2cv Effect?

[truemouse]

Okay, so my first, second and third Citroens were 2cv's, I aim to get another in the next five years.

Just got myself a Picasso, and I want to do something about the wheels. Is there any company out there that would pander to die-hard 'duck' fans and produce the signature 2cv wheel style as a wheel trim? You know, the metal breast and 3 lug-nuts on a plastic 15 inch rim?

Personally I think it would look great and confuse the passer by.

[tronboy]

Interesting thought....

 

I reckon that you could make up a cage-nut for the wheel centre, spray the 15" wheel in Gris Rosé and fit a 2CV type stainless embellisher. Would look great on a Pic' or an Iron Grey Berlingo!

[truemouse]

So use, for instance, the plastic hubcap from a commercial Citroen (Such as a Berlingo Enterprise) mounts a central retaining nut for the chromed 2cv hubcap http://www.ecas2cvparts.co.uk/assets/product_images/21500.jpg

 

Then get something like this http://www.ecas2cvparts.co.uk/assets/product_images/21600.jpg to dress the rim?

 

Lot of measuring shall ensue. Thanks.

 

 

BTW, was kinda looking at a cream color for the wheel recently. Give it a kinda pseudo 'light 15' look. Works well with a dark grey, no?

 

 

PS

Little bits of useless information.

 

Both Henry Ford and Andre' Citroen held the belief that you could have any shade you wanted, so long as it was black. This was not for any style reason, but because black paint (at that time) would dry faster than any other color due to that particular shade's ability to absorb more heat.

 

White cars at the time were considered really expensive prestige cars. A lot of Rolls Royces and Cadillacs of the roaring 20's were white.

 

Whitewall tyres were introduced for a similar reason. Natural rubbers of the time would degrade with daily exposure to the heat from sunlight more readily than rubbers today. Black rubber would absorb more heat so would degrade faster. You may find some vintage cars with completely white (albeit faded white) tyres. While these lasted longer the costs of manufacture soon made them impractical. A white tyre trim could be inserted between the steel rim and the black rubber tyre. Tyres could also be made with a white-wall molded into them. These were the perfect solutions until black rubber could be made more resistant to sunlight.

 

In America codes were introduced for a brief time using different coloured walls. A white band meant more load-strength (how much weight could be applied to the tyre) the bigger the band the stronger the tyre, the heavier the vehicle on top could be. Red band noted torque-strength - again the bigger the band the higher the rating. Prestige took over again and those with heavy luxury cars would want to tell the world by showing off their big-band white-walls. Muscle cars would show off their torque by putting the red-band to the outside. Low-riders would require a high load-strength and so you would see low-rider cars with white-bands or white-walls as well.

 

http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/177091/2/istockphoto_177091_wheel.jpg