When we think about great cars, we tend to focus around the products of the US, UK, Germany, and Italy. Some go as far as to include Sweden in that mix as well. However, rarely, in this country, do you ever hear of France as a maker of sublime machinery… Well, it is!

The French are known for a great many things, but automobiles are not one of them, and that’s a real shame! Cheese, check! Wine, check! Great food, check! Romance, Check! The list goes on and on about the things that they’ve mastered, but for some reason , automotive engineering does not appear to be one of them. Actually I think I know why… 

Not all too long ago, France was actually considered the center of automotive superiority. Bugatti? French. Voisin? French. Panhard? French. DeDion Buton? French… The problem is, many of these cars stopped being produced over 70 years ago! There’s hardly anyone left around that remembers seeing these or even owning/driving them when they were new! 

When one thinks of Bugatti, they often think ITALIAN!!!! Well, no, it’s a French firm with its roots in Molsheim , Ettore Bugatti being of Italian descent, but it was France he called home, and where the cars were built. Now, Bugatti is part of VW (go figure), and for all intents is a German company now, with its heart in France and Italy.  

Voisin, Panhard, and DeDion Buton were all cars sold here in the US at one time or another, never in great numbers, due to their exclusivity, but enough to keep the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley on their toes! These were avant-garde, high tech machines that incorporated at the time, some technologies that have only recently begun to become available on the cars of today. Like Automatic transmissions. (We’ll save that story for another day, kids).

The French approach automobiles the way to approach pretty much everything, with profound passion and dedication. They are almost maniacal in their risk taking when it comes to cars.

The reason we don’t tend to be too keen on French cars here in the US is due chiefly to the products that we were stuck with in recent times… Marketing geniuses in the US, the French were not. Does the Le Car ring a bell? Not the most masculine moniker! Pity, really, as the R5, as it was known everywhere else was really a perfectly decent little front drive hatch. In many ways, it was better than the standard setting VW GTI!  

How about the Renault Encore or Medallion? Is it a Chrysler, is it a Renault, is it an AMC? The problem was, literally nobody knew, not even the manufacturer. However, did you know that the ubiquitous Chrysler LH chassis that were OH SO popular in the late 90’s would never have come to being if it weren’t for that little Renault encore? There’s a great story there as well, that we’ll have to save for another day, I promise!

Then there was the granddaddy of misunderstood French cars, the Peugeot! To those that had them, there was no other car that could compare. Owning a Peugeot was like being in some sort of bizarre cult. Comparable to Mercedes and BMW in terms of price, but really, far better all around. Better seats, better build, better performance. Performance? Yes! The Peugeot SW8 (wagon) was at the time one of the fastest productions cars in the world, and briefly held the title of fastest production car in the US! Yes, a FRENCH station wagon spanked the venerable Vette!

All in all, the French have always marched to the beat of a different drummer. To those in the know, their products are unlike any on the road. The vehicle which I am about to share with you is the absolute epitome of French automotive Greatness, the Citroen DS… 

Imagine, if you will – going to the 1955 Paris International Auto Show, and moseying on over to the Citroen booth to see their latest version of the Traction Avant cars which have been in production so long, Moses learned how to drive on one. Rather than seeing the latest 15CV, long, low, sinister front drive exercise in baroque style automotive design, you see this – thing! It doesn’t even have wheels on it, and it’s up on a pedestal, like a trophy!

“Is that a car?” one asks “it’s beautiful!” another screams… Looking like something straight out of a  Jetson’s cartoon, there in all its glory is the new volume product from Citroen, the DS!  

Nearly 20years in the making, placing its initial concept right smack in the heat of WWII mid ‘30s France, this is literally a once in a lifetime automobile. None so unique have ever come before, and none so advanced have ever been seen again.  

The Citroen was a direct replacement for the Traction Avant series which was in production from about 1934 to 1957 or so. As traditional as it gets, aside from its revolutionary front wheel drive layout. A be-fendered sedan, available in subtle body variations, etc.

The DS was something entirely different. It was sleek unlike any car to ever come before, of to have existed since. It reeked of a sort of feminine muscularity in its curves. When compared to other cars of the era, the DS was otherworldly in its appearance.

Up front, there was no massive grille with which to anchor the car’s face, but rather a thin chrome bumper with a slight opening in the middle through which cooling air could flow. (In actuality, the front bodywork of the DS is not unlike MOST cars on the road today, wherein most of the cooling air for the engine compartment enters through openings below the bumper through the “air dam”.) The hood rose gracefully following a  mound like curve which was intended to disguise the rather tall engine underneath. The hood is impressively long and low when compared to the rest of the car.   

