Over the past four years, I have realized a long-held dream: creating this book.

From a young age, I’ve had two great passions that I’ve never let go of: the Citroën 2CV and photography. In my daily life, I’m a freelance automotive photographer, but the Citroën 2CV has always been a constant in my life. When the opportunity arose to create a photo book about the 2CV, I didn’t have to think twice.

From a 2CV on my birth announcement to my first 2CV at seventeen: I don’t think I ever had the choice to drive anything else. I’ve been a passionate 2CV driver since I was seventeen and have since spent hundreds of thousands of kilometers behind the wheel of my 2CV, from Portugal to Norway and from Poland to Morocco.

Along the way and at events, I met countless extraordinary people within the 2CV world. These encounters inspired me to capture this subculture. What started as a personal photography project has grown over the years into this book, allowing me to share this 2CV world.

For generations, the Citroën 2CV has brought together a community of people who share a passion that seems hard to explain if you are not a part of it. They are eccentrics, adventurers, collectors, travellers and life artists who together form a curious sociological phenomenon.

Over four years, photographer Jérôme Wassenaar drove many thousands of miles in his own 2CV, in search of Deuchistes – those special people who give this car its remarkable life. They met in unlikely places, from meticulously organised collections to grimy back-alley garages. Doors that would normally remain closed were opened, offering a unique and often intimate glimpse into their lives.

Deuchistes is about people who live the 2CV rather than drive it. Richly photographed by Jerome and vividly told by Jeroen Booij, this book offers a rare portrait of a global subculture, its characters, rituals and friendships. This is a book about a car, perhaps. But above all, it is a book about the people it brings together.