Tour de Force - 1961 Citroën DS 19

What must they have thought?

``Twice Champion of France,`` the DS marked the company`s entry into motorsports.

Anyone with a passing acquaintance with a Traction Avant knew that the engineers and stylists at Citroën were a clever bunch. But no one could have expected the spaceship of a car that appeared under the spotlights at the 1955 Paris Auto Show. The futuristic styling alone would have been enough to make the new DS sedan impossibly stunning, even if it were just the same old Traction bits underneath.

Large chromed fender-mounted vents exhaust heat from engine compartment in early cars.

But it wasn't.

From its fiberglass roof to its hydropneumatic suspension, its single-spoke steering wheel to its tiny rubber brake button, the new DS was unlike any other car on the planet. Even the name was other-worldly; in French, it's pronounced "déesse," which translates as "goddess."

What the crowds must have been thinking, once they'd caught their breath, is "I want one." Fifteen minutes after the doors opened, the company had taken 743 orders; by the evening, the number stood at a dizzying 12,000.

Some of those looking on might have been present for a similar event just seven years earlier, when Citroën raised the curtain on its 2CV, a minimalist sedan powered by an air-cooled horizontal twin. Few could have missed the point: France's leading automaker, having emerged from the devastation of World War II with an inexpensive car designed to help get the country back on its feet, was now showing off a car whose styling and engineering were the equal, if not the superior, of any car made in the world. It was a proud moment for a nation waiting to regain its lost pride. Vive la France!

It's seldom, if ever, that a major auto manufacturer stakes its future on something as unorthodox as the DS, but even more seldom for a company that had already gotten its fingers burned once before. Citroën's previous roll of the dice, the groundbreaking Traction Avant of 1934, was an engineering masterpiece, with its monocoque construction, overhead-valve engine, front-wheel drive and hydraulic brakes. But its development costs and teething pains, coupled with the aftereffects of a union lockout at the Quai de Javel factory complex in Paris, crippled the company's finances, already suffering from the global economic depression. At the direction of the French government, one of Citroën's largest creditors, Michelin, took control of the company; founder Andre Citroën was forced out, and died within the year. At the time, Citroën was the world's second largest carmaker.

Under Michelin, Citroën regained its footing, and the Traction became the success it deserved to be; it would remain in production for nearly a quarter-century. The first new project under Michelin's direction was a four-seat people's car, the TPV, or Tres Petite Voiture (Very Small Car). The TPV found an enthusiastic ally in new chairman and managing director Pierre Boulanger, who envisioned the car as "four seats under an umbrella," and, legend says, required that it be able to carry a basket of eggs across a plowed field without breaking one of them.

Prototypes of the new 2CV were readied for the 1939 Paris Motor Show, but the show was not to be. Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, and the world was plunged into war. With the surrender of France in 1940 and its occupation by German troops, production of civilian vehicles at Quai de Javel fell off to nothing. But Citroën's engineers didn't spend the war years sitting on their hands. Even before the Occupation, Boulanger and Andre Lefèbvre, who had been responsible for the design of the Traction, had been envisioning that car's successor, which Boulanger referred to as the VGD (Voiture a Grande Diffusion, or Mass-Produced Car). Boulanger declared that it should be "the world's best, most beautiful, most comfortable and most advanced car."

With no commercial constraints to keep the lid on, the various departments were encouraged to explore even the most fanciful ideas. In 1942, a junior engineer named Paul Magès was working on a new brake proportioning system when he came through with a novel thought: using a high-pressure hydraulic system to power a self-leveling suspension, as well as the steering, brakes and shifting mechanism. His idea required parts with incredibly close tolerances, as well as finding the right hydraulic fluid and materials. Over the course of months, the details were worked out. Walter Becchia, who had designed the 2CV's air-cooled flat twin, was asked to design an engine for the "nouveau Traction," and responded with a flat-six to be mounted in front of the front axle. The bodywork of the prototype was designed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency, with a plunging hood, truncated tail and swept fenders.

