More French Barn finds!

Earlier in the blog I wrote a little about the amount of old cars that seem to be populating the rural areas of France. Tucked away in barns, or quietly rusting in fields and hedges old cars are to be found almost anywhere when you are 'tuned in' to spot them.

The Citroen 2cv is of course the archetypal French car of the post war era, with a production run of several million that spanned forty years, it's no surprise that they still keep cropping up in farmers barns on a regular basis!

In recent years many Brit's have bought second homes in France, or indeed moved out there to live permanently, and I know of at least one person who 'inherited' an old 2cv this way, it simply came with the house!

When the 2cv was introduced in 1948 it was hailed as an 'Umbrella on wheels' which referred to its utilitarian nature as cars just didn't get more basic than the 2cv. Yet these little cars sold like hot cakes, there was a waiting list of over a year for the first model as farmers and lower income families gave up the horse and cart they used as daily transport in favour of these tough little cars.

I have one of these cars, and have owned several 2cv's over the past decade or so and I really can't stress enough what fun they are to own!
Their almost supernatural reliability is also something that never fails to amaze!
Recently I was out driving in my 2cv when a Taxi driver pulled alongside (blocking all traffic in doing so) he just had to tell me that he had one too - back home in Greece. He said that he hadn't been home for three years and the 2cv stood outside in his garden, but he fully expected the car to start right up on his return as it has done every two years or so when he visits home!

It's quite amazing that with the probable exception of the car in the very first photo, with nothing more than the addition of fresh petrol and a new battery the likelihood is that all of the cars shown here could be driven!
I have witnessed such finds being started up for the first time in years and the faces of the onlookers vary from total amazement and disbelief, to the wry knowing smile and nod of the head of the enthusiast.

The car above and below are typical of the type of find that are common. Mostly complete they are easily restorable, and thanks to a network of clubs and specialist dealers virtually every single replacement part is available for the Citroen 2cv.

A new fashion has also developed among the younger owners, and that is to drive the cars 'as is' meaning that once the mechanical and safety aspects have been checked and maintained the car is put right back into service with often an entire patina of surface rust!

The above car is an example of this, no shiny paint job here just good old 'honest' patina showing the life and times of the cars history. I quite like this approach, but only if steps are taken to prevent further deterioration of course.
Many of the photographs here were taken from the French site 'LeBoncoin' which is a little like a classified ads site, it's all in French naturally, so unfortunately I can't make out much of the wording in the ad's but I like to browse through those old Citroen 2cv's from time to time and check out the new discoveries!

A foggy day in London town.

In addition to finding beauty in decay, I also find foggy days can render even the most ordinary sight into something appealing yet swathed in mystery.
The London fogs of the 1950's are legendary for their severity and here I show a more artistic and lesser appreciated side of the fog. These photo's are genuine colour footage of those days and the vehicles, here in daily use are now long gone.

Londoners used to call these fogs 'Pea-soupers'. The reason for this is that they were so thick and often had a greenish tint due to pollution in the air that they resembled a thick pea soup!

It may be hard to imagine in these pollution conscious days but most of these photographs were taken during daylight! I can clearly remember those days when daylight became darkness due to the mixture of fog and pollution, when venturing outdoors it was the usual thing to wrap a scarf around the mouth and nose to prevent ingestion of the thick, damp, yellow air.

Those that didn't protect themselves in this way would often end up with bronchial complaints due to breathing in the 'pea soup'.

In this photo and the one below you can clearly see the circular object to the top right of the picture...that is the sun not the moon!
Fogs like this lasted right through until the 1960's when the clean air bill was passed and many areas were forbidden to use coal as a fuel for their domestic heating. Combined with the growing use of gas fires to heat homes the 'pea soupers' were finally consigned to the past with great benefit to personal health - and road safety!

Note the guy above riding his motorcycle without a helmet, without lights and in fog, today's health and safety motoring measures would have a nervous breakdown at this! LOL
Notice too the old streetlamps, they were leftover from the Victorian period and were originally gas lights, by the 1950's however they had been converted to electricity and gave off a lovely soft glow when lit.

The overhead cables seen in this shot were for the 'Trolley-buses' which were similar to a big red London bus but ran on electricity from the overhead power supply. The black and white stripes on the traffic lights also served to make them more visible in poor conditions.

Despite the many health advantages of today's clean air part of me misses those old fogs. There was something truly magical, and quite romantic about those old streets swathed in thick fog where often the passenger in a vehicle had to get out and guide the driver along the road!

I'm not the first artist to find British fog and murky weather appealing of course, a century before the Victorian artist John Atkinson Grimshaw was painting similar scenes filled with beautiful gaslight.


Although one shouldn't lament the passing of those fogs purely on health or safety grounds, I have to admit to feeling a tinge of sadness at the loss of the visual poetry purveyed in soft edged in light and shade that was provided by them.

New for 1955 Chevrolet.

One of the great things I like about American auto ad's of the 40's and 50's is the names given to some of the different aspects of the cars.
For example we have already seen on these pages those beautiful 'Futuramic' Oldsmobiles fitted with 'Rocket' engines and 'Hydraglide' transmissions, I love the use of those names!

New for '55 this 'Motoramic' Chevy was fitted with the all new 'Turbofire' engine, while it's 'Glideride' and 'Outrigger' suspension took care of comfort, it also has something called 'Blueflame' but didn't quite catch what that does!