Moving further back, we are struck by a VERY vertical windscreen – almost truck like, and impossibly tall. This give the DS a VERY low, ground hugging appearance. We also notice that the car is getting narrower the further back we go, a sort of teardrop shape. In all actuality, the entire car is tapering down as we near the rear.   

From the side profile, we are again greeted by almost comically large panes of glass supported on impossibly thin “pillars”. That is, until we get to the rear of the “greenhouse” where there are two slab like supports which cocoon the rear of the passenger cabin, and rear glass.

Moving to the rear, it is alarming how much narrower the rear of the car is when compared to the front. This gives the DS a feeling of speed, even when standing still. This is not a mere car, this is an exercise in aerodynamic perfection, when the rest of the automotive design world has yet to discover the French-curve set at the bottom of their drafting kit!

Some notable features we notice as we walk around the car are its headlamps for one. Several iterations of the DS rang had driving lights which turned  left and right in conjunction with the steering. This allowed the car to peer around corners. A feature that only VERY recently has worked its way back onto the options list in 2009/10! These headlights are also fared-in behind a pane of glass which follows the contours of the body. This presents up an EXTREMLY sleek look to the front of the car. When compared to say a Cadillac of similar vintage, it’s difficult to comprehend that these cars are from the same era!

Following the roof line, we notice that the gutters or drip rails flair out into trumpet like forms wherein we fine the rear turn indicators – mounted up high near the top of the rear windscreen. An extremely clever little design touch, which is completely unique to the DS, and adds greatly to the overall character of the car… 

Also to note is the bright-work on the car, it’s not chrome, rather it’s stainless steel! The brushed appearance of which, calms the rather dramatic mix of curves and angles, brining the amalgamation into harmony that, well, just feels right. In looking at the DS’ body, it is EXTREMELY difficult to find area’s with which to improve. It’s as close to perfection as it gets. What’s most startling is it accomplishes by virtue of its general lack of ornamentation and features! 

Upon opening a door, and looking into the interior, we see that this car isn’t really as low as it appears. Rather, it’s VERY vertical, almost dining room chair – vertical, seating position gives the interior an air of formality. Sliding behind the wheel, we are greeted by an extremely bizarre steering wheel which has but only one spoke, pointed straight down to one’s nether-regions. The gauge cluster is in keeping with the lines of the car, with a sweeping dash, concealing some beautifully weird, yet simply functional gages. To note, as well, is the lack of an apparent steering column. That solitary spoke simply sweeps forward into a sort f nacelle mounted under the instruments. Out of this nacelle a lone control stalk to shift the semi automatic transmission pokes out.

The seats on the DS are more furniture like, rather than car like. With an art deco feel, these seats, when mounted on wooden legs, and with the addition of arm rests, are actually a common site in Europe for use as lounge seating! They’re that good! Wide, soft, yet supportive – unlike the bench seats and flat buckets most common in autos of the era.  

The floor, for all intents is flat, aside for “curbing” which appears on the outboard sides, acting as oversized door sills. In actuality, these are the massive perimeter frame rails that support the bulk of the passenger cabin.  

The rear seat is akin to the rear of an “old time” coach. Sitting WAY back, almost behind the rear door entries, rear passengers are treated to a great amount of leg room, and a seat that would be at home in the most comfortable of living rooms.  The term over-stuffed, round, comes to my mind.

Between the front and rear of the passenger compartment, on the “B” pillars, behind the driver’s head, are the most amazing little sconce type lighting fixtures. They’re georgeous! Frosted glass – honest to goodness glass! The light given off by the carbon filament bulbs behind allows them to produce the warmest orange glow imaginable. It’s almost like the lighting one would expect to find in a late night, smoky, French jazz bar. Not so much light, but “ambient-glow”.  

The interior fitments of the DS did evolve over the years, in some ways getting better, in other was, worse.  It’s my opinion that the first iteration is the most “perfect” of all the DS interiors.  

A sub category of basically the same car, the ID was also produced. The ID was a lesser spec vehicle with more simplistic materials, and not nearly as many features of the upper spec DS. Aside from kit, and a few mechanical differences the ID is for all intents identical to the DS.  