After the surrender of Germany in 1945, Tractions again began rolling out of the factory doors, joined in 1948 by the 2CV, which emerged as the ideal vehicle for the roads of a rebuilding Europe. After Boulanger's death at the wheel of an experimental Traction in 1950, his successor, Robert Puisseux, and Pierre Bercot, the company's new managing director, put the VGD project into top gear. Bercot was determined that the new car should be as great a leap forward as the original Traction, and gave Lefèbvre free rein for what was now called Project D.

Since Citroën was still the leading producer in the protected French auto market, and buyers had created a years-long waiting list for the 2CV, there was little commercial imperative to rush Project D. Still, Citroën's competitors were chipping away: Renault's Fregate, Simca's Aronde and Peugeot's 203 all featured modern styling that began to make the Traction look dated. It was time to make a move.

Under strict secrecy, Citroën began testing prototypes on the seldom-traveled roads of the Midi-Pyrénées region of southwestern France, near the border with Spain. The flat-six engine was tried, but abandoned because of its weight and fuel consumption, and taking its place by default was the Traction's 1,911cc, three-main-bearing inline-four. Georges Sainturat, the engine's creator, brought output up to 75hp by reworking the cylinder head. Citroën took notice when Jaguar won the 1953 Le Mans with a car fitted with disc brakes, and followed suit by giving the Project D inboard front discs--the first production car so equipped.

The task of styling the car belonged to Flaminio Bertone, whose pen had drawn the lines of the Traction and the 2CV. Bertone began reworking the wartime designs, stretching the wheelbase, altering the profile, seeking a design that would be both beautiful and aerodynamic. Months before the car's introduction, he continued to refine the shape, changing the angles of the windshield and rear window and altering the fender lines. It was the last-minute decision to avoid the out-of-fashion "beetleback" look that resulted in a rear window recessed within the roofline; a black-painted panel around the window and two chromed taillamp "trumpets" served to distract the eye from the disagreement between roof and window. A fiberglass roof panel and an aluminum hood both saved weight and lowered the car's center of gravity.

The suspension was a revelation. Hydropneumatic struts at each corner absorbed bumps and compensated for load to keep the car level at all times. A lever under the dashboard allowed the driver to choose among four ground clearance settings, and simplified tire changes: In the event of a flat, the driver would raise the suspension all the way, place a prop by the affected wheel, and lower the suspension. A rear track that was narrower than the front aided stability at speed.

Every bit as remarkable as the suspension was the hydraulically operated gearshift. While today's automakers claim to have found the ideal combination of the automatic's ease and the manual shift's efficiency and control through the magic of electronics, Citroën found its answer a half-century ago in the Citromatic. This marvel not only handled clutching and declutching duties, but used hydraulic pressure to switch the gears as well, working through five little pistons in the top cover of the gearbox--it's not far off to think of it as a modern sequential gearbox, with hydraulic pressure, rather than electricity, doing all the work.

Under the encouragement of Lefèbvre, who proudly claimed to be the first Frenchman to wear a shirt made of nylon, the interior of the DS bristled with newly developed plastics. The dashboard alone features nylon; acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, or ABS; and Rilsan, a microcrystalline polymer. Not only could these Jet Age plastics be molded in any shape, they would absorb the impact of a driver or passenger in the event of a crash. Under the hood, the nylon resin cooling fan represented another first, and another item that would make its way onto every automobile thirty years later.

The automotive press was sold on the car's abilities and engineering. "Every Detroit engineer concerned creatively with the design of an automobile should be ordered by his management to spend at least 2,000 hours behind the wheel of a Citroën DS 21 with hydraulic shift," said the June 1966 Motor Trend. During its long production run, the DS received larger and more powerful engines and slightly altered sheetmetal, but the essential elements of the design endured. The first cars, called DS 19, were equipped with the 1.9-liter engine; so-called "second series" cars arrived in 1965 with a 90hp, short-stroke 1,985cc engine, while a 109hp, 2,175cc engine powered a new model, the DS 21. All second-series cars had upgraded gearboxes and axles and improved brakes. The DS 19 gained 13 horsepower in 1968, becoming the DS 20.

