Back to the Future
In an automotive age of airbags and air conditioning, is it possible to reinvent a classic? We asked London owners of2CVs to test Citroen's new small car, the C3. Here, they give their verdict to Bob Murray

CITROEN hopes life will be splendid for owners of its new C3 small car. Now on sale under the slogan "la vie est belle" -"life is good" -the characterful newcomer aims to go down a storm with London's young and young at heart.

But life is already good for thousands of drivers of that other characterful small Citroen, the elderly but still adored 2CV: Could the new car seen in some circles as beleted replacement for the 2CV -tempt them out of their tin snails?

By rights, the C3 should because there has been half a century of automotive advancement between it and the 2CV. The latter, conceived before the last war, is slow, smoky, sounds like a lawn mower and, in an accident, folds up like a pack of cards. But it does have an abundance of Gallic charm and for enthusiasts offers a unique driving experience.

By contrast, the C3 is among the cleanest, quietest and safest superminis on the road. It has airbags, anti-lock brakes, and a top speed of more than l00mph. One thing the cars share is a personality -a statement that promises to split opinion on the new car just as fiercely as it did on the 2CV.

One who is in no doubt about that is 2CV specialist Mark Waghorn, a former 2CV racing driver who now restores and sells them from his business, MWR Motors in Latchmere Road,Battersea. "It's nice to see they have tried to get back some of the 2CV's spirit with the new car," says Waghorn. "But the 2CV is such a glorious one-off you could never replicate it."

What do London's 2CV owners think of the C3? We decided to put it to the test.

Accountant Natalie Williams, 29, from Cheam, is in favour of the C3. "I like the way it looks," she says. "It's roomy and comfortable and would be great on a long run. But the dashboard is cluttered with buttons. All these electric features are a bit over the top for a little car."

Although C3s start at £8,995, our test car is the top-of-the- range £12,000 model, with features such as heated seats, cruise control, air conditioning and even parking sensors. The last 2CVsold in Britain in 1989 cost £4,200. The C3's biggest plus for Williams is its safety "I have some concerns about putting my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter Hannah in the 2CV;
even though she has the best child seat. I would be much happier with Hannah in the C3. It feels a lot more solid."
Williams finds the C3's brakes too sharp but overall it gets a thumbs up - as a second car. "I'd like a C3 but I would never sell my 2CV. I enjoy driving that more. The C3 seems to drive itself," she says.

"It all feels a bit fitted carpet and plastic to me, says Ian Littler, 58, who with his wife has run 2CVs since the 1960s.
He is also less than impressed by the test C3's lack of an opening roof and, like our other testers, by its sharp brakes.

Despite this, Littler who runs a photographic and design studio in Battersea, confesses. "I actually enjoy driving the
new car more. It's less fun than the 2CV but it's much more sophisticated and will be much better on the motorway. I need a new car and I think this could be it."

Alexander Manch, 53, has covered 180,000 miles in his 2CV nicknamed Aubergine. Will the new C3 be as long
lived? "This car is more of a consumer durable. I don't think it will still be going in 21 years like mine.
"But it's very easy on the eye, in this lovely French lilac. It's pert, and has more charm than most small cars. I like the front pillars: they are almost flying buttresses. It's a shame the seats don't come out. There are aspects of the 2CV'sDNA discernible but they haven't copied it. However, it would have been contemptible if they had."

Again it's the C3's brakes that catch out the dedicated 2CV driver. But Manch a remedial massage therapist from Upper Norwood, enjoys the car with its light steering and brisk performance. So is it the new 2CV? "Nothing can be like the 2CV because it is so iconoclastic and idiosyncratic." Retired naval architect from Surbiton, David de Verinne, says he would like to see a new 2CV; but is adamant what it would be like, that is, nothing like the C3. "This is much too posh," he says of the C3. "Most people who run a 2CV do so on a shoestring and this has always been the case. That's who the car was designed for original. A 'new 2CV' needs to be simple and easy to repair. " De Verinne, 75, who bought his 2CV Charleston new in 1983, adds "2CV owners don't want this sort of thing. It looks like a normal car. Look at the flashy dashboard. It doesn't make the car go any better."

Overall then, its what Citroen knew all along: 2CV owners are a breed apart, and the 2CV is such a unique machine, created to give poor French farmers a practical work horse in the post war years, you could never truly reinvent it in an age of airbags and air conditioning.
Or could you? Later this year Citroen takes the wraps off a new C3 version that converts from saloon to convertible to two seat pick up truck. Not even the 2CV could do that.

With thanks to MWR Motors of Latchmere Road, Battersea.