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The suspension of the 2CV was very soft; a person could easily rock the car side to side dramatically. The swinging arm, fore-aft linked [106] [107] [108] suspension system with inboard front brakes had a much smaller unsprung mass than existing coil spring or leaf spring designs. The design was modified by Marcel Chinon. [36]
Diagram of the Hydractive system, showing centre spheres and stiffness valves. At the heart of the system, acting as pressure sink as well as suspension elements, are the so-called spheres, five or six in all; one per wheel and one main accumulator as well as a dedicated brake accumulator on some models.
Historically, the first mass-production car with front-to-rear mechanical interconnected suspension was the 1948 Citroën 2CV. Suspension in the 2CV was extremely soft — the longitudinal link was making pitch softer, instead of making roll stiffer. It relied on extreme anti-dive and anti-squat geometries to compensate for that.
However, the Panhard's air-cooled flat twin engine was very light, and mounted low down with a low centre of gravity reducing the effect. The air-cooled flat twin engine of the Citroën 2CV was also mounted very low, in front of the front wheels, with the transmission behind the axle line and the differential between the two.
Hydrolastic is a type of space-efficient automotive suspension system used in many cars produced by British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successor companies. Invented by British rubber engineer Alex Moulton , and first used on the 1962 BMC project ADO16 under designer Alec Issigonis , later to be launched as the Morris 1100 .
The Citroën G Van was the 1948 prototype built by Citroën of a small truck which looked like a scaled down version of the H Van, and equipped with an enlarged version of the 2CV flat twin enlarged to 475 cc. Front suspension was akin to that of the 2 CV but with twin suspension arms, while the springing medium was by torsion bars front and rear.
The platform chassis and suspension is similar to the 2CV, being independent all round using leading and trailing arms and coil springs interconnected front to rear. For a detailed suspension description see Citroën 2CV. The Ami's seats were easily removable. Sales pitches of the Ami included photographs of the seats being used as picnic chairs.
The 2CV pioneered a very soft, interconnected suspension, but did not have the more complex self-levelling feature. This car remained in production, with only minor changes, until 1990 and was a common sight on French roads until recently; 9 million 2CV variants were produced in the period 1948–1990. [24]