Citroen DS - World Of Classic Cars - Rank 36

The Citroën DS is an automobile which was manufactured and marketed by the French company Citroën from 1955 to 1975. Styled by Italian sculptor and industrial designer Flaminio Bertoni and the French aeronautical engineer André Lefèbvre, the DS was known for its aerodynamic futuristic body design and innovative technology, including a hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension.
The DS advanced achievable standards in automobile ride quality, handling, and braking. Citroën sold nearly 1.5 million D-series during the model's 20-year production run. The DS came in third in the 1999 Car of the Century competition, recognizing the world's most influential auto designs, and was named the most beautiful car of all time by Classic & Sports Car magazine.

Citroen DS

After 18 years of secret development as the successor to the Traction Avant, the DS 19 was introduced on 5 October 1955 at the Paris Motor Show. In the first 15 minutes of the show, 743 orders were taken, and orders for the first day totalled 12,000.
Contemporary journalists said the DS pushed the envelope in the ride vs. handling compromise possible in a motor vehicle.
To a France still deep in reconstruction after the devastation of World War II, and also building its identity in the post-colonial world, the DSmotor car was a symbol of French ingenuity. The DS was distributed to many territories throughout the world.
It also posited the nation's relevance in the Space Age, during the global race for technology of the Cold War. Structuralistphilosopher Roland Barthes, in an essay about the car, said that it looked as if it had "fallen from the sky". An American advertisement summarised this selling point: "It takes a special person to drive a special car".
The high price tag, however, hurt general sales in a country still recovering from World War II, and a cheaper submodel, the Citroen ID, was introduced in 1957. The ID shared the DS's body but was less powerful. Although it shared the engine capacity of the DS engine (at this stage 1,911 cc), the ID provided a maximum power output of only 69 hp compared to the 75 hp claimed for the DS19. Power outputs were further differentiated in 1961 when the DS19 acquired a Weber-32 twin bodied carburetter and increasing availability of higher octane fuel enabled the manufacturer to increase the compression ratio from 7.5:1 to 8.5:1. A new DS19 now came with a promised 83 hp of power. The ID19 was also more traditional mechanically: it had no power steering and had conventional transmission and clutch instead of the DS's hydraulicaly controlled set-up. Initially the basic ID19 was sold on the French market with a price saving of more than 25% against the DS, although the differential was reduced at the end of 1961 when the manufacturer quietly withdrew the entry level ID19 "Normale" from sale. A station wagon variant, the ID Break, was introduced in 1958.

Citroen DS21 Decapotable 1966

The ID19 followed the DS19's example in using a punning name. While "DS" is pronounced in French as "Déesse" (goddess), "ID" is pronounced as "Idée" (idea).
The DS was the first mass production car with front power disc brakes. It also featured hydropneumatic suspension including an automatic leveling system and variable ground clearance, power steering and a semi-automatic transmission (the transmission required no clutch pedal, but gears still had to be shifted by hand), though the shift lever controlled a powered hydraulic shift mechanism in place of a mechanical linkage, and a fibreglass roof which lowered the centre of gravity and so reduced weight transfer. Inboard front brakes (as well as independent suspension) reduced unsprung weight. Different front and rear track widths and tyre sizes reduced the unequal tyre loading, which is well known to promote understeer, typical of front-engined and front-wheel drive cars.
As with all French cars, the DS design was affected by the tax horsepower system, which effectively mandated very small engines. Unlike the Traction Avant predecessor, there was no top-of-range model with a powerful six-cylinder engine. Citroën had planned an air-cooled flat-6 engine for the car, but did not have the funds to put the prototype engine into production. Despite the rather leisurely acceleration afforded by its small four-cylinder engine, derived from the Traction Avant, the DS was successful in motorsports likerallying, where sustained speeds on poor surfaces are paramount, and won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1959 and controversially in 1966, after the disqualification of the BMC Mini-Cooper team. In the 1000 Lakes Rally, Pauli Toivonen drove a DS19 to victory in 1962.
The DS placed fifth on Automobile Magazine's "100 Coolest Cars" listing in 2005. It was also named the most beautiful car of all time by Classic & Sports Car magazine after a poll of 20 world-renowned car designers, including Giorgetto Giugiaro, Ian Callum, Roy Axe, Paul Bracq, and Leonardo Fioravanti.

