Editing Citroën 2CV (section)

== End of production ==

The 2CV was produced for 42 years, the model finally succumbing to customer demands for speed, in which this ancient design had fallen significantly behind modern cars, and safety. Although the front of the chassis was designed to fold up, to form a [[crumple zone]] according to a 1984 Citroën brochure, in common with other small cars of its era its [[crashworthiness]] was very poor by modern standards.{{Citation needed|date=May 2018}}  (The drive for improved safety in Europe happened from the 1990s onwards, and accelerated with the 1997 advent of [[Euro NCAP]].) Its advanced underlying engineering was ignored or misunderstood by the public, being clothed in an anachronistic body. It was the butt of many a joke, famously by [[Jasper Carrott]] in the UK ("if a Citroen 2CV hit a rabbit, the car would be a write-off, while the rabbit would probably think something was stuck in its ear", "only the French could make a car like that and then sell it to the British", "an upturned corrugated crab on wheels").<ref name="blogs.bl.uk/tin-snail">{{cite web |last1=Willimott |first1=Trevor |title=Fond memories of a tin snail |url=https://blogs.bl.uk/european/2013/08/fond-memories-of-a-tin-snail.html |website=blogs |publisher=The British Library |access-date=20 July 2023 |language=en |date=23 August 2013}}</ref>{{sfnp|Clarke|2000|p=208}}

Citroën had attempted to replace the ultra-utilitarian 2CV several times (with the [[Citroën Dyane|Dyane]], [[Citroën Visa|Visa]], and the [[Citroën AX|AX]]). Its comically antiquated appearance became an advantage to the car, and it became a [[Niche market|niche product]] which sold because it was different from anything else on sale. Because of its down-to-earth [[economy car]] style, it became popular with people who wanted to distance themselves from mainstream [[consumerism]]—"[[hippy|hippies]]"—and also with environmentalists.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}

Although not a replacement for the 2CV, the AX [[supermini car|supermini]], a conventional urban runabout, unremarkable apart from its exceptional lightness, seemed to address the car makers' requirements at the entry level in the early 1990s. Officially, the last 2CV, a Charleston, which was reserved for Mangualde's plant manager, rolled off the Portuguese production line on 27 July 1990, although five additional 2CV Spécials were produced afterwards.<ref>Citroën-Neuilly Headquarters mail ref.91MA-JCV/SR, dated 14 November 1991 & Planete 2cv n° 67 & 69</ref>

The 2CV was outlived by contemporaries such as the [[Mini]] (1959 – 2000), [[Volkswagen Beetle]] (1939 – 2003), [[Renault 4]] (1961 – 1992), [[Volkswagen Type 2]] (1949 – 2013), [[Fiat 126]] (1972 – 2000) and  [[Hindustan Ambassador]] (1957 – 2014).