Photograph referenced ELV 640 — under the bonnet of a hydrostatic 2 CV, 7 February 1964

In this document

Page 5 presents a black and white photograph of the engine compartment of a 2 CV seen from above, bonnet open p. 5.

One can distinguish an engine surrounded by numerous tangled flexible and rigid hoses, a storage battery on the right with its round caps visible, a shiny cylindrical metal part with a round opening suggesting an exhaust or filtration element, a light-coloured air filter cover at the top left, springs and hose clamps p. 5.

A cardboard tag is suspended by a string near the battery, but its text is not legible p. 5. At the bottom left, a wheel with a treaded tyre appears; the background shows the raised bonnet in front of a wall p. 5.

A handwritten inscription at the bottom right of the snapshot indicates "ELV 640" followed by "7-2-64" p. 5, which confirms the reference and date already appearing in the archive title.

Context

The acronym "ELV 640" evokes a French registration plate from the 1960s, a common practice for identifying test vehicles at manufacturers.

This document is, in all likelihood, part of the research conducted by Citroën teams on experimental transmissions applied to the 2 CV, a simple and robust mechanical base often used as a test platform before considering more sophisticated solutions, similar to the work carried out in parallel on the hydropneumatic suspension of the DS. However, this is only general knowledge about the era, not attested by the document itself.

Archivist's perspective

This photograph is probably part of a series of photographic tests documenting, at close intervals, different configurations or different vehicles equipped with a hydrostatic transmission — a hypothesis reinforced by the existence, in the same file, of a very similar snapshot referenced EJV 640 and dated the same day, as well as another referenced ELV 724.

The illegible cardboard tag suspended near the battery p. 5 suggests an internal identification system for the test bench, unfortunately lost to us. The level of detail in the photograph — tangle of hoses, cylindrical parts, springs — testifies to the experimental and still not very "industrialised" nature of the assembly observed, consistent with a development phase rather than a final presentation.