marg Warner
Vernon Center NY
1976 palmbeach
interested, found a Maserati Cirtroen earlier this year. Located about 20
miles from me. What a machine, low, very very fast and very plush.
Hydraulic suspension. Just sitting at a garage for the last year.
>
>> I found one that weighs 1080 pounds or there about in the fall of 1997,
>> just before I found the GMC. It was a Citroen 2CV (I have attached the
>> JPEG file) from France. Two cylinder opposed motor, front wheel drive,
>> kinda manual tranny, 55 MPH full out,50+ MPG.......
>
>Tom,
> Now I know why I like this group, there are folks as crazy as me here!
>I'm a long-time Citroen fanatic (2nd car I ever drove was an ID19 wagon, I was
>about 14 at the time, ca 1961). For about 6 glorious years ('76-'82) I owned
>a "big" ID19B, and still would were it not for New England rust.
> More germain to this discussion, I was parts manager at a foreign car shop
>near Amherst, MA, around '78. One of our customers was a school teacher who
>commuted in a '67 2CV, about 20 miles each way to work through the wild and
>lonely hills west of Quabbin Reservoir. One cold winter evening (around
>zero), she was flying down a long hill on US 202 at about 65mph when the
>little Cit swallowed a valve. Somehow she avoided hypothermia, and the 2CV
>arrived at our shop on a hook.
> Well, none of the mechanics wanted to touch it, and since I was the French
>car crazy, I was volunteered to fix it, even though I was only "the parts
>guy". The 2CV engine is a little jewel, sort of a 2 cylinder VW assembled by
>a Swiss watchmaker. I was getting intimidated, until I recalled that this
>thing was designed to be repaired by a French farmer with pliers. So I got
>out my pliers and a junk engine I located and fixed it.
> The big day for a road test came, and I managed to need a part from a
>dealer over the river in Northampton, and off I went. Rowing through the
>gears is a bit of a chore, and acceleration is leisurely at best. The
>suspension is actually a forerunner of our GMC rear suspension, with leading
>bogies in front, trailing bogies in back, interconnected by springs and shocks
>mounted horizontally along the frame, IIRC.
> The ride was sort of like a rocking chair at low speed, but just like a big
>Citroen (or a GMC!) you floated over potholes and frost heaves with barely a
>tremor. Descending the sweeping bend from the Connecticut River bridge, we
>reached 55mph and the 2CV took on a new personality; smooth, stable, it felt
>like a Mercedes. You could cruise one of those things all day, barring steep
>hills or headwinds.
> To complete the GMC analogy, there are 2CV owners clubs on most continents.
>In Europe and Africa, they have organized 2CV races. There is even an
>exclusive club of 2CV owners who have driven their cars around the world,
>driving across Europe, Asia, one of the Americas, etc, with a little boat ride
>in between. At one time (maybe still) the 2CV held the world altitude record
>for wheeled vehicles, around 16,000 feet in the Chilean Andes!
> If you can find one, and can stand another hobby vehicle, a 2CV would make
>a wonderful toad for a GMC.
>
>How do they say? -- "Laissez rouiller le bon temps!", or something like that!
>
>Rick Staples
>'75 Eleganza
>Louisville, CO --- 71 degrees again today, but winter's coming.
>
>
Tom & Marg Warner
Vernon Center NY
1976 palmbeach
Have a look at the "ideal toad" undergoing restoration in Belgium at
http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/greatpier/188/USAbis.htm
Al Hamilton
76 Eleganza II
Kingston, Ont
http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/greatpier/188/USAbis.htm
Al Hamilton
76 Eleganza II
Kingston, Ont
I used to drive an Isetta when I was younger (wont mention how young) and when I
was in New Zealand this spring, there was one in a showroom. What a car. With
only one door (in front) the safety was questionable, but fun to drive.
Al Chernoff
> In a message dated 12/3/98 9:25:16 PM Eastern Standard Time, Gcbr
>
> > I think I know this beast. Is the body Plywood? Love it
>
> Hi Arch!
>
> How about that little Isetta with the Lambretta engine that was made in the
> mid 50' s, why trailer? or tow? pull release cord in back and push the thing
> through hole.
>
> Scott Adohen
was in New Zealand this spring, there was one in a showroom. What a car. With
only one door (in front) the safety was questionable, but fun to drive.
Al Chernoff
> In a message dated 12/3/98 9:25:16 PM Eastern Standard Time, Gcbr
>
> > I think I know this beast. Is the body Plywood? Love it
>
> Hi Arch!
>
> How about that little Isetta with the Lambretta engine that was made in the
> mid 50' s, why trailer? or tow? pull release cord in back and push the thing
> through hole.
>
> Scott Adohen
Ever see the Messerschmidt of the same vintage and style. It was made in
germany of left over messerschmidt fighter cockpits with a BMW motorcylce
engine.
>I used to drive an Isetta when I was younger (wont mention how young) and
when I
>was in New Zealand this spring, there was one in a showroom. What a car. With
>only one door (in front) the safety was questionable, but fun to drive.
>Al Chernoff
>
>
>> In a message dated 12/3/98 9:25:16 PM Eastern Standard Time, Gcbr
>>
>> > I think I know this beast. Is the body Plywood? Love it
>>
>> Hi Arch!
>>
>> How about that little Isetta with the Lambretta engine that was made in the
>> mid 50' s, why trailer? or tow? pull release cord in back and push the thing
>> through hole.
>>
>> Scott Adohen
>
>
>
Tom & Marg Warner
Vernon Center NY
1976 palmbeach
germany of left over messerschmidt fighter cockpits with a BMW motorcylce
engine.
>I used to drive an Isetta when I was younger (wont mention how young) and
when I
>was in New Zealand this spring, there was one in a showroom. What a car. With
>only one door (in front) the safety was questionable, but fun to drive.
>Al Chernoff
>
>
>> In a message dated 12/3/98 9:25:16 PM Eastern Standard Time, Gcbr
>>
>> > I think I know this beast. Is the body Plywood? Love it
>>
>> Hi Arch!
>>
>> How about that little Isetta with the Lambretta engine that was made in the
>> mid 50' s, why trailer? or tow? pull release cord in back and push the thing
>> through hole.
>>
>> Scott Adohen
>
>
>
Tom & Marg Warner
Vernon Center NY
1976 palmbeach
