Life has been conspiring against the 2CV project lately, with tinkering time very hard to find, the engine still away in Lancashire and then me smacking myself in the face with a minibus…

Yes, having split my head open on a Peugeot Boxer (sharper than you think), I’ve had a frustrating day on the sofa, not allowed to go near the 2CV until my head stopped bleeding.

So, not a lot has changed since my last report. However, a lot of thinking has been done. I’m still yet to decide what the paint scheme will actually be like. The body is now brilliantly white, but the front wings are mostly red with patches of grey primer, while the rear wings don’t really exist yet. Not sure I want to put the manky plastic ones back on, but maybe I will.

Elly during one of her many ‘dogeared’ phases. Solid body here, but scabby panels. Perfect!

One key thing I need to point out is that the finished car will NOT look immaculate. That has never been my intention. She has been nice once, but it was a surprisingly brief interlude in her 30-year history. Mostly, she’s looked a bit dogeared, and I like that. These days, 2CVs sadly seem to fall into just two categories for the most part – restored (or original) immaculate condition, or so knackered that they’ll seen be in restored, immaculate condition. I want to tread the tricky gap between the two. I don’t want ‘ratlook,’ because it seems silly to restore a car and then make it rusty again deliberately. But, I want a car that I’m not scared to use. One I’ll leave in a supermarket car park without worrying. One I will use every day if I want to.

So, I’ll be painting the wings myself. She may go red and white again, she may not. I may go complete ‘hippy art attack’ or I might not. I suspect she will be red and white, initially at least, because I’m reluctant to fart about with paint to the level that it delays the project. If I really am going to get her back on the road for 8th January, then I’ve got some serious work ahead of me.

Here’s hoping I make it.