A smoother front end with glass-covered headlamps arrived with the 1968 model year, The DS 21 offered Bosch electronic fuel injection as an option in 1969, and in 1972 was replaced by the DS 23, with a 2,347cc engine. Fitted with fuel injection, and with a choice of a fully automatic transmission or a five-speed gearbox, this would be the most powerful production DS, at 141hp. A number of variants were produced, including the costly convertibles and limousines by Paris coachbuilder Henri Chapron. Among the car's devotees was French President Charles de Gaulle, who survived a terrorist attack in 1962 when gunmen opened fire on the DS 19 he was riding in. Riding on flat tires, the car sped on, stable thanks to its hydropneumatic suspension.

The DS got a downscale sibling in 1957 with the ID ("idée," or "idea"), which was equipped with a conventional four-speed gearbox, braking and steering system. The ID became beloved of Paris taxi drivers, and the station wagon version, the Break, saw widespread ambulance duty after its 1959 introduction. By the time production ended in on April 24, 1975, nearly 1.5 million DSs and IDs had been built.

Carter Willey has been enamored of the DS since its arrival on U.S. shores during his childhood. He found his Bleu Pacifique 1961 DS 19, the subject of our driveReport, through a French dealer in 2000, and arranged to have the car shipped to his home in Belgrade, Maine.

Let's slip behind that one-spoke wheel, sink into the deeply cushioned bucket seat, and see what all the fuss is about. As you might expect, this isn't a car where you just twist the key and drive; no, you have to switch on the ignition and move the spindly, L-shaped Citromatic gear lever all the way to the left to engage the starter. Why? So you can't start in gear. The lever springs back into neutral, and the car majestically rises on its oil-and-air struts to ride height.

Carter warns that first is unsynchronized, and that shifting into first without coming to a full stop is an excellent way to destroy a transmission--the hydraulic system will simply force the gears together, just like you told it to. Hoping to remember that, we push the gear lever forward into first and apply the gas. There's a little whooshing noise as the lever finds its detent. The Citromatic engages the clutch when we step on the gas pedal--we're off!

Second is achieved by pulling the shift lever back; again, there's a little whoosh, and the lever settles into its detent. It's just like any other standard shift; you lift off the accelerator for upshifts, and blip the throttle when going back down. The 1,911cc engine is a bit thrashy and no great powerhouse, but willing enough, provided that the revs don't drop too much. Third lives to the right of second, and fourth is to the right and down. It's all a little awkward for the uninitiated, if entertaining.

The hills of the Belgrade Lakes district are a challenge for the 1.9-liter four, and the limited power is clearly this car's biggest drawback--without a little foresight, it's easy to get bogged down halfway up a rise. The brakes are easy to modulate and powerful, the steering is light and precise, and the ride is an absolute revelation, turning the rough pavement as smooth as crème brulee. Thanks to exceptional handling and roadholding, once up to speed, there's hardly any reason to slow down--as the winning drivers in the 1959 Monte Carlo and 1961 Liege-Sofia-Liege rallies no doubt noticed.

The DS was a commercial success for Citroën, but not in the U.S., where it inspired passion in a few and suspicion in the majority. The car could not have been more out of step with Detroit's horsepower race, and its lengthy acceleration times could only have generated yawns. You can't say Citroën didn't try; it began exporting the DS to the U.S. in 1956, and didn't give up until 1972. But the American perspective can be pretty well summed up in the words of the January 1957 Consumer Reports test of the car:

"The DS 19, though it is in many respects a glimpse of the future, and though it offers practically unmatched passenger comfort, is not a car to rush out and buy, even if you can afford its $3,285 price. At its present bug-ironing-out stage of development, and with its only about-to-be-born U.S. service, the Citroën DS 19 is essentially a connoisseur's item."

Vive les connoisseurs!

Owner's Story

Carter Willey, the proprietor of Metric Motors in Waterville, Maine, has long been a fan of the DS.

"I've been driving DSs all my life. I bought my first one, a 1958 DS 19, in 1967. I've owned at least one almost continually since then.

