Modded 2CV: 720cc - speed machine!

48bhp is a considerable increase over 20bhp, turning this red 2CV Special into a proper speed machine! Well, by Citroen 2CV standards. Fair to say that this was a very enjoyable test drive! What a noise!
Built by Sparrow Automotive: www.sparrowautomotive.co.uk/
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[@stiannobelisto573]

2 fast 2 furious 2CV😎

[@itsmephil2255]

2cv fast 2cv furious 😆

[@sujendrannairtheywaharen2230]

2C 2V

[@dadawoodslife]

"accelerate in just the way 2CVs don't" - that's a Douglas Adamsism. Excellent. (Hang in the air just the way bricks don't)

[@davidmarsden4268]

This video cost me a large amount of money and transformed my Dyane. I am forever grateful!

[@JimBiddle.]

In this episode, Ian is corrupted by power, as the saying goes.

[@itsmephil2255]

Power...less is more... Yeah right 😄

[@carlmarkwyatt]

If absolute power corrupts absolutely, how much would one be corrupted by 47hp? ;-)

[@jonnycando]

Carl Wyatt after plodding along with 20 odd HP I reckon 47 would be quite a revelation!

[@pierrechristian6767]

He really does Jim.

[@jeanjeudi1111]

Very good Jim ! It'll be hard not to steal that one from you

[@SiCrewe]

"The only time LHD becomes an issue in the 2CV is when you're overtaking...." Gotta love an optimist. :-P

[@DavidColex]

Complex junctions in lhd cars... need a phd for that

[@jonnycando]

Si Crewe of course it’s quite opposite in the west.....where we drive on the right....yet we do have right side drive cars, and you can even buy them new, but you rarely see anyone passing other traffic in them. I’d buy one just to be different because that’s just the kind of people I am!

[@SiCrewe]

@@jonnycando I suppose it could be worse. I know somebody, in the UK, who bought an imported 90's Trans-Am that was LHD. The guy kept telling everybody that being LHD wasn't a problem but he sold it about 6 months later and THEN admitted he'd lost track of the number of near-misses he'd had while attempting to overtake other cars. Least you won't have much of a temptation to try that in a 2CV.

[@Robinmuk]

I overtake slower cars in a completely stock LHD 602cc 1978 2CV, it is easily possible. Speedbumps, that's where you get them every time.

[@volvo480]

When I was in the UK, I had no problems overtaking a slow campervan in my LHD V70. But I have to admit I had someone with equal driving experience on the lookout in the passenger seat, it was on the A15 in Lincolnshire which is as straight as a ruler and there was little oncoming traffic.

[@frglee]

Hubnut doing a very good job promoting the 2CV as a fun car to drive. I like simple and utilitarian small cars a lot, and I'm sure I'd enjoy driving a 2CV or Renault 4.

[@janstafford1490]

Couldn’t agree more

[@stevemonkey6666]

This is the most desirable car I have ever seen. I want one for myself.

[@coopers4491]

Mr hub nut isnt replying to anyone on this by the looks of it!!!!

[@maxeaves]

What a superb 2CV. Now that is the 2cv I would have ALWAYS wanted!!

[@jamiesut5866]

Nobody else could’ve reviewed this car better!

[@williamgreer4087]

I think this is the engine Ellie deserves 👍

[@porscha901]

I agreee m8

[@robertamoyaw1979]

I think so too! This engine sounds gooooood!!!!😁

[@robames1293]

The fact that the standard cars don't have a great deal of power and torque, even modest improvements make a big difference. Elley displayed this with the "big block" conversion and that increase was not huge. That car sounded fantastic when wound up. I think I Know what Ian will be asking Santa for this year. Best wishes to all Hub Nut fans from Australia (stay safe)

[@pierrechristian6767]

Thanks Rob, I live in the prison state of Victoria, we're still in lockdown until our Premier decides to let us out.

[@hugobloemers4425]

You should donate this CV2 a HubNut sticker as a thank you. This is one of the coolest CV2s I have seen.

[@fhwolthuis]

Yeah put that modification on Elly too now she's in the workshop 👍😁

[@torresalex]

What an utterly superb exemple of proper mod cons! Useful upgrades that don't ruin the originality of the car! Congrats, Pete!

