CitCity, 2nd Rallye Peking to Paris 1997 in a 2CV

2nd Rallye Peking to Paris 1997 in a 2CV
no.43 | book | routemap | featured car | other participants with a 2CV

no.43 from Holland

Peking-Paris 1997 in a 2CV 1958

Peking-Paris 1997
in a 1958 2CV

Two Dutch: Johan van der Laan and hin neigbour Wim Graal started 6 september 1997 with this 2CV (1958) in Peking for the rallye to Paris. The 2CV is modified with many AMI parts.

Through Mongolia, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkye, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and Germany they arrived in the French capital Paris after 45 days on 18 october 1997.
The arrival in Paris

book

front cover

back cover

After the Rallye a book appeared which is still available, with an English translation!
In September 1997 100 classic cars start near the Chinese Wall for a Rallye of 43 days that crosses 13 countries, from peking to Paris. One of them the Dutch Citroën 2CV. A long and bad road, if you could call them a road, camping in the Himalayas at a height of 5.000 metres, carrepair in the middle of the day in the heat of the desert. But also beautiful surroundings: the always snowy white roof of the world, uncrossable wild rivers, gorgeous gorges, hot sand deserts, fascinating eastern cities.

The book tells the story in writing and pictures of the Dutch equipe no.43 with the 1958 2CV that challenges Aston Martins, Bugatti's and Bentleys.

only the English textbook is now available from:

citroenz.biz

routemap

featured car

1953 Citroen 2CV "The People's Car"

Originally derided as a "garden shed on wheels," the no-nonsense 2CV was the car that rebuilt postwar France. Citroen introduced the "Deux Chevaux," meaning "two metric horsepower," in 1948 as a kind of enclosed four-wheel motorcycle. Although the original model had a top-speed of only 40 mph, it had a price of less than $2,000 and got 50 miles to the gallon.

"They were the French version of the Volkswagen: simple, small and light," says Burt Richmond, who along with co-driver Richard Newman, is competing with a 1953 Citroen 2CV. "And it's been refined to death. It has the lightest, smallest engine in the race, but this little 600 cc motor can push a 1,200-pound car at 60 mph."

Richmond says he and Newman have a special fondness for the little vehicles produced in Europe immediately after World War II. "What they wound up doing was making little cars that would put people back to work and also be very stingy with fuel," says Richmond. These included the Renault 4CV, the Fiat 500, the Volkswagen Beetle, the British Motor's Mini -- and the Citroen 2CV.

Three Citroen 2CVs entered the rally, but the other two have bigger-than-original engines. Richmond kept a model of the original engine, the lightest and least powerful in the race. "I'm not one for trying to rethink what went through a bevy of engineers' minds," he explains. "Speed is not part of the equation."

That's not to say that Richmond hasn't tinkered. After performing a routine check-up, a Citroen expert in Florida pronounced the 2CV unfit to venture beyond Beijing. So Richmond had his mechanic rebuild the car from scratch. "In a four-week period we had three people working around the clock, remanufacturing a car that cost only $2,500 originally, and that's probably only worth $5,000 now!"

The result has a rebuilt engine, transmission, brakes and suspension, as well as new wiring, tires, wheels and an 18-gallon gas tank. And with a snazzy new duo-tone paint job, the car looks fresh from a de Gaullist showroom. "The biggest deal," says Richmond, "is that we've added four inline fuel filters because we are told that the 'yak butter' fuel along the route may have a lot of water in it. We're going to have to drain the fuel system almost daily."

-- Robert Thomas
source: Discovery Online

other participants with a 2CV

1953 Citroen 2CV 602cc
Burt Richmond and Richard Newman (USA) Burt Richmond's 2CV

Burt Richmond (photo), aka "Mom," is a charismatic Chicago architect who makes a living balanced on two-wheels. Obsessed with motorcycles -- he once owned more than 300 bikes -- Richmond leads RUBBIE (Rich Urban Biker) expeditions through far-flung locales such as Nepal and Vietnam with his company, Lotus Tours. "Our motto is 'You provide the helmet, we provide the adventure ... and stay at the best places there are,'" he says. Since his first international motorcycle trip to Nepal in the '80s, Richmond has biked through Africa, Asia, South America, Australia and New Zealand. Richmond's rally partner, Richard Newman, is the owner of a vehicle rental business and shares the architect's motor-mania. The duo chose a 1953 Citroen 2CV for the rally.

Burt Richmond was present with his car at the 50th Celebration of the 2CV in Paris

1965 Citroen 2CV - 1299 cc

Maurizio Selci and Andrea Campagnoli (Italy)

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