The Wall Street Journal - 31.07.2019

A14| Wednesday, July 31, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

This Citroën Waited 16 Years for Its Driver

MY RIDE| A.J. BAIME

Geneva Long, 29, the Los

Angeles-based CEO of

Bowlus Road Chief travel

trailers, on her 1990 Citroën

Deux Chevaux, as told to

A.J. Baime.

My dad, John Long, has

been collecting vintage cars

for years, and growing up I

would spend a lot of time

with him in the garage. His

first car was a Citroën ID19.

He found it in a field and

got it for free, and he still

owns it—one of many Cit-

roëns in the family.

My father had a particu-

lar affection for the Citroën

Deux Chevaux, or 2CV, as it

is known. He had a blue one

called Beluga, and there

was a pair he called Salt

and Pepper because one was

white, the other black. (Salt

and Pepper shared parts, so

they never ran at the same

time.) Growing up, we

would take drives in these

2CVs. I would sit in the pas-

senger seat, and it would be

my job to shift the gears.

When I was born, my dad

bought me a 2CV. (That is

whyitisa1990,asitwas

born the same year as me.)

Throughout my childhood,

the car sat in the garage.

There are pictures of me at

age 2, pretending to drive

it. When I turned 16, my

parents decorated the car

with pink balloons. It only

had 50 miles on it. My dad

drove me to the DMV in the

2CV, and once I had my li-

cense, I drove it home.

I drove the car all

through high school. When

I went to college at Whar-

ton in Philadelphia, the car

came with me. I kept it on

the top floor of a parking

garage,soifIhadto,I

could roll down from the

seventh floor and push-

start it. My father was

never worried about me

getting a speeding ticket,

because the air-cooled en-

gine only puts out 29

horsepower. Still, it is fun

to drive. I love its classic

lines and the lightweight

construction. Everything

about the interface is easy.

What is a Deux Chevaux?

It is a classic French car.

You can turn on practically

any French movie and see

one. Literally, the name

means two horses. The year

1990 was the last year of

production, so my car is the

most modern Deux Chevaux.

While the 2CV is not the

best commuting car in the

L.A. area, it is a great Cali-

fornia car. The roof rolls

back, so it is basically a

convertible. We take our

dog to the beach on week-

ends in it. There’s a distinc-

tive odor of oil, gas and ex-

haust that comes through

the heating system. Every

time I smell that smell, it

takes me back to when I

was a kid.

Contact A.J. Baime at

Facebook.com/ajbaime.

IAN SPANIER FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (4)

Geneva Long with her father, John Long, and

below in her 1990 Citroën Deux Chevaux in

Malibu, Calif. For fans of 2CVs, the design of

the headlight is instantly recognizable.

LIFE & ARTS

Her father bought this 1990 Deux Chevaux, or 2CV, the last year it was made, when she was a baby

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