Now we get into the good stuff, as if the space age styling and super interior were meaningless! Well, you’ll soon see how I’m really not very far off in saying that the drive train of this car makes the styling appear almost pedestrian! 

First off, its 1955 and we’re talking about a MASS produced front wheel drive car! In the US, Cord is attributed with the first “real” front wheel driver that was produced in any number, and even at that, was a VERY low production machine. Citroen, on the other hand, had been producing front wheel drive cars since the late 1920s! In the US the 1966 Olds Toronado – the first front drive American car was still over a decade away. Keep in mind, also, that the DS took nearly 20 years to develop, which meant that the initial concept, and much of the engineering was done sometime in the late 30’s early 40’s! We’re talking ADVANCED!

It doesn’t stop there, the front brakes are inboard mounted! If you can picture, the engine it sitting under the hood, backwards almost, with the transmission jutting out forward from the block… At the end of the transmission is a differential like device that sends the power to the front wheels via two half shafts with universal joints at each end. Now, the brakes, they’re mounted on each side of the differential, not down in the wheels which is usually the case. The reason, to keep the unsprung weight of the wheel/tire/suspension assembly low, so as to allow for a more supple, quiet ride.

Speaking of ride! This is where the Citroen truly shows it’s space age roots. To ride in a Citroen DS has been likened to a magic carpet ride of the most literal sense. You simply DO NOT feel bumps, at all! You can literally drive this car crosswise across a parking lot full of those sleeper curbs and never spill a drop of your absinthe on your tailored voile shirt! I’ve had the pleasure of both driving a riding in a DS and can personally attest to the fact that this car is by far, despite it’s vintage, the smoothest riding car, ever, period, end of story! It makes the new Rolls Royce Phantom feel like riding in a school bus by comparison!

The reason the Citroen is able to perform so flawlessly in the ride department is due to the use of an extremely advanced hydro-pneumatic suspension system.

Now, time for a Mr. Wizard type of experiment for you kids, so that you can more easily imagine how this system works… 

Most cars have springs, right? Some are coil, looking like a pigs tail, all curled round and round. Other’s are of the leaf spring variety, sort of like an archer’s bow, mounted horizontal. Then there are torsion springs which are like, well, they’re really not like anything else other than what they are – and that is a pipe that allows for a bit of twisty springiness to it. All of these have been around for eons.  

The DS has no springs, really. None at all. No metal curlies or leaves. Rather, it has water balloons and pistons. Time for the experiment…

Go grab yourself a balloon. Now, go grab a deep fried turkey flavor injector. You know, that syringe looking thing that looks like it’s a prop from a horror film. So that you don’t hurt yourself, take the needle bit off.  

Now, siphon some water into the syringe, fill it all the way up. Now, blow the balloon up about half way so that it’s fighting back a bit when you blow into it. Now, quickly and carefully figure out a way to attach the balloon to the end of the syringe. Once attached, inject about half of the water into the pressurized balloon.  

Ideally, and this depends greatly on the type of balloon you use, and the resistance of the syringe plunger, if you push the piston, injecting water into the balloon, and then release the plunger, the air pushing down on the water, should push the plunger back out.  

Now, picture a balloon about the size of a grapefruit with walls about a half inch thick steel, and rather than water, use oil. Oh, yeah, pressurize the system to about 2500psi! Now you’ve got the basics of Citroen hydro-pneumatic suspension.

Basically, the sphere has two chambers. The lower chamber contains the hydraulic fluid, and there is a membrain which seperates it from a nitrogen chamber with allows for the compression, etc.  

Why, you may ask, did they use such a complicated system? Well, because their French! Well, not really. There was good reason for this. France’s roads post WWII were bad, REALLY bad. Many were cobblestone, and those that weren’t were simply unpaved. What this translated to what the general inability to travel at any speed, say, above 25mph equipped with standard springs. The spring rates were fixed, meaning the force with which they pushed down, and rebounded was constant. The constand impacts as a car traveled over the road were directly applied to the chassis and passengers of the car. Think of driving your car over a pothole or ice heave at high speed. BANG! Right into your hands through the wheel, and into your back through the chassis. A real beating!  

The Citroen system was “powered” by a central pump which pressurized an accumulator, which in turn distributed hydraulic pressure to all of the spheres (the balloons). The pump was run directly off of the engine crank, and was responsible for the 2500psi operating pressure the system required to operate the suspension, steering, brakes, and even the transmission shifting and clutch! 

