Say what you will about the French, this was a great looking car for the mid 1950s.
Posted on 10/09/2005 9:39:54 AM PDT by aculeus
France has marked the 50th anniversary of one of the great design icons of the last century - the Citroen DS, or Deesse, saloon car. Hundreds of DS cars from around Europe drove in procession past the Arc de Triomphe in central Paris.
Known by its nickname, the Goddess - Deesse in French - the car was an instant sensation when it went on display at the Paris car show in 1955.
Nearly one-and-a-half million were made during its 20 years in production.
The parade featured Citroen Deesse cars of varying colours and vintages, but all with the same sleek bodywork, the tapering rear window, the space-age indicator light, and the long bonnet that appears to surge forwards and upwards.
Futuristic
The Déesse was developed for Citroen by the Italian designer Flaminio Bertoni in the austere post-war years, and when it went on display in Paris exactly 50 years ago, it had the crowds goggle-eyed in awe.
Twelve thousand orders had been placed at the end of the first day.
It wasn't just the aesthetic beauty of the machine, the futuristic dashboard and the extraordinary single-spoked steering wheel that mutated out of the steering column.
The technology was also well ahead of its day, notably the famous hydro-pneumatic suspension, which dispensed with common or garden springs and relied on liquids and valves.
Charles de Gaulle chose it for the presidential fleet - an inspired decision because in 1962, it was the car's ability to stay on the road at speed, despite two shot-out tyres, that saved his life in an assassination bid outside Paris.
Today the car is recognised as one of the great design triumphs of the last century - looked back on by the French with a deal of pride, and not a little nostalgia too, for an era of national self-confidence that seems long gone.
Story from BBC NEWS:© BBC MMV
Say what you will about the French, this was a great looking car for the mid 1950s.
It looks like my Goldfish "Earl"
I learned how to drive in one. Hydraulic suspension and Citromatic shifting. The guy who taught me how to drive gave me one of his DS21's after he became too old to take care of it. The problem is, I think you have to be French to understand all the systems. I gave it to a French guy in Minneapolis a couple years ago. He nearly cried with joy.
I grew up in the 50's. There were a few of these around. We knew they weren't American (where's the 450hp engine?).
Gee...that's too bad.
Yes, but we had the 1947 Studebaker first!
"to have had", not "to had".
The only thing the French had to do with it was to had hired a good Italian designer: absolutely... that being said though a friend of mine had an SM with a Masseretti(sp) engine in it that was a real terror. again thanks to the Italians 
Just for the record, Bertoni designed the exterior. French engineers designed the suspension and mechanicals. The engine was the same as the one used in the Traction Advant. The DS was a combination of Italian-penned styling and French engineering. By the way, the Traction Advant was solely designed by the French, and it represented a huge step forward in design and engineering when it came out in the late 1930s.
You need a plumber more than a mechanic on those cars..
I also love the Traction and the 2CV...
"ay what you will about the French, this was a great looking car for the mid 1950s."
I like the '53 Studebaker hardtop coupe better. I wish I could post a picture.
There was a D-21 running around Iowa City in 1970 and I got a chance to drive it for about 15 minutes. I noticed the steering wheel seemed to ooze into the steering column and the brake pedal looked like a small mushroom. Very strange.
I hear it has a special button which pops out a waving white flag to make surrender that much easier.
Perhaps
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Does it only go in reverse? |
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