The Citroën Berlingo 2CV Fourgonnette is based on the Berlingo, first introduced in 1996, and now in its third generation, with diesel, gasoline, and all-electric variants. Thanks to the Italian coachbuilder Caselani, buyers can now also order a 2CV-inspired version of it, which is either fatally cheesy or somewhat inspired, depending on your persuasion.

For me, I don’t think this is cheesy nor terribly inspired and more just a thing that I’m happy exists in the world — or at least will exist when orders start next month and production begins in January. The thing about retro kits like this is that you get a car that looks old but with none of the problems that usually would entail with an old car, which is that everything is unsafe and broken. The Berlingo 2CV Fourgonnette attempts to be the best of both worlds — modern things underneath but with a skin inspired by a car first made in 1951, the original 2CV Fourgonnette . Or, you could say that it looks like hard-shell luggage.

You cannot say that Caselani did not put some thought into it. I present to you the following, very extensive list of changes, via Citroën :

Citroën did not say how much the van costs, though it will be highly configurable with the aforementioned variety of power sources, and it will also come in three different varieties, from a panel van like the one you see above to a genuine passenger van, intended for the French countryside.

Oops! All savings! Bathroom fixtures? Check. Bed frames? Check. Floor lamps??? Check. You simply love to see it.

This new Berlingo is also a reminder that we could use more officially-licensed coachbuilds of popular cars, not fewer. They never seem to make anyone angry, for one reason or another, in any case, possibly because the stakes are pretty low. Also who could possibly be angry about a retro-styled Berlingo?