The beauty of this system was that at the flick of an elegant little lever near the side of the driver’s leg, the car could instantly be raised or lowered to meet ground clearance concerns. Also, the fluid nature of the hydraulics (no pun – fluid, hydraulics. Hahaha. No, not funny?) and the infinite adjustability of the system allowed the car to react, intuitively to the road, as it encountered it, by either pressurizing, or releasing fluid back into the system. The fact that there were no metal springs also meant that the weight of the suspension on each wheel was also VERY low, allowing the wheels to literally follow the terrain of the road, with little inertia to get in the way.

The other benefits of this system were the fact that body roll could be completely eliminated by means of pressurizing the outboard side of the cars suspension as it moved through a turn. When turning right, this meant pressurizing the left, and vice versa.   

Also, in the event of a flat, the suspension could be extended to its maximum setting, or service setting, wherein the affected corner could be locked, and as the car was raised, life the wheel off the ground without the need for a jack.  

To show the extreme versatility of the suspension system, and chassis stability, there are films depicting DS’s being driven with one rear wheel removed, with a full load, irrespective of the fact that the car was missing a wheel. Performance and ride were not affected. The system did its job keeping the car level, and the wheel less hub, off the ground. It was an utter shock to the automotive press to see this lunacy. As a matter of fact, at some press events, the DSes were presented having only 3 wheels installed!

Much to the surprise of the owners, this VERY complicated system was actually profoundly reliable, with pump issues, to this day, being basically nonexistent. The Rubber sphere’s do require maintenance and attention, but there are cars that have been on the road all of this time, that are just now after 55+ years requiring the spheres be replaced! The fact of the matter is, if you let these cars sit, they’ll bung up and spring all sorts of leaks, as the seals and gaskets dry out and well, allow water in, which isn’t good! So, as long as they are driven, they keep going! 

In understanding and appreciating this car, it is VERY easy to forget that we are talking about a vehicle that was produced almost 60 years ago! A car that at the time was sharing the roads with what we considered advanced engineering, the ’57 Chevy! Placing the two cars next to one-another, you’d be forgiven to think that the DS was a far more current product. But it wasn’t!

The engine wasn’t nearly as advanced as the rest of the car, as simple pushrod inline 4 producing anywhere from 60 to as much as 150 horsepower, in many variations… 

The Citroen DS is truly the epitome of fashion on wheels. To experience the DS is like happening across a beauty queen in all her aesthetic glory, and also finding out she has a PhD in physics from MIT. The Citroen is full of surprises!

These cars were never a great hit here in the US due to their unconventional for the time styling, and advanced hydraulic systems. Amazingly, particularly out on the west coast, there are people who purchased these cars new in the ‘60s, that are still using them as everyday cars! They’re that durable! With  prolific numbers still in use all across Europe, parts are readily available, and there is a strong contingent of owners ready to share their knowledge and experiences at a moment’s notice.  

The rather long production life of the DS was a great testament to its advanced styling and engineering. Another side effect of the DS’ longevity is that over the years, a great many improvements were made. From the outside, the evolution through the years is subtle. That all changes once you climb inside. Not necessarily a bad thing – just reflective of the time and tastes of the era. The DS was always known for its wild color combos early in its life such as “eggplant” for the body, with a baby-blue roof, or a shade of lime green with a white roof! Wild!

Towards the middle part of the 1970’s the DS despite the timelessly advanced look at the time of its launch, compared to contemporary European cars of the time, it really was beginning to show it’s age. It did so gracefully, but the public wanted something new! So, along came the Citroen CX. A no less amazing machine! But, that will have to wait for another time…

For now, enjoy the DS in all its weird glory! Jeremy Clarkson of BBC TopGear fame was once quoted in a rather disappointed tone while testing the new C8 that it wasn’t “Citroeny” enough. A Citroen, he went on to say was “the automotive equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting!” In his diatribe, he went onto say that the front wheel drive layout of the new C8 wasn’t weird enough, “Citroen’s should be side wheel drive!” He reached down and grabbed the gear lever and proclaimed further “what’s this? This shouldn’t be where the gear lever is! This should be the glove box door release! The gear selector should be a stalk of rhubarb that comes down from here (gesturing just above his head near the sunroof)! This is no DS!”

So unusual was the design and engineering of the DS… So, it’s with that image of Salvador Dali Citroens with side wheel drive, and rhubarb control stalks that I leave you for now… Behold the madness!