Citroen DS21 Decapotable 1966

The DS was primarily manufactured in Paris, with other manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom, South Africa, the former Yugoslavia (mostly Break Ambulances), and Australia.
Australia constructed their own D variant in the 1960s at Heidelberg, Victoria, identified as the ID 19 "Parisienne." Australian market cars were fitted with options as standard equipment such as the "DSpecial DeLuxe" that were not available on domestic European models.
Until 1965 cars were assembled at the manufacturer's Slough premises, to the west of London, using a combination of French made semi CKD kits and locally sourced components, some of them machined on site. A French electrical system superseded the British one on the Slough cars in 1962, giving rise to a switch to "continental style" negative earthing. After 1965 cars for the British market were imported fully assembled from the company's French plant. The British-built cars are distinguished by their leather seats, wooden dashboards, and (on pre-1962 cars)Lucas-made electrics.
The DS was sold in the United States from 1956 to 1972, over which time 38,000 units were sold. While the DS was popular in Europe, it didn't sell well in the United States. Ostensibly a luxurious car, it did not have the basic features that buyers expected to find on such a vehicle: fully automatic transmission, air conditioning, power windows, and a powerful engine. The DS's price in 1970 ranged from US$4,066 to US$4,329.

Citroen DS

Also, American luxury-car buyers at the time were conditioned to show off their new cars, the design details of which were changed every model year as a kind of stylistic planned obsolescence, but the DS' appearance did not change substantially in the 16 years it was available in the States.
US regulations at the time banned one of the car's more advanced features, its composite headlamps with aerodynamic cover lenses. At the time, all vehicles sold in the US had to have standard-size sealed beam headlamps; composite replaceable-bulb lamps weren't permitted until late 1983. And cover lenses, even clear ones, are not legal in the US. The first year of aerodynamic glass enclosing the headlamps on the DS was also the first year that feature was outlawed in the US: 1968.

The DS always maintained its size and shape, with easily removable, unsressed body panels, but certain design changes did occur.
A station wagon version was introduced in 1958. It was known by various names in different markets (Break in France, Safari and Estate in the UK, Wagon in the US, and Citroën Australia used the terms Safari and Station-Wagon). It had a steel roof to support the standard roof rack. Familiales had a rear seat mounted further back in the cabin, with three folding seats between the front and rear squabs. The standard Break had two side-facing seats in the main load area at the back. The Ambulance configuration was similar to that of the Break, but with a 60/30 split in the rear folding seat to accommodate a stretcher. A 'Commerciale' version was also available for a time.

Citroen DS21 EFI Decapotable 1970

In September 1962, the DS was restyled with a more aerodynamically efficient nose, better ventilation and other improvements. It retained the open two headlamp appearance, but was available with an optional set of driving lights mounted on the front fenders. In 1965 a luxury upgrade kit, the DS Pallas(after Greek goddess Pallas), was introduced. This included comfort features such as better noise insulation, a more luxurious (and optional leather) upholstery and external trim embellishments.
In 1967, the DS and ID was again restyled, by Robert Opron, stylist of the later SM. This version had a more streamlined headlamp design, giving the car a notably shark-like appearance. This design had four headlights under a smooth glass canopy, and the inner set swivelled with the steering wheel. This allowed the driver to see "around" turns, especially valuable on twisting roads driven at high speed at night.
However, this feature was not allowed in the US at the time (see World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations), so a version with four exposed headlights that did not swivel was made for the US market.
The station wagon edition, the Break (called the ID Safari on the UK market) and "Familiale", was also upgraded. The hydraulic fluid changed to the technically superior LHM (Liquide Hydraulique Minéral) in all markets except the US, where the change did not take place until January 1969.
Rarest and most collectable of all DS variants, a convertible was offered from 1958 until 1973. The Cabriolet d'Usine (factory-built convertible) were built in small series by French carrossier Henri Chapron, for the Citroën dealer network. These DS convertibles used a special frame which was reinforced on the sidemembers and rear suspension swingarm bearing box, similar to, but not identical to the Break (Station Wagon) frame.

Citroen DS21 EFI Decapotable 1970

In addition, Chapron also produced a few coupés, non-works convertibles and special sedans (including the "Prestige", same wheelbase but with a central divider, and the "Lorraine" notchback).
Between 1959 and 1964, Hector Bossaert produced a coupé on a DS chassis shortened by 18½ inches (470mm). While the front end remained unchanged, the rear end featured notchback styling.
In 1965, noted American auto customizer Gene Winfield created The Reactor, a two-seat Citroen DS with a turbocharged 180 horsepower Corvair engine driving the front wheels, and a streamlined aluminum body. This vehicle was seen in TV programs of the era, such as Batman episodes 110 ("Funny Feline Felonies") and 111 (driven by Catwoman Eartha Kitt),Bewitched, which devoted the episode 3.19 ("Super Car") to the Reactor, and Star Trek episode 54 ("Bread and Circuses").

Citroen DS21 EFI Decapotable 1970

The DS has been used in many film and television productions, has inspired artists, and was associated with the French state and French society for many years.
In the post–World War II environment of the 1950s, the DS was a significant advertisement for French manufacturing and ingenuity. President Charles de Gaulle praised the unusual abilities of his unarmoured DS with saving his life during the assassination attempt at Petit-Clamart on 22 August 1962 planned by Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry – the shots had blown two of the tyres, but the car could still escape at full speed. This event was accurately recreated for The Day of the Jackal.