Ants 1974 Citroen Dyane 6. Daily driver.whith Hubnuts visit!

Yes, yes, yes! V interested to hear about it. please go on!

Looks tidy, tell us more.

So when I uprooted myself and family to a new house in a new country my beloved 2cvs were not a “practical option” so I bought an equally impractical but bigger Mazda bongo and between that and my late fathers 1996 Hyundai galloper...


We “made do”

Now of course the moment we arrived in Hungary and got a basic mobile internet connection sorted we were busily checking out the tax situation,schools for the kids etc etc etc!

“All very sensible”I hear you quietly chorus!
Trouble is I'm a bit of an insomniac...so whilst my family slept I thought Id have a look for 2cvs for sale in Hungary

Blimey...theres a poor selection I thought...load of rubbish.....and the prices

Well just out of interest I thought Id up the budget in my search criteria!

Uh oh!
This is the moment we all know too well

The moment your heart beats faster and (in my case) when you have to take yer specs off and take a bunch of screenshots (so you can blow them up later)

Hmmm...after a week of fruitless searching for a decent 2cv.....Ive found.......a 1974 Citroen Dyane
Its on the other side of Hungary and its well out of my price range...but hey its orange and despite having driven a number of Dyanes Ive never owned one
My recently aquired (dream house) turns out to have bad plumbing dangerous electrics and costs £500 a month to heat!

There was no way I could get that car so I filed it into the part of my mind that says “one day” that would be nice

My daughters boyfriend is Hungarian, works/lives in the UK, his parents have a holiday house at Lake Balaton sounds a great place to live.

It was where East Germans went for holidays and when the Hungarians took down the border fences where they escaped to the West. Abandoning their cars and hanging the keys in the trees by the border.

*At least that's how it was described in the Ken Follett book Edge of Eternity.

So having dropped that bombshell allow me to bring you up to speed on “the Dyane”
Lets fast forward about 18 months...I'm finally settled in my (as We now realised ) cheap to buy but very expensive to maintain monolith of a house
When all of a sudden I had a bit of money come my way

What should I do with this sudden windfall?
Well being rather stupid and impetuous by nature, I of course rushed out and immediately aquired a large comfy sofa...a 65” television a slap up meal in a fancy restaurant....and....yes youve guessed it a “new car”
Don’t worry though cos when I say “new car” I mean old car but “new to me”

With cash literally burning a hole in my pocket and my wifes grumbling about “the kitchen” growing ever louder I knew I had to act and act fast!
With a sense of determination fuelled by the fact that my pocket was becoming increasingly hot I weighed up the options..

Hmmm should I bring the 2cv over from the Uk...well yeah but later...after all there will be a lot of paperwork and “inspections/backhanders involved)
Far better to get a 2cv thats already registered in Hungary I thought
Ok well lets have a look at whats available over here then!

Now lets just get this straight...that orange Dyane that I saw 18 months ago was very much still the “object of my desire” but despite still having its picture as the background on my ipad I had long ago resigned myself to the fact that I would “never own it”

So as I filled in the search criteria on Hungarys equivalent of autotrader I was well prepared for the usual dismal selection of overpriced overused “red/black charlestones” usually with no paperwork/last registered in Germany or Austria 17 years ago etc etc

Oh my Goodness (or rude words to that effect) what was the cheapest and consequently first car that came up?


Yup..I think You’ve guessed it........after 18 months...one and a half years...ITS STILL FOR SALE

Well blow me down!
This is meant to be!

My wife and translator was duly summoned and briefed.......a phonecall was made and.....

Another thread, another car? U B crazy! Me like!
You bring just what we like, hopeless rustbuckets returning to life. Keep it up and we will cheer you on.
Loving the idea of a RR meeting in hungary, I cannot come, but I will be able to see the pictures afterwards in all the different threads.

After a lot of soul searching and procrastination about the dyane we went to inspect it...the car was found to be in excellent original condition with little to no rust..original chassis and low miles a lovely car to all intents and purposes..with just one minor problem It wouldn’t start!
One sniff of the petrol tank told me why immediately....very old fuel
Now I should mention that the dyane was being sold by a car dealer not a private individual so youd think theyd know better than to leave a car sitting for almost two years with modern fuel in it.
All our phone calls had been dealt with by the dealers assistant who seemed (if i may say so) a bit clueless

Never fear he assured us “ill phone the guvnah” .....an hour and a half later “the guvnah” who bore more than just a passing resemblance to a very angry looking Tyson fury on steroids duly arrived and promptly went ballistic.
Not at us but at his assistant.
Having blown himself out of puff,My wife tentatively asked if it would be at all possible now that he was here for him to get the car started as we would be interested in purchasing it and after all we had prearranged the inspection not to mention the fact we had travelled 100 miles to be here!
Casting her a withering look he intimated that “theres no way I'm wasting my afternoon getting that started” before stalking off in high dudgeon!

His assistant shuffled his feet and laughed nervously.....I almost felt sorry for him.

Oh well sod this for a game of soldiers lets go home then.

So we did...empty handed and vowing never to return

The following morning there was a phone call....a rather interesting and somewhat apologetic phone call from......well you’ll have to stay tuned to find out !
Night all Ant

I'm glad I didn't start reading this before I went to bed last night, i'd also be waiting for the next installment..