Paris 2008: Citroen 2CV by Hermes
Click the image above for a high-res gallery of the Citroen 2CV by Hermes
There are a lot of big birthdays in the car industry this year, and the Citroen 2CV joins GM and Land Rover in the candle-blowing crowd. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the deux-say-vay, Hermes created a special version of a 1989 Citroen 2CV6 Special for the Paris Auto Show. If you saw the Bugatti Veryon by Hermes you know what to expect, with hand-stitched swathes of Hermes trademark gray-beige leather contrasted with white on the front and rear benches. Of course the Hermes treatment is worth as much as the car itself, but anything the 2CV lacks in luxury is more than made up for by character. Check out the press release after the jump and the gallery of high-res photos below.
Gallery: Paris 2008: Citroen 2CV by Hermes
PRESS RELEASE
2CV HERMÈS, A TASTE OF LUXURY
The 2CV celebrates its 60th birthday during the Paris Motor Show, on 7 October 2008. To celebrate the event, Hermes has designed a made-to-measure outfit that highlights the vehicle's ever-friendly and generous forms.
The 1989 2CV 6 Spécial, repainted in brown, gains a natural leather trim on the door facings, interior rearview mirror, gear knob, steering wheel and driver's sun visor. For an even more elegant finish, the two seats are upholstered in Hermès grey-beige cotton canvas and natural leather. As a finishing touch, the bonnet and interior trim at the rear of the vehicle also feature Hermès cotton canvas.
An exhibition celebrating the birthday of this legendary car opened at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie in Paris on 15 April and is scheduled to run until 30 November 2008.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
toronado455 6:40PM (10/04/2008)
Nicely done.
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Niels 7:03PM (10/04/2008)
It's like putting lipstick on a pig.
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mergent 7:10PM (10/04/2008)
I've never heard it pronounced deux-say-vay. Its name "2CV" literally stands for deux chevaux vapeur, shortened to deux chevaux, which is what i've always heard it called.
Regardless, i still want one.
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Galley 8:31PM (10/04/2008)
"deux-say-vay" was new to me, too. It's a Deux Chevaux.
Obviously DaMinority 12:21AM (10/05/2008)
2 - Deux
C - "Say"
V - "Vey"
Like we say
Two See Vee
homunculus 7:12PM (10/04/2008)
hermes?
i bet it costs as much as a veyron now.
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skiwithme 7:58PM (10/04/2008)
look at that interior. this is one of the most utilitarian machines ever devised. and just look at it in premium skin.
i want to rub my unit on that stitching.
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spookiness 8:16PM (10/04/2008)
What happened to the single-spoke steering wheels?
If I remember, the stalk on the right does the lights right?
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Colin Smith 9:31AM (10/05/2008)
Correct. The one on the left is the indicator - non self cancelling, thank God. We had a few of these, but the Dyane version was better because its more rigid body imparted much better handling, and it was more aerodynamic and therefore faster too. Ours all had centrifugal clutches, which allowed the clutch to disengage automatically at low speed, enabling clutchless crawling in traffic in first gear: brilliant cars, and utterly reliable.
Cardude 8:40PM (10/04/2008)
Those were cute little cars. I miss them. Hey Citroen, can you bring us a new one a la VW & it's new Beetle please?
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42 9:24PM (10/04/2008)
WANT.
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Torrent 10:00PM (10/04/2008)
such a nerdy, cute, classic car.
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Iridium 10:16PM (10/04/2008)
The 2CV there is one of the 1967 models made in the '80s. That is why the interior looks like that.
The interior is fantastic but the exterior color is terrible. It should have been painted in the classic Charelston colors.
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Patrick 10:55PM (10/04/2008)
Still ugly and slow. And now overpriced.
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CalGuy 10:57PM (10/04/2008)
I've been saying it for years.. people will buy small cars if they're not regarded as 'economy' cars- give them nice a nice sunroof, leather, nice-touch surfaces better interiors, smooth ride and voila, leave it to Hermes to finally listen!
Sometimes you need to go outside the box to get some real innovation.
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Jeff 11:34PM (10/04/2008)
Ah, sixty years of being the ugliest freakin' car to ever come out of the Occident. Nothing has topped it yet.
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Sandeep 1:15AM (10/05/2008)
Ugh
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Carte 4:57AM (10/05/2008)
The signature colour of Hermès is orange, not gray and beige. The gray-beige colour is just a popular request for their lines of custom made goods.
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Swede 5:31AM (10/05/2008)
The fact that they kept it in production until 1990 is awesome.
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JamesWB 6:06AM (10/05/2008)
Looks better than the Veyron and you can take three times as many chicks with you. Winner.
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