Review of 70640 Citroen 2CV

[playmofire]

Review coming soon.

[pingo]

"Cliffhanger" 

[Klickteryx]

Definitely a teaser.

[playmofire]

No, just need time to reduce the size of the photos.

[playmofire]

Well here we go.

I've viewed the Playmobil classic cars with interest, particularly the Mercedes Benz 300SL and the VW Beetle, but the prices have put me off (although the sale prices are more reasonable).  However, when the Citroen 2V was announced, I decided to buy one, and a price reduction of 25% sealed the deal!

The idea of the Citroen 2CV was created in the 1930s as a replacement for horse power (literally) on farms for moving produce.  The story goes that the design brief required that the car would have to be capable of being driven across a freshly ploughed field with a load of eggs in the back without any of the eggs breaking!

The war delayed the 2CV being produced until 1948, and production continued until 1990 with over 3.8 million having been produced.

Over the 42 years of its production, the 2CV evolved in a number of ways but by 1981 the top speed was only 71mph, but it's reliability, flexibility in use and, in later years, its unique design made it a niche product both for celebrities and "hippies" and for those wanting to own a car that was "different".

The Playmobil version is the 2CV6 Special introduced in 1981, so one of the more refined versions of the car that would appeal to the wider general public. 

Playmobil have pitched for both historical ends of the car with their set including milk churns, two geese, a pig and a farmer (the original target market in 1948) and also une jolie jeune femme in striped top and jeans and a selection of hippy style stickers for the car.

Click on the thumbnails for larger pictures.

First, then, the box in the order front, back, two sides and then one end:

[playmofire]

Another post showing some of the contents of the box.

First, the contents as they are found in the box:



The bags of parts are numbered:



and these tie in with the instruction booklet:

[playmofire]

I didn't follow the order of the instructions exactly but started with the wheels.

Each wheel assembly is made up of four parts, the wheel itself, the tyre, the hubcap and the bracket attaching these to the chassis:



The hubcaps are a very tight fit and need careful placing and a firm push with a thumb, not like those of, say, the recent fire engines.

Here are the assembled wheels, showing both front and back views of them assembled:



The wheel assemblies slot into brackets on the underside of the chassis.  The wheel assemblies are a tight fit, and the picture below shows one in place after initial fitting:



It needs a good, firm push down with thumb while holding the body unit firmly in your hand to get the wheel assembly fully pushed into place as here:



Finally, here they are, all fitted and ready to roll:

[playmofire]

Next, I fitted the rear lights, filler cap and bumper.  I didn't attach the number plate sticker as I haven't yet decided which to use:



I thought the rear lights the most difficult Playmobil part ever to fit but eventually managed it - suddenly, a light just clicked in place, how or why I did not know, so doing it once didn't greatly help with the second light:



The rear bumper followed and was easy to fit (the instructions have an additional illustration stressing the way up the bumper must be inserted), but the fuel filler cap was another fiddly piece to fit:



Here's the assembled rear:

[playmofire]

The front end next, and then I'll end for the day and we'll look at figures and accessories tomorrow.

There are quite a number of bits and pieces involved at this stage:



and before fitting any parts to the front of the car, you need to do some sub-assembly fitting - the overriders need to be fitted to the bumper and the headlamp lenses need to be fitted into the headlamp shells.

You have a choice of clear or orange headlamp lenses.

The assembled bumper/overrider unit went on easily:



The headlamp brackets were other fiddly pieces to fit, needing precise placing and quite hard pushing (done with fear of breaking the bracket!) but the turn indicators fitted quite easily.



The door mirrors were two other items which needed precise placing and a firm, steady push to fit:



That's the car ready for the road:



so I'll end here and look at the accessories and other parts of the car not covered so far tomorrow.

[tahra]

Those parts were really hard to put in all the cars

I hate it (along with the tires) - and I always fear they will break

You went with the yellow lights - are those the french version? I think I will go for that one..


Thank you for such a detailed review