The 7 Best French Classic Cars of All Time

French cars are full of personality. As Del Boy might say, we think these 7 classics are the Creme de la Menthe!

Citroen 2CV

Can there be anything more French than the Citroën 2CV?

This umbrella on wheels with the pull-back roof was a major flop when it debuted at the 1948 Paris Show.

One critic joked, 'it can go from 0-60mph in one day'. But it sold by the millions and became the car of the people.

The 2CV shouldn’t really work, and yet it has a timeless je ne sais quoi. 

Classic fact: Citroën boss Pierre-Jules Boulanger had a clear brief for the 2CV: it must go 60 miles on 3 litres of fuel while carrying 4 people and a 110lb bag of potatoes. Mon Dieu!

Renault 5 Turbo

The R5 Turbo remains one of the great hot hatches, even after 40 years.

Renault transfigured the humble 5 into this 1.4 litre turbocharged pocket rocket.

It had fiendish rear-wheel handling and beefed-up bodywork. Yet it weighed a mere 850kg. Bonkers.

It took years before Renault dared go this far off-piste again, with the equally barmy Clio V6.

Classic fact: A Group N car has won a World Rally Championship rally only once. That car was a Renault 5 GT Turbo.

Bugatti Veyron

If you like fast cars – and who doesn’t? – then you’ll know why the Veyron belongs on this list.

When Bugatti's insanely fast hypercar appeared in 2005, it blew people’s heads off. A quad-turbo W16 engine made it fly to 267mph in Super Sports configuration.

Italian-born (but technically French) founder Ettore Bugatti once said, 'I make my cars to go, not stop'. Imagine if he'd lived to see this beauty go?

Classic fact: If you floored the Veyron you could drive 50.2 miles in 12 minutes before running out of fuel – that’s London to Oxford in less time than I’d Do Anything for Love by Meatloaf.

Peugeot 205 GTi

The hatch that hatched a hundred hatchbacks.

The legendary 205 GTi sold like hot croissants when it launched in 1984. Affordable, stylish, and phenomenal to drive, it transformed Peugeot with its mass appeal.

The light frame and 1.6-litre engine made it lightening quick off the mark. Cue legions of boy racers revving you at the traffic lights. He's hard.

Classic fact: The opening scene of Subway where an early GTi speeds through Paris is one of the most criminally underrated car chases in movie history. Fact.

Renault Clio V6

In 2001, Renault Sport went completely tonto and created this outrageous two-seater hot hatch.

They shoved a 3.0 litre V6 engine inside a small car where the rear seats should be. The effect was white-knuckle raw power that scared the bejeesus out of inexperienced drivers. But what fun.

Health & safety would never allow it today. Pity.

Classic fact: Apparently, during the V6 racetrack press launch, most journalists failed to complete a lap without losing the back end.

Citroen DS

Arguably the most iconic French car ever created. When the DS launched in 1955 it looked more like a spacecraft than a car.

Revolutionary inside and out, it was the first mass-assembled car with hydraulic suspension, front disc brakes and directional headlights.

The DS is an icon of the Citroën brand, and today is displayed at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Classic fact: The failed assassination attempt of President Charles de Gaulle in 1962 was widely credited to the nifty getaway of his bullet-riddled Citroën DS.

Venturi 400 GT

Ben,Wikimedia

Talk about a rare creature. The Venturi was the road version of the Venturi Trophy touring car.

It had a formidable twin-turbo PRV V6 engine and could hit 180mph. The press called it the 'French F40’. 

Like the Ferrari, it shared a mid-engine, rear-wheel layout. It also shared (spoiler alert) a massive rear wing.

Today, sadly, the chances of spotting this classic in the wild are nil points.

Classic fact: When launched in 1995, the Venturi 400 GT was the fastest production car in French history.

Read more from our Classic Cars Series:

The 8 Best British Classic Cars

The 9 Best German Classic Cars

The 8 Best Japanese Classic Cars