HISTORY OF THE 2CV
IN SIKKIM THE 2CV STEALS MAHARADJA KUMAR'S HEART
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MAHARADJA KUMAR'S HEART |
| In the beginning of 1958, as soon as the heavy winter of the Himalayas leaves the roads clear again, the Maharadja Kumar of Sikkim, a little prinipality that is hidden in the mountains in the heart of Asia, gives orders to his servants to prepare an expedition. The pretext of this expedition is of little importance. The unforgettable beauty of the mountains, under a crystal clear sky, the fairy-like scenery of snow and ice above frightening rockchasms hardly makes an impression any more on the Maharadja. He's used to this marvellous spectacle, in this country between the borders of Tibet and India, at an altitude of about 4000 meters. The Prince is now occupied with something more rare and original. He's going to make his first drive with his new car: a 2CV, which he preferred above the big cars that were offered to him. On the road that can hardly be named like that, but which direct one way or another to a mountain top of 5.300 m., it is a unprecedented pleasure to drive comfortable and without danger in a 2CV that comes across everywhere and through, the car that has been adapted to a very severe climate, to primitive tracks that are damaged regular by the frost and the high water-level of the river Tista, in a country where petrol is a scarcety and has to be brought up for high prices on the back of the yaks. |
