South Garage: the first motorcycle inspired by the Citroen 2CV is born

South Garage – A truly unique motorbike was born in the South Garage workshop in Milan: the first special inspired by the Citroen 2CV, which takes up one of the symbolic cars of the French company, but without carrying out invasive interventions on the frame, chassis and engine of the original motorbike .

The first motorcycle inspired by the Citroen 2CV: the project

The 2CV model chosen as a source of inspiration is the Charleston, with bodywork in the classic burgundy and black colours. Created in 1981, the Charleston was initially called Tréfle, like the small 5HP Citroën of the 20s and was a tribute to the "crazy years", in retro style. With the two-tone bodywork in burgundy and black or yellow and black, it was also accompanied by a more sophisticated version in two tones of grey. Of all the special series, the Charleston is certainly the best known and most successful. It supported the sales of the 2CV to such an extent that it extended its life until 1990, when it was a Charleston, the last 2CV that rolled off the assembly lines of Citroën's Portuguese factory in Mangualde on 27 July 1990. The precise objective of the operation was that of giving the bike a stylistic imprinting that immediately recalls the lines of the 2CV, but without carrying out invasive interventions on the frame, chassis and engine of the original bike. The South Garage team therefore continues with the project with the intention of "overturning" the external style of the motorbike but without "upsetting" some of its basic elements.

A work in which free creative expression is associated with extreme precision of execution and accuracy down to the smallest details. For this project it was decided to keep the original exhaust and tank, integrating them as best as possible into the new design. At the rear of the bike are the wheel arches of the 2CV Charleston, with their unmistakable rounded shapes. 95% faithful to the original ones of the car, they adapt perfectly to the motorbike chassis. The supporting superstructures, created ad-hoc with welding and processing of the material, are installed so that they can be easily removed from the motorcycle: a design created specifically around its original frame, in a reversible manner.

The original exhausts of the motorbike with their bottle shape integrate perfectly into the rounded lines of the livery. To ensure that the exhaust terminal, with its characteristic curvature, is enhanced in its entirety by emerging in mid-air under the fairing, the lower part of the rear wheel arch sheet metal is specially shaped. The two headlights of the 2CV Charleston, as on the car, are positioned on the front mudguard, on the sides of the forks. Finally, the front of the 2CV is also reproduced on the bike, revisited and adapted.