1961 Citroën Bijou

The vendor is an established and respected restorer of classic vehicles and is well-known to us.

He bought the car around 4 years ago when it was looking very sorry for itself, living in a field and in truly ‘barn find’ condition. It had been with its then owner for some 25 years.

The vendor then spent the frankly eye-watering amount of £90,000 (he was clearly on a mission) on resurrecting the car – which meant refurbishing, restoring and replacing everything, inside, outside and underneath, as appropriate.

The vendor has described the restoration as follows.

“Work carried out to 1961 Citroen Bijou, chassis number BJ0226, engine number 02778131 AZ, from 27/11/2017 to 04/05/2021.

To carry out a total body-off restoration to the above vehicle:

• new correct early chassis from Citroparts

• front and rear braking and suspension completely restored

• all new brake lines, new electric wiring loom built and fitted

• full bodywork restoration

• four new steel out-riggers manufactured and fitted to the chassis

• engine and gearbox (originals with matching numbers) fully rebuilt

• all ancillaries fully rebuilt

• new electronic ignition, new carburettor

• 5 new steel wheels and tyres

• new exhaust system fitted

• new bare glass full respray to Farina Grey (paint code BLVC 477LMN)

• complete hand-made interior in red to original factory standard

• all instruments rebuilt, along with all switch gear

• new rear quarter glass

• all new weather seals.”

The Deux Chevaux Club of Great Britain (who rightly claim to know a great deal about these things), described this Bijou as being the best they’d ever seen.

Sounds about right to us.

This is a very pretty car from any angle.

The paintwork gleams and is untroubled by any dinks, chips, nicks, folds, creases or scuffs.

The shut lines are consistent and even.

Being fibreglass there is, of course, no rust or bubbling anywhere on the bodywork.

The chrome work is shiny and bright.

The wheels are in excellent condition, as are the matching tyres.

All lights, trim and badging are correct and pristine.

The car looks factory-fresh and, almost certainly, even better than it did when it first emerged blinking into the light from its Slough factory 60 years ago.

The interior is gorgeously simple, stylish and powerfully evocative of another era.

It’s both an homage to the utilitarian functionality that characterized the 2CV and, with its single-spoke steering wheel and distinctly Bauhaus design aesthetic, a curiously futuristic nod to an imagined space-age world inhabited by The Jetsons.

It’s all been done to the highest possible standards, reflecting the fact that the new interior cost the vendor over £8,500 in parts alone.

The simple, hammock-frame seats are delightful, comfortable and supportive in equal measure. The rear bench, ditto.

The dashboard, gear lever and steering wheel are immaculate and, as far as we can see, devoid of any flaws or faults.

The carpets, headlining and door cards are similarly untroubled by time or use and look to be as minty-fresh as the rest of this extraordinary vehicle.

There are small cracks in the fibreglass at the tops of both doors above the handles.

The boot is in first-class condition, with the only flaw being a somewhat rough and ready finish to the fibreglass on the inside of the boot lid.

The undersides of the car suggest that it’s never been outside.

Everything looks brand new and completely undisturbed by

mileage, the elements or anything that came out of a council gritter (so to speak).

The engine bay is clean and dry and everything looks to be entirely in order.

Since being rebuilt, the engine has done a few miles on a rolling road – and that’s about it.

Technically, it’s not even ‘run-in’ yet.

This car comes with tons of receipts, bills and invoices from all manner of specialist suppliers and, of course, from the vendor’s own workshop.

In fact, there are two thick files of documentation.

There are photographs of the car before and after restoration, plus magazine articles, letters from the 2CVGB Club, and a series of correspondence between the vendor and the DVLA who, despite being provided with all manner of supporting evidence, puzzlingly refused him the right to retain the car’s original registration.

The odometer is showing 63,493 miles.

The car doesn’t currently have an MoT certificate.

We can’t easily imagine that any of the other 210 Citroën Bijous made (and how many of them are left?) come close to this one in terms of condition and quality.

It is an exceptionally good example of an incredibly unusual model that hardly ever comes to auction.

Every time its next owner takes it out for a spin he or she will have to get used to answering one question over and over (and over) again:

“What is it?”

There several answers to that question. If it were ours, we’d be inclined to say:

“It’s beautiful, fun, vanishingly rare, charming, pretty much immaculate…..and it’s not yours”.

Go on. You know you want to.

We’re confident that this glorious vehicle will fetch somewhere between £25,000 - £35,000.

Viewing is always encouraged. This particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays between 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.