Citroën DS Born: 1955 Died: 1975
When I was not yet 12, I was sent in 1956 to stay with a family in Lyons on a student exchange. It was my first time to see in the metal a DS 19, owned by the father of the family.
The DS 19 was a worldwide head-turner, not just for its magnificent and futuristic styling, the work of Flaminio Bertoni, but for many technological innovations. The self-levelling hydropneumatic suspension that was to become a Citroën 'trademark', brakes that compensated for weight and load distribution and which were operated by a 'button' on the floor instead of a pedal, a powered steering system which had no mechanical connection with the wheels except if there was a failure of the hydraulics, and an automated manual gearbox were just some of these.
Being the successor to the famous Traction, the car also had FWD.
The DS also had weight-saving inboard front disc brakes, a plastic roof and aluminium bonnet, pedestrian-friendly wipers that parked below the scuttle line, and, eventually, main-beam headlights connected to the steering to "see" around corners. Inside, apart from the very avant-garde single-spoke steering wheel, the DS also had ventilation air vents in the dashboard, an item that didn't reach "ordinary" cars until almost a decade later.
Power - generally accepted as being inadequate in the first years, but compensated for in real-time motoring by the much better handling -- initially was provided by a 75hp 1911cc four. From 1961 until 1965, that engine had 83hp on tap, after which power came from a new 1985cc unit, with 90hp until 1968 and - as the DS 20 - 103hp until 1971.
In the meantime, a more powerful model, the DS 21 with a 109hp 2175cc engine had been introduced in 1965, and its engine was further uprated to 115hp from 1968 to 1972. There was also a DS 21 IE version between 1969 and 1972 with 130hp under the bonnet. The final model, DS 23 in normal and IE formats, used 2347cc engines with 124hp and 141hp respectively.
Throughout the DS's life, 'M' versions were available with manual gearboxes, and a fully-automatic version was offered in 1971.
From early on, though, the cost of all the technology proved to make the car too expensive to attract the original Traction owners, who were emigrating to Peugeots and Renaults. So in 1956 Citroën brought out the ID, which had the DS body with cut-down trim, a detuned engine, and only the hydropneumatic suspension being kept from among the innovations. It wasn't particularly successful.
Through its lifetime the core shape of the DS saloon changed little, the main cosmetic lifts being extra chrome and changes to the headlights which went through the addition of a pair of auxiliary driving lights in the early Sixties to fully faired-in dual headlights in 1967, which had the main beams attached to the steering.
Cabriolet 2-door versions were also produced, and station wagons which were built on a lengthened chassis and had such innovations as a pair of extra seats which hid away under the floor, and a swivelling rear number plate which allowed the car to be legally driven with the tailgate down. There was also a variety of short-wheelbase coupés which really messed up the fine shape of the DS. They were mainly used for rallying, a sport in which the DS excelled, dominating much of the scene between 1963-1973. A million DSs had been built by 1967, and when the model ceased production in April of 1975 some 1,455,746 had been produced.
A few weeks ago, as I left my hotel in Frankfurt on my way to the city's 2005 Motor Show, I saw a mint-condition black DS being driven by. Fifty years on from its launch, it could still have taken a pride of place on the Citroen stand - the first stand that I visited at the show.