A trip to France.

Just recently my partner and I have been house hunting in our nearest European neighbour-France.
There are many reasons behind the desire to leave England but relocating to France wasn't the obvious choice! Especially as neither of us speak the language, and due to this we have always found the French rather aloof!
On our many trips over there though, one of the things I did notice about France is that they certainly have their share their old cars, and after meeting many 'ordinary' French people we learned that it is simply necessary to forget any preconceptions of national traits and you will find a people as interested, and enthusiastic about old cars and life in general as any.

To a Brit used to the small dimensions of his own land the European continent appears huge, and the French have one of, if not the largest land mass in western Europe. The one thing that the visitor does notice (especially if he/she is an old car nut) is that in France they seem to put their old or disused vehicles out to grass - a little like old horses! LOL!


With a keen eye it's possible to find some very rare cars, trucks, buses, or just about anything out there... hidden in bushes or standing in fields it's a true classic fans paradise. The French seem to keep hold of their old vehicles so often they are to be seen lying around the grounds of the home, deteriorating slowly into patterns of rust.

These are some of the paintings that I did of vehicles found 'in the wild', I'm sorry for the poor quality of the photographs but the paintings were sold before I could get more than a snapshot each.

The Bond Minicar.

During the mid 1950's Britain became involved in military action in the middle east (sound familiar?) in what became known as the 'Suez crisis'.
The upshot for the many motorists at home was a scarcity of fuel, with many garages running dry.
Since the end of WWII there had been a number of attempts to create small, fuel efficient cars in Europe and the UK, many seemed hopelessly inadequate even for the most cost cautious of motorists, and some were downright dangerous. One company that did thrive however was the Bond company


The mini-car came as a four seater, (though I would hate to be the one forced to sit in the rear) and was powered by a small single cylinder air-cooled two stroke motor. Originally there was no self starter, and the car had to be started by lifting the bonnet and with one leg inside the engine compartment the owner would then kick start the car!


Despite the glamorous photographs, the reality was that these glass fibre bodied 'three wheelers'
were basic in the extreme, the interior offering little more than the bare basics.

Despite this they were popular and I remember as a kid in the early 1960's seeing and hearing many on the roads as I walked to school (which was my main 'car spotting' time!) I could always tell when one was approaching by the distinctive 'Pop Popping' of the exhaust note, and as they passed by the air filled with the aroma of two stroke oil which was mixed with petrol to make the Villiers engine run!


Today these cars are highly prized by collectors and have many avid fans. There are special clubs and meetings to cater just for the Microcar genre. One of the great things about seeing something like this after all these years is that the moment I hear that two-stroke drone and the pop-pop on the over run I am transported back in time, I am six years old again, and I still feel that same excitement today that I did so long ago.

The painting at the top of the post is a departure from my usual depictions of rust and ruin, primarily as these cars were glass fibre they didn't rust! I did however manage to find a photo of a rather tired looking example!

Britain's 'Shoe Box' Fords.

I believe it was in 1949 that Ford USA launched a radical new concept - the Ford Tudor sedan was first of a range of cars that would come to be known as the 'Shoe box' Fords.
The name 'shoe box' refers to the 'three box' design of the vehicle , as almost any automobile of the pre, or immediately post war period had a rather tall or upright profile by comparison.

As is always the way with these things we British had to wait until 1951 before Ford GB launched our very own version of the shoe box. The range came in three models, with each offering up to the minute improvements in comfort, ride, handling, and steering.
There were also hydraulic brakes, and new unit construction build rather than the old method of mounting the body on a separate frame (or chassis as we call them).
All three models, which were named Consul, Zephyr, and Zodiac were outwardly similar, the differences being in specification and power levels.

The base model was the Consul, (above) which was distinguished by the vertical strip style radiator grille, this car was the only one to run on a four cylinder engine. As an economical family car it was an instant hit.

After the Consul came the Zephyr, or the 'Zephyr six' as it was known. Outwardly similar to the Consul except for the treatment of the radiator grille, the 'six' clue in the name told potential buyers that this car had a little more power!
The Zephyr six performed well and it's six cylinder in-line engine was quick enough for all but the most hardened speed freaks of the day!

Above - A rare survivor, the 'Zephyr Six' and Below - an even rarer model the Convertible option, given Britain's soggy climate not many of this type sold here making them ultra rare today.

The final model of the trio was the Zodiac, or Zephyr-Zodiac as it was officially called. This had everything option wise, it was the car that the boss drove to work.
The 'top of the range' features on the Zodiac meant that big six engine, two tone paint, leather interior, spotlights, they even included gold plating to the 'Zephyr-Zodiac' script applied to the bodywork!

I have always liked these MkI cars in preference to the models that followed, (there were four in the series) produced between 1951 and 1956 they represent a milestone in British motoring as for the first time a mass produced Ford could rival a more expensive vehicle in terms of speed and comfort. Added to which, the build quality of these early Fords was I believe superior to the later products.

The painting at the beginning of this post is one that I did as part of a series of old cars, although the car is a Zephyr, artistic licence allowed me to give it the two tone finish of the more expensive Zodiac! A similar car to the painting can be seen in the photograph below, this time in the correct single colour.
The final photograph shows once again how many of these ground breaking fords have ended their days.

A picture for its own sake!

No words needed!