Car O'Clock

Cheap old car yesterday. Today, a sought-after classic.

This is a familiar circumstance for me. I’ve fancied a 2CV for years and time and time again I’ve dithered and not bought one cheaply when I had the chance.

I wasn’t paying attention and now they’re what’s known as collectable (it’s a plague, I tell you!). Just look at the VW Kombi market, a vehicle I’ve always loathed because it’s just a horrible Beetle in a box. One that drives even worse than the sedan variant and turns you into a crumple zone in an accident. That aside, I’m all too aware these things are now worth a fortune, regarded as highly collectable and are lusted after by people who say “awesome” a lot.

What’s next for the 2CV?

In recent years, I have watched the older examples being snapped up by car enthusiasts all around the world, including several prominent car UK journalists, so I should have seen the inevitable increase in 2CV values coming.

The trouble is, I think I like a car enthusiast, not a dealer or investor, and I apply simplistic logic to car buying. I still think of the 2CV as cheaply built, slightly crude and, therefore, not worth a lot of money.

But, the 2CV s now cool and people who don’t have a clue whether they are good or bad want to buy one for their ‘collection’. If the 2CV follows the trajectory of the microcar and the Kombi, prices will probably continue to head north.

Well, bugger!

Yes, I’ve missed the boat – again. And, maybe it’s for the best. My head tells me a 2CV just isn’t worth over $40,000. It also tells me I could probably pick up a couple of beautiful, luxurious C6’s for that money. Not that you would, but that’s how my ‘know it all’ enthusiast brain works. It’s encumbered by too much car knowledge.

My heart though has other ideas. Rationality goes out the window, and I imagine joyous trips in great comfort, roof folded back, windows open, cruising the local byways untroubled by speed limits or petrol prices. A perfect daily driver for our times – as long as you never have a prang.

The little I know

I should have figured this all out by now. I love the idea of owning a 2CV, but I’m a victim of my own automotive know-how. While my heart has been longing to buy one again for years, my head tells me it’s a bloody stupid idea.

Recently, I have pondered buying a 2CV in the middle of the night and spent many sleepless hours weighing up the pros and cons. A complete waste of time because, as we all know, buying a 2CV in 2018 isn’t a pragmatic decision anymore, certainly not when they cost over $40,000.

However, if you’re a car dealer/collector you would know that $40,000 is probably a good deal for a 2CV. They’ve just about doubled in value over the last two years, so the chances are they’ll be worth double again hat in 2020!

Maybe once was enough

It sounds mad, but who would have thought a Messerschmidt bubble car would fetch $200,000 in California?

Sadly, this means 2CV ownership has now passed me by. Then again, I’ve already experienced, driven, and owned them before and spent very little money on any of them.

With this in mind, maybe I don’t need to spend $40,000 to re-live the experience a second time around.