Following the book presentation about Ma Petite, the 2CV from Margré Meijer and we had put a message online about other Ducks and their riders.
And after such a message you can see how deep the memories of Duck owners go back. For example, a very young Erwin Karstens went to the Vosges with three fellow students to do something geologically. Their Duck was bought without knowledge on the then notorious Utrecht car market. Was in a wrecked Duck Plombières-les-Bains much further away than it is now. Certainly because the Duck with four men plus a load of gear for geological field research drove no faster than 70. But in 1981, students had much more time than now. In Plombières-les-Bains In the meantime, the foursome was pretty well trained in eliminating disruptions en route.
The Duck was used locally for two weeks, but turned out to be terminal.
Twenty years later, Erwin was in again Plombières-les-Bains. His Duck was still where he had taken his last breath.
NB> With today's knowledge Erwin would never again leave a car in the woods. In terms of the environment ...
But take a look at the French forests. There is more than all those trees that are learning for plank or firewood ..
Ruud Holger was already a techie before he rode Duck. And he did what had been done before. He tinkered an 1200 cc GS block in the nose of his 2CV. That does not seem to be such a job at all, and we dive into it once. The bonnet and front shields must in any case be extended.
From that moment on he had an 2CV that ran a mile or 120 + and was as steady as a drunken ballet dancer. And at that time, 2CV pilots fought minute-long, bitter overtaking competitions. In such cases, Ruud acted as if he could barely cope with that fight, let the other Duck racer walk out after about five minutes ... And then gave it a go to leave the bewildered competitor in utter confusion.
After such a destructive ego, it turned out that he was still being chased. By a - even then - inconspicuous police car.
The policeman said: "I don't know what you did, but you can never do it again, but if my colleague and I are allowed to test it, we will not talk about anything anymore."