[@flemmingsorensen5470]

Thats absolutely (Hub)nuts - a hot rod 2CV; brilliantly bonkers !!! 👍

[@matthewbrown2037]

Many years ago, when I was a mechanic, I worked for a bloke who shared a workshop with another mechanic who loved his 2CV's and quite a few people bought theirs to him for work on. One of these was a turbo 2CV, belonging to a friend of his, and I'll never forget when he told me, that the turbo took 14 seconds off of the standard 0-60 time, and it still took 18 seconds to do it. The car had a black band on one of the front wings, a result of a rather nasty under bonnet fire a few years previous, which almost destroyed the car, but it was rebuilt, with the necessary modifications to reduce the risk of it happening again. A couple of years after leaving this job, I was watching "the cars the star" on tv, about the 2CV, and was surprised to see this very same car featured. I believe it's available on you tube.

[@robertngreen6]

What a machine! Really good review with your in depth 2CV knowledge to discuss all the changes and improvements. "Power- less is more, bit more is brilliant!"

[@dirkhoekx4998]

I'm from Belgium and i like your video's a lot. You drove a lot of different cars and give always a good impression from the cars. I like this episode a lot. Nice car 👍👌

[@d2factotum]

"Power: less is more" is probably true, but where the real driveability lies is in torque. A nice wodge of low-end torque will make a car nicer to drive even if the top-end power isn't increased much.

[@seancooke4127]

Torque rules, it is the reason diesels and turbo diesels can lug down at low revs and hang onto higher gears uphill.

[@johnd8892]

As Ian found with Betty in NZ.

[@seancooke4127]

@@johnd8892 you think that he should ship 🛳 Betty over? Maybe somebody in New Zealand is mad to get hands on a rare Vauxhall (probably police spec) Vectra 2.2 LS. Couldn't be a police car with so few miles.

[@DavidColex]

Flywheel lightness and gearing makes an even bigger difference... for instance a mk1 panda 1.1 up to 40mph feels like it wants to fly off, jittery at the throttle, rev happy, feels more "sporty" than my mk4 mondeo tdci

[@seancooke4127]

@@DavidColex been there with a 1990 Panda 1000 Sergio Tacchini. Little rocket 🚀. Before that a Panda 750 L 4 speed. Even the 750 was quick because of the gearing. 👍👍

[@volvo480]

What a car! If 2CV's hadn't become so expensive I would really want one and then have it modded like this. I've seen people shoehorn a GS engine under the bonnet, back in the 1990s already, that makes a 2CV (or a Dyane) a truly terrifying experience...

[@SPTSuperSprinter156]

if I was Ian I'd probably pay the guy who modded this to do the same to my own 2CV.

[@andrewmoorhouse687]

That looks like huge fun and good upgrades on the standard car. You can really see and hear the differences to performance and handling in the video. I suspect Pete’s going to be receiving quite a few calls from 2CV owners after this one! Great HubNut video.

[@fifi23o5]

My two friends from Croatia, twin brothers, have a 2CV 4WD. Few years ago they drove it to Kazakhstan (and back, of course) to see a football match.

[@bernddoerper5667]

Thank you for this great video. I like very much how you explain all those modifications. Very interesting what is all possible with a 2CV.

[@waynetetley584]

Pure music. Hats off to Pete Sparrow. Lovely review 👍

[@pagegreer5081]

A HubNuters dream! A 2CV with power. Gentle start your Engines !

[@ICGedye]

What fun i would have had if i'd been down with this tuning knowledge when i had my Acadiane. Brilliant job done here, great video:)

[@MarkieC1990]

I’m not even a big 2CV fan but that was a really interesting video to watch. Great content 👍🏻

[@garymills6702]

Fantastic! What a great little car!

[@ajprice]

Just watched this and it looks like I've had the same thought as a few others here, Elly for the Sparrow treatment! :)

[@aston-martin-internationalist]

That's properly ripping through the gears. You can really tell by the rate of rev increase how much extra power that car has over a stock 2CV, especially in first! Always wants to wheelspin!

[@ProdigalPorcupine]

The sound of that engine! Sublime! I could listen to that all day.

[@antonyingram]

That looked like a lot of fun. Not surprised Pete uses it every day when it has a turn of pace like that.

[@frederick777]

Since I've been watch your vids on the 2cv. You have definitely warmed me over to want 1. I've always called them brolly cars because they remind of an umbrella for some reason

[@chrispark4310]

Excellent! The 2 pattes must so much fun to drive!

[@gevmage]

Hi Ian! I'm so glad you made this, and talked about the benefits of the vacuum advance ignition. There's this bizzare subcult of air-cooled VWs (unfortunately including the John Muir, who wrote the wonder "Compleat Volkswagen" book) who somehow think that the 009 centrifugal-only distributor is the right one for a beetle and anyone who doesn't think that isn't driving it right. Thanks for the video, Ian. Keep it up!

[@mr-wx3lv]

Hubnut, I suggest you do a few mods to Elly, I think you'll enjoy her even more ☺️

[@timbutton4990]

@Skodaman2 Yes he did, gas flowed heads/big valves

[@SM-dt1pr]

@@markdowling5962 as I understand the GS engine was a good idea when GS engines were freely available, but these days it's easier to put a BMW bike engine in. If you like that kind of thing.

[@Pfirtzer]

@@markdowling5962 My uncle had a baby blue Ami 8 fond memories of the car, realised years later that the sound was the same as the 2CV's.It would fly I guess putting a GS engine in a 2CV, change the brakes etc.?

[@palebeachbum]

It sounds lovely. A lot of personality in such a small package.

[@scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

What a cracking little 2cv that Mr Sparrow has, looks like you really enjoyed it.

[@jaggass]

48bhp is powerful for a 2CV and that cone filter makes it sound great.. Pete Sparrow is a wizard at making them faster. I remember the B reg red 2CV Turbo as well.

[@RichieRouge206]

You can hear the difference with the extra torque! Really love what a difference it makes. Have a feeling Elly may come home with a few extra mods hehe

[@raspucin70]

"Here, try this CV", says the friendly drug dealer. Oh, I think Pete knew *exactly* why he gave you his daily :)

[@richardcallison1637]

Every bit of that video made me smile! Is Elly in for some Engine love after that? It looked like great fun!👍

[@darwenrover8910]

Love how this Deux Cheu Veux is a sleeper car.

[@rollingtroll]

Deux Chevaux :) (meaning 'two horses', which ad something to do with taxing and insuring, not with horsepower. Because French)

[@dortkommendieclowns1474]

I want one! Must be so much fun to drive 🤘🏼

[@mattwalker4034]

I think he lent you that car knowing you would be wanting the upgrade after trying it out. Sounds awesome

[@Teribus13]

I've been ĺooking forward to seeing this video!

[@DanielCurti]

Sounds amazing!

[@mehrzahl2219]

Great answer to my question I asked during the Q&A. Would be fun seeing you fit this engine to Elly.

[@mrclucker1969]

Sounds awesome and looks like great fun to drive (no door handles scraping on the road round the sharp corners!)

[@craigmclean8260]

Looks like a delightful ride! I can just see your fiendish grin, as you get ready to surprise more than a few motorists at stoplights!

[@carsyoungtimerfreak1149]

Great car! Thanks for sharing!

[@jandemuynck2756]

One of the stickers is a Dutch one that says 'VerEend'. 2cv's have 2 popular nicknames in Dutch referring to animals. The one is 'eend' which means 'duck', the other, more common in Flanders, is 'geit' which is 'goat' in English. The sticker is a word game. Ver-Eend obviously refers to the duck nickname, but 'vereend' in one word is also old Dutch for 'verenigd' which means 'united'. In another video I saw recently, Ian was also in Holland visiting an event called 'Elk Merk Waardig'. Also a word game which literally would translate as 'Each Brand Worthy' which does make a bit more sense in Dutch because 'merkwaardig' in one word means 'remarquable'. So there you go.

[@EdFrankes]

Oh darn you, Ian. Now i want that. Stop it! Great one, matey, lovely little car and heaps of fun, so it seems!

[@pagegreer5081]

It sounds so fun ! I m jealous.

