OK, a very brief 'history' is parents had two of these around 1985/86 , the first was (even at that time) a very rough R plate and then this was traded in for a "perfick" mid blue 'V' plate. I can still remember the registration.
, its long gone though 
"Tax due: 01 February 1991"Given I was 12/13 at that time, it was a bit beyond me. However my questions are:
1. The 'traffic' clutch. I know this is a centrifugal device (probably not too dissimilar to the way the Honda 'cub's have it actually) , is the transmission 3 speed because of this ? I'd expect slightly less ratios are needed at a guess 2/3/4 or 1.5/3/4 may be more appropriate.
2. Talking of this 'semi auto' unit. I'm assuming they can 'creep' for convenience of parking ? Although slightly off topic I do not like any of the modern MMT units as they are quite annoying to park having no creep facility and some appear to be a vicious on/off switch.
3. When was this option stopped (rough year?) and were they actually reliable units ?
4. I understand the last few years (86 onwards?) the build quality was not brilliant or the material used was not. I'm not sure which. I have heard this although some form of confirmation would be great from someone who knows.
5. I keep hearing about the cardboard heater tubes rotting and falling onto the manifold = potential fire. This is going to sound really obvious but why not use aluminium ones ? Air cooled beetles originally had paper / card tubes although the metal ones are readily available so is there a compelling reason why ally ones could not be used on a 2CV to reduce risk ?
6. I heard the transmission is easily broken if you reverse up steep inclines. I read as to why but although it makes partial logical sense, I'd sort of expected if that was true then the transmission would fall apart within 50K anyway.
7. We never really had any reliability issues with ours (but dad was a tractor mechanic anyway in his earlier years) , I recall he made a manifold to fit a single SU carb actually in an attempt to improve economy. It did not get fitted (or if it did, it was not for long) , the points look a bit of work to get to, but "in reality" is it actually difficult ? I'd guess if you can get at them within say 15-20 minutes its not too bad as they appear well protected from the elements anyway.
8. Talking of economy, I see 30mpg being quoted. I do (think) ours gave slightly better than that, nearer 40 I think. Is this realistic ? I know its only a little engine but it does have to work quite hard...
9. Is the heating adequate ? Bear in mind the sentence below this question. The bug heating was very strong once I'd 'fixed' it.
As a random sidenote, in the dim and distant past I have owned a couple of Beetles (yes I know) so I am aware of general air cooled principles and the importance of cooling shrouds being fitted correctly as well as things like unclogged oil cooler.
I guess this is partly my thoughts as I wrote the questions but I'm really just after info to fill the gaping holes in my knowledge.
Thank you for anyone who is still awake after reading this and can answer any questions.
