As part of a new urbanism plan for a ‘bio-climatic’ city, officials hope to plant species that will be more resistant to heat
by JENNY CHE
THE guiding principle for planting trees in Paris has historically been an aesthetic one: Find trees that are beautiful and have large canopies, the better to line the city’s picturesque streets and provide ample shade to pedestrians.
The car, in full working order and registered in France, beat expectations when it went under the hammer in the central town of Tours on June 4.
The body of the 2CV was hand-crafted out of wood with the same famous curves as the post-war French classic.
It was snapped up by Paris-based collector Jean-Paul Favand, who owns a museum of vintage fair-ground attractions.
“I’m having difficulty talking after this bet,” Favand told AFP by telephone afterwards.
The auction house had issued a guide price of between €150,000 and €200,000, saying it was “much more than a car — it’s a work of art”.
Auctioneer Aymeric Rouillac declared the sale a record as he brought down the hammer.
Robillard says he had another ‘crazy project’ in mind for the next few years as he intends to make a wooden version of Citroen DS to commemorate the French classic’s 70 years of existence (pic: AFP)
The previous high for a 2CV was set in 2016, when an extremely rare 1961 2CV Sahara in almost mint condition was sold for €172,800 by Paris-based auction house Artcurial.
Carpenter Michel Robillard crafted the wooden 2CV’s wings out of walnut and its chassis from pear and apple tree wood.
He used a single block of cherry wood for the bonnet, shaped with just chisels and sandpaper.
Robillard told AFP that he spent five years and approximately 5,000 hours creating the car, beginning in 2011.
“It’s like my daughter,” he said ashe polished the vehicle before the auction. “I had three boys and this was my little daughter.”
The 2CV — which stands for “deux chevaux”, meaning “2hp” — was launched in 1948 as Citroen’s answer to the Volkswagen Beetle.
Robillard’s model is equipped with an original engine from Citroen’s later 3CV model, giving it the extra power needed to propel the naturally heavier wooden structure.
He said he had another “crazy project” in mind for the next few years.
He intends to make a wooden version of another French classic — the Citroen DS, which in 2025will celebrate 70 years of existence. A woodworker since the age of 14, Robillard began making miniature wooden replicas of the world-famous automobiles in the 1990s. He has won several prizes for his intricate work, including for a Harley Davidson motorcycle and its sidecar, which took more than 500hours to complete. — AFP
- This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition