The Citroën DS
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:03 am
Having just gotten out of high school, my parents sent me to Europe because they wanted to broaden me and didn't feel like I would do well in college. I spent the summer of 1972 in The Netherlands and France, and it was indeed a broadening experience that shaped my life. One thing that stuck with me was a real appreciation of many French things and ways, like the Citroën DSs that I saw all over France that summer.
More aerodynamic than anything American and delightfully innovative, with hydro-pneumatic suspension, headlights that turned with the front wheels, many safety features before their time, the DS was a radically innovative car in 1955 and is still more advanced than modern cars today, in some ways. Putting the wheels in the extreme corners of the car, for example, enabled the DS to ride like a large car, yet be much smaller and lighter.
I always thought that I was the only person who appreciated Citroën's Goddess, but now I see that they have become expensive collector's items. Perhaps there is someone on IFG who loves them, as well. Here are two very interesting articles about the Citroën DS:
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/201410 ... s-of-a-car
http://ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/citroen-ds/
More aerodynamic than anything American and delightfully innovative, with hydro-pneumatic suspension, headlights that turned with the front wheels, many safety features before their time, the DS was a radically innovative car in 1955 and is still more advanced than modern cars today, in some ways. Putting the wheels in the extreme corners of the car, for example, enabled the DS to ride like a large car, yet be much smaller and lighter.
I always thought that I was the only person who appreciated Citroën's Goddess, but now I see that they have become expensive collector's items. Perhaps there is someone on IFG who loves them, as well. Here are two very interesting articles about the Citroën DS:
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/201410 ... s-of-a-car
http://ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/citroen-ds/