Highly skilled team of 50 transform Dolly the Citroen 2CV in just six weeks

A very special 2CV made a dramatic public debut at Bicester Heritage on 15th May – called Dolly and labeled the 2CVat70 project, it arrived suspended below a helicopter! That was not the only unusual thing about this Citroen, because it has been kitted out as one of the world’s smallest food trucks, complete with a state of the art kitchen that includes a charcoal oven and a bar on wheels.

The 2CV’s exterior has also seen an incredible makeover, led by technology company 3M and a team of five partners who have wrapped the car and given it a psychedelic finish. After its Bicester debut, the finished article then wowed the crowds at The London Motor Show from 17th-20th May at London’s Excel.

There is a serious purpose behind Dolly too, as she will also travel the UK this summer as the new British ambassador for tackling food waste in partnership with food waste charity Food Cycle. The Citroen will do a day or two a week for the charity, and will be able to cook food that supermarkets and food outlets are planning on throwing away, right there in the car park, and send it over to homeless shelters. The 2CVat70 will also be able to travel to farms and go into the fields to cook up soups and other items from unwanted vegetables.

There is a nice food link to the origins of the 2CV 70 years ago as well – the model was intended to help motorise the rural population of France, and one of the design requirements was that the car should be able to carry a basket eggs across a freshly ploughed field without breaking them. The 2CV’s legendary suspension will once more be called into action to prove its prowess in this regard as British free-range eggs producer, St Ewe, has gifted the 2CVat70 project 10,000 eggs. The plan is to set up breakfast kitchens for the homeless, giving them a good breakfast and hoping that might be the day that turns their life around.

Some of you might be wondering how the low-powered 2CV copes with lugging a complete and luxuriously equipped kitchen around everywhere it goes, conjuring up progress that does full justice to the model’s nickname of the ‘tin snail.’ However, not all the kitchen and bar items need be carried at the same time, and Dolly typically weighs just 150kg more than a standard car when equipped for any one job. We are reliably informed that the 602cc air-cooled twin is still perfectly able to haul it along at a decent lick. And that is just as well because in its first week the project had racked up no fewer than 20 bookings!

Thanks to the generosity of so many sponsors, Dolly is able to liven up both charity and commercial events. You can follow its progress at major sporting, motor and food events across the UK and also around the world across social media platforms, while for further information on appearances, bookings and enquires, email hello dolly