Types of Body

Scientifically of course there are many types of bodies, Girls bodies, heavenly bodies, scientific bodies. The 2CV development threw away as many rule books as possible and allowed nature to take its course.

With animals blending in to your environment is a 'lucky' feature. Zebras, Polar Bears and the Doyouthinkhesaurus are all excellent examples

Early 2CVs followed this trend. Here you can see a van that would blend into an urban brickwork background, rural fields and be hard to find in a breaker's yard.

Fibreglass offers not only excellent colour possibilities but brings a 'blanc mange' style to the designer's palette.

Here we can see what happens when steel is put to one side.

The adoption of air lift and thrust, a bright yellow tone contrasts quite a lot with the van discussed earlier.

Combined with an imaginative selection of power units bodywork can extend the flexibility of use to the extreme.

Here we can see what air power, used to drive the 2CV above, can achieve when switched from blow to suck.

A capacious family tourer can be converted in seconds to the slinkiest of alley cats. Defeating armies of bollards, finding gaps in the fabric of the universe itself these clever vehicles are better than anything else in the city - just a long as the driver remembers not to press the 'breathe out' button by mistake before the journey is over.

Here is a lovely 'Bijou'. Made in Slough in the early 60s these cars were only let down by the British housewife's commitment to big boots.

Scrutineers have to be especially careful with bodywork.There are ethics as well as rules, measures as well as ambiences. Life long commitment to reading Bodywork magazines is often a trait of the committed scrutineer.

Rallye Sud has some of the finest bodywork ever assembled but it would be foolish if we were to duck the issue and not check for false curves, loose bindings, flimsy cladding. We must be brave and ensure that everything is tested to the limit before going off with a bang on the journey of a lifetime.

Sante