[@PurityVendetta]

Oh my god, love it. I always wondered about boring mine out and fitting twin carbs but for me the Belgian arm mod was an eye opener. I used to go through kingpin bushes like I had shares in the company! I love how carefully thought out and well developed this 2CV is. I never had any issues with cranks so I did wonder how much room for tuning there might be. Sadly my 2CVs were always my only form of transportation so keeping them on the road was priority.

[@andrelombard9541]

Jjj

[@gryfandjane]

The more I see of the 2CV, the more interesting they become, and the more I want one. They’re certainly rare here in the US.

[@skodakatie7341]

This is one very nippy 2CV, love it!!.

[@obsoletegeek]

This car looks like a blast to drive!

[@Scarecrowking]

Holy moly that take off took me by surprise!

[@nick2203]

Not only does it go well, it sounds great too. I think Elly needs a few of these mods.

[@barryshackson4005]

Great car, great sound. Excellent road test 🙂👍

[@DruggedBunny]

"A little more power is no bad thing". Steady on, Clarkson!

[@The-Rectifier]

Thats a rather impressive 2cv🤩🤩🤩

[@shaunw9270]

Wonderful , what a sleeper !

[@daniellee9015]

That car is amazing waw brilliant video Ian

[@robinjones6999]

Truly amazing

[@waynehughes1341]

Amazing sounding engine!

[@colinhicks4174]

We are now looking forward to seeing the video series of Elly being upgraded. I was surprised that the Rev limit was so low. Given the noise that Ely makes I thought she was revving higher.

[@Jam3sA]

I think this has put some serious thoughts in Ian's head with regards improving Elly's drivability, will probably make better use of the 50cc extra. The front suspension is probably a worthwhile improvement, if only to save some kingpin wear

[@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge]

Well today I learned that 2CVs don't have vacuum advance, quite unbelievable but well, you learn something new every hubnut video.

[@jorgefernandez-mv8hu]

Those are some nice mods to an outrageous car.

[@chrisbury4635]

Sounds great 😎

[@g-r-a-e-m-e-]

Fun to watch. It reminds me of being overtaken by a Reliant Robin.

[@raygale4198]

The dual advance distributor allows the tuner to optimise the centrifugal advance for best power with no consideration for cruise smoothness or economy, the vacuum advance looks after that. Once the timing is right more fuel can burnt without risk of pinging. It does sound 'ballsy' and very very smooth, job well done.

[@nazdagg8633]

way back in the day, there was a SCCA class called "H modified" for cars of 750cc. (from wiki)-- "When Bill Devin sold his Ferrari 250 MM coupe to a buyer in Michigan in 1954 he took a 1953 Deutsch-Bonnet Le Mans barquette in trade as partial payment.[1] Devin also bought out the stock of a Panhard dealer in California, acquiring ten chassis with engines but no bodies.[3]:61 Devin designed his own ladder frame for a custom race car that used the engine and front-wheel drive transaxle from the Panhards. The wheelbase of this chassis was 2,134 millimetres (84 inches). Devin also took a mold of the body of the DB Le Mans, made some changes, and began to produce custom bodies for his new car.[4] This was his first experience working with fiberglass. With help from Norton motorcycle racer Don Evans, Devin adapted the cylinder barrels, cylinder heads and pistons from the Norton Manx motorcycle to the two-cylinder boxer Panhard crankcase, roller-bearing crankshaft assembly and piston rods.[1]:62[5] He then fabricated a custom manifold that accepted two-barrel side-draft Weber carburetors. All of these alterations did not affect the displacement of the engine, leaving the 79.5mm bore and 75mm stroke unchanged for a total displacement of 745 cc. What made the engine unique was the method Devin used to operate the valves. He abandoned the Panhard's pushrod OHV system and contacted the L. H. Gilmer company about using their toothed belts to drive the Manx cylinder heads' overhead cams.[5] Development of synchronous toothed-belts was begun by the Gilmer company around 1940.[6] Their primary application had been as a means of transmitting power in textile mills.[7] Devin's use of the technology to drive the valve train in the Devin-Panhard engine was the first time toothed belts were used in a timing belt application. " there ya go.

