The Citroen 2CV (French: deux chevaux(-vapeur), "two steamhorse(power)s", meaning "two taxable horsepower"is anair-cooled front-engine, front-wheel-drive, economy familycar, introduced at the 1948 Paris Mondial de l'Automobile, andmanufactured by Citroen for model years 1948–1990.

Conceived by CitroenVice-President Pierre Boulanger to help motorized the large number offarmers still using horses and carts in 1930s France, the 2CV has acombination of innovative engineering and straightforward, utilitarian bodywork— at first with extra thin panels, reinforced by corrugating themetal. The 2CV featured overall low cost of ownership, simplicity ofmaintenance, an easily serviced air-cooled engine (originallyoffering 9 hp), and minimal fuel consumption. In addition, it hadliterally been designed to cross a freshly ploughed field, because of the greatlack of paved roads in France then; with a long-travel suspensionsystem, that connects front and rear wheels, giving a very soft ride.

Often called "an umbrella onwheels", the fixed-profile convertible bodywork featured afull-width, canvas, roll-back sunroof, which accommodated oversized loads,and until 1955 even stretched to cover the car's trunk, reaching almost down tothe car's rear bumper.

Michelin introduced andfirst commercialized the revolutionary new radial tire design withthe introduction of the 2CV.

Between 1948 and 1990, more than3.8 million 2CVs were produced, making it the world's first front-wheel drivecar to become a million seller, after Citroen's own, more upscale “TractionAvant” was the first front-wheel drive car to sell in six-figure numbers.The 2CV platform spawned many variants, as detailed in the "Productionnumbers" section. The 2CV and its variants are collectively known asthe A-Series. Notably these include the2CV-based delivery vans known as fourgonnettes,the Ami, the Dyane, the Acadiane, and the Mehari. In total,Citroen manufactured over 9 million of the 2CVs and its derivative models.

A 1953 technical review in Autocar described"the extraordinary ingenuity of this design, which is undoubtedly the mostoriginal since the Model T Ford". In 2011, The Globe andMail called it a "car like no other". The motoringwriter L. J. K. Setright described the 2CV as "the mostintelligent application of minimalism ever to succeed as a car", anda car of "remorseless rationality".

Both the design and the historyof the 2CV mirror the Volkswagen Beetle in significant ways.Conceived in the 1930s, to make motorcars affordable to regular people for thefirst time in their countries, both went into large scale production in thelate 1940s, featuring air-cooled boxer engines at the same end astheir driven axle, omitting a length-wise drive shaft, riding on exactlythe same 2,400 mm (94.5 in) wheelbase, and using a platformchassis to facilitate the production of derivative models. Just like theBeetle, the 2CV became not only a million seller, but also one of the few carsin history to continue a single generation in production for over four decades.

The beachcomber special editionwas introduced in 1983, white with navy blue wavy stripes.

(Known in France as the France 3)a limited number (around 1500 worldwide with only 200 left) were built tocommemorate the French entry in the Americas cup yatch race, with France 3,Citroen donated money from each one sold to the team.

VIN AZKA0042CV