It’s a busy old world out there with people spending most of the day rushing from A to B.
But not Richard Muller – he likes to take things slowly, especially when he is behind the wheel.
“When I am driving I don’t really go over 50mph. I like to toddle along,” the 50-year-old said.
“I’m not one of these people who like fancy Jaguars and little fast cars. I prefer the more commercial side. I like to take things more slowly.”
It’s no surprise then that the Mintlaw resident’s vehicle is a 1965 2CV AZU Fourgonnette, which he has had since September last year. But it wasn’t his first choice when he set out to buy himself a classic car.
Inspired by a friend who renovates old Morris Minors, he decided to treat himself with something which he could work on and take to shows.
“I was initially looking for something like a Citroen H van, it’s a bit like a transit-style van, based on the Citroen 2CV,” he said.
“They have got the 2CV engine in them. They were demanding too much money for them though. They can go from £10,000 to £50,000.”
Then he set his mind on the Tranction Avant – a pre-war saloon-like car, but again, they were too expensive.
He later came across the vehicle he would eventually buy but it was a toss-up between that and an Acadiane van, which was based on the Dyane.
“I looked at both of them but I was born in 1965 and this was a ’65 model,” he said.
“So the car is three months older than me. That was really the decider for me.”
Richard has already done some work on the van to get it through its MOT and it has recently been in the garage getting a new exhaust fitted. But apart from getting the oil changed, it doesn’t need “an awful lot of work hopefully”.
“It’s going to need quite a bit of paint work done, that is work that I am doing myself and I have made a start on it,” he said.
“At the moment it is air force blue. It’s going to be slightly darker but the trouble is if you change the colour you need to tell the DVLA so it makes it a lot more complicated.
“I love the colour though. My father-in-law was in the air and sea rescue so that’s another reason for keeping the colour of the car.”
The car joins Richard’s growing Citroen collection. It includes model cars, original registration plates and books and magazines detailing the history of the marque.
It’s a marque which Richard is familiar with. He remembers seeing his own car on the streets in the Netherlands where he grew up.
“I grew up in Holland and I used to see them on the road,” he said.
“My dad used to have a Renault 4 which was a big competitor to the Citroen at the time.
The car originally came from Alicante in Spain and was imported to a garage in Holland where Richard bought it.
He managed to track down the original owner to find out more about the vehicle but so far has not had a reply.
Undeterred, he plans to try to find out as much as he can about the car – as well as meet like-minded people.
He would like to set up a club for different kinds of classic cars.
He said: “I need to find a building where people can congregate and work on their vehicles. That is something I’m thinking of trying to start in the summer.”
In the meantime he will continue working on the van, and hopes to have it finished by the end of the year. He said he has enjoyed the restoration process so far.
“I’m learning an awful lot from it,” he added.
First car: Suzuki SC 100
Dream car: Citroen H van
