A Citroën Dyane in Norway?

I'm planning to import the Dyane this summer and hopefully get it registered here without to much trouble. Many people will question the wisdom of using a 2cv like car in Norway. They'll cite the weedy 602 cc engine, the fact that all the whole car is a crumple zone and the woefully inadequate heating for the climate as three good reasons not to use such an antiquated vehicle. However, the Citroen A-type is still an amazing example of a design that solved all the major problems that car drivers faced sixty years ago and continues to provide comfortable transport today.

In the context of Norway you can't avoid the risks due to the lack of modern crash protection. On the plus side, the margin for error in a Dyane is greatly increased because the car is only 150 cm wide. This gives a 30-50 cm width advantage over modern cars which is not to be underestimated on Norway's often very narrow A-road network. The Citroen A-type driver also benefits from the soft suspension. Road surfaces here can be appalling and anything that insulates the driver from unexpected shocks and jarring improves their ability to react correctly to unexpected situations.

The engine is low powered, but the speed limit in Norway is only 80km/h, with the exception of a few short sections of motorway around some of the large towns. A 602cc A-type can easily hit 80km/h in third gear, so even on moderate inclines you will not be holding traffic up. On steeper hills a faster car could, in theory go up 2nd gear hills more quickly. Practice teaches you that you will encounter hairpin bends and narrow bits of road which dampen the enthusiasm of all but the most aggressive drivers. For example, the first ten kilometres of the Rv 51 up to Golsfjellet is so winding that you'd be lucky to average 60km/h without putting other road users at risk.

Heating is a problem if you are planning on using an A-type in Nordic winters. This winter we experienced temperatures down to -30'c. The Syncro was just able to keep us from freezing at those temperatures. We'd have been struggling to do the same trips in the Dyane without an auxiliary heater. This does mean that if I want to use the Dyane in winter then an Eberspacher or Webasto heater will be essential. Now these heaters are expensive, starting at the Eur 1000 mark for a 2kW heater. However, compared to how much value a new car has lost in the first three years of ownership, the price of an Eber or Webasto heater is peanuts.

I won't be able to enjoy my Dyane until later in the summer. Until then here are three videos of the car on a trip to Gjøvik and back, from September 2010. The first one is of the outward journey and the second two from the return. Video three is of the Rv51 as the road winds its way up the valley from Fagernes towards Golsfjellet. Ah the sweet sound of a high revving two-cylinder boxer engine.

I am not prepared to sell my soul to the YouTube devil, so the videos are hosted on the mistymornings.net site. They might take a while to load. Here are links to them:

Video 1: outward journey Rv 33.

Video 2: return journey in the evening on the Rv 33.

Video 3: return journey, hairpins on the Rv 51.

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