"I bought this car a few years ago after having given careful consideration to just which model of D was my favorite. This '61 can be said to be the last of the first series of DS. It has the earlier body styling and dash, and the more powerful version of the 1,911cc engine that was first offered in March of 1961. The car is in good original condition, having had only a respray and reupholstery (in original fabric) since new. I bought the car with around 50,000 km on the odometer.

"I've driven this car in Paris and through several European countries, and have driven it through most of the New England states. It's comfortable and competent in modern traffic. My normal cruising speed on the interstates is around 120 kph (about 75 mph); top speed is probably around 140 (87 mph). Fuel economy is quite satisfactory, though I've never measured it. I use premium fuel with no additives. The car uses virtually no oil or other fluids.

"I've done some hydraulic work on the car since owning it, the inevitable result of forty-some years with little use. The hydraulic system has been pretty trouble-free since then. The brakes and steering are precise and sure, engine power is adequate. The seats and suspension are very comfortable."

What to Pay

1961 Citroën DS 19

Low: $4,000

Avg: $7,000

High: $12,000

Club Scene

Citroën Club of America

8585 Commerce Ave

San Diego, California 92121

Dues: $20/year; Membership: 1,000

www.citroen-ca.com

Citroën Quarterly Car Club

PO Box 130030

Boston, Massachusetts

Dues: $20/year

home.comcast.net/~citroenquarterly/

Pros & Cons

Pros

No need to choose between sharp handling and a pillowy ride

All the style of the SS Normandie, yet it fits in your garage

Brigitte Bardot owned one

Cons

0-60 times long enough to smoke a Gauloise

Might tempt you to don a beret and fake an accent

Badly maintained hydraulic systems can be its Waterloo

Specifications

Engine

Type: Inline-four, iron block, aluminum alloy head, hemispherical combustion chambers

Displacement: 1,911cc (118-cu.in.)

Bore x stroke: 78mm x 100mm (3.08 inches x 3.96 inches)

Compression ratio: 8.0:1

Horsepower @ rpm: 83 @ 4,500 rpm

Torque @ rpm: 105-lbs.ft. @ 3,250 rpm

Valvetrain: Two overhead valves per cylinder

Main bearings: 3

Fuel system: Weber downdraft 2-bbl carburetor

Lubrication system: Full pressure, gear-driven pump, no filter

Electrical system: 12 volt

Exhaust system: Single, cast-iron manifold

Transmission

Type: Four-speed manual, servo control of gearchange and clutch

Ratios 1st: 3.55:1

2nd: 1.89:1

3rd: 1.22:1

4th: 0.85:1

Reverse: 3.81:1

Differential

Type: Spiral bevel

Ratio: 3.87:1

Brakes

Type: Hydraulic servo control, twin hydraulic circuits, automatic compensation for load

Front: 11.6-inch inboard disc

Rear: 10-inch drum

Chassis & Body

Construction: Steel unit-body, aluminum hood, fiberglass roof

Body style: Four-door, five-passenger sedan

Layout: Front engine, front-wheel drive

Steering

Type: Rack and pinion, hydraulic servo assist

Ratio: N/A

Turns, lock-to-lock: 3.2

Turning circle: Left, 35.5 feet; right, 37 feet

Suspension

Front: Transverse parallelogram with hydropneumatic struts, anti-roll bar

Rear: Trailing arms with hydropneumatic struts, anti-roll bar

Wheels: 15 x 4.5

Tires: 165 x 400, Michelin X

Weights & Measures

Wheelbase: 123 inches

Overall length: 190.5 inches

Overall width: 70.5 inches

Overall height: 58.9 inches

Front track: 59 inches

Rear track: 51.2 inches

Curb weight: 2,613 pounds

Capacities

Crankcase: 3.5 quarts

Cooling system: 2.6 gallons

Fuel tank: 14 gallons

Transmission: 2.8 pints

Calculated Data

Hp per liter: 43.43

Weight per hp: 31.48 pounds

Weight per cc: 1.37 pounds

Performance

0-60 mph: 16.8 seconds

1/4 mile ET: 21.2 seconds

Top speed: 98 mph

(Source: Car and Driver, February 1962)

Price

Base Price: $3,245