[@toyotaprius79]

I would hope that added capacity of power would make straining less and durability better.

[@jfv65]

The engine sounds like an old BMW aircooled motorbike engine. Sweet!

[@ferrumignis]

Fitting a BMW boxer engine to a 2CV transmission has been done a number of times and is one of the conversions that Sparrow Automotive offer. Imagine a 2CV with 125bhp...

[@leneanderthalien]

@@ferrumignis to be reliable its better do not get over 100hp because need to use the original gearbox...and traction is limited from the size from the tires (original is 125 or 135 wide...).I have a improved 2cv engine who produce ~45hp and to have a correct traction i did modify the differencial gear for a torsen (Quaife), gearbox came from a Dyane, top speed 130km/h, limited from the gearbox ratio

[@NikEastwood161]

looks great fun with those worthwhile mods

[@gafrers]

Wonderful and quirky.👍👍👍

[@andrewthompsonuk1]

Most people will not realize the time thought and experimentation that would have gone into that. Any one of those things on their own would have little or no or even a negative effect on performance. I am very impressed by this effort.

[@Mercmad]

about 4 decades ago,a mate in NZ decided his Fiat bambina was a bit tentative so he bored the crank case and head to fit VW barrels and pistons and the sound was very similar to the red rocket.

[@MyJon64]

12 years ago I was at Mallory Park race circuit at Triumph event. The last event was 2CV racing, it was hilarious, fantastic day.

[@shaunfleming8668]

I had a R75 BMW that sounded just like that.....loved to rev and was great fun. Elly, look out!

[@graemew7001]

That is brilliant, I really want one and even the £3000 conversion price doesn't put me off when its giving over a 60% increase in power, definitely makes it a daily driver.

[@volvo480]

Considering the fact that a good 2CV is already priced triple that amount, investing £ 3000 in a rebuilt and uprated engine sounds very sensible to me.

[@graemew7001]

@@volvo480 I'll be honest I was thinking along the same lines as you, a standard rebuilt is over half that amount so the benefits of this engine are well worth the extra money.

[@graemew7001]

@Skodaman2 A Fireblade conversion in a 2CV? I don't have the bottle for that 😂, I'm getting too old maybe. I'd only feel safe going down Santa Pod in something like that!!

[@martentrudeau6948]

What a fun car, nicely done, it's a sleeper 2CV. Ian knows, great review.

[@jefferysmith3930]

What a great sound

[@janstafford1490]

Sounds so sweet

[@kaypearce1537]

Great and worthwhile mods. Now you've sold the Vectra this should b the way to go! The GSA can do the family car duties!!

[@alanpepper7258]

And we contiue... The torque make a very relaxed drive, instead of pushing to get 50/60mph with the old 602 it's just amazing.

[@neilsheppard6673]

Now that's what I call a sleeper! Great fun.

[@colinjones2505]

You know you want to now Ian. I want to too! How much I wonder? Got to purchase a 2CV first though. Brilliant.

[@garywordsworth9302]

I remember from the late 80s performance car magazine had a turbo technics 2CV running a tiny Garret turbo in which they used to annoy and embarrass various warm and hot hatches back in the day 👍🏻

[@loeffelm]

The Force is strong with this one

[@macgvrs]

I had to check the channel name. I thought I had stumbled into Hotrod Hubnut. Great fun. I do submit that more is more. I used to own a 68' Olds 442. Gobs of power everywhere. A really fun car to drive.

[@stantheman9976]

Love it.

[@Dan-hq2js]

That's great he has made that a lot of fun, without taking anything away, I think Ellie deserves it, be worth every penny even if some of the fleet had to go to pay for it!

[@ilijazivanovic3698]

Just not the invacar

[@Shane_Marsh]

That was epic ian. Don't you want to crowd fund that sparrow conversion for elly.

[@maxeluy]

Yes! You need that engine!

[@SPTSuperSprinter156]

That's a great upgrade and if it is getting 48bhp that's impressive without forced induction. I know what you mean about tractability, I drive one of the higher powered Polos and the ability to pull up hills mostly without changing down a lot of gears is nicer than the speed.

[@Swaggerlot]

Glad to see that model has disc brakes, mine came with drums that needed planned braking!