Citroën DS
The car that seemed to come from the future, with hydropneumatic suspension.
The Citroën DS was shown at the Paris Motor Show in 1955 and received thousands of orders on the first day. Flaminio Bertoni designed the body and André Lefèbvre led the engineering.
The philosopher Roland Barthes wrote that the car was like a cathedral, an object that seemed to have fallen from the sky. The hydropneumatic suspension made it unusually smooth.
Materials: Sheet steel, glass-fibre reinforced plastic in the roof, aluminium
Manufacture: Made by Citroën from 1955 to 1975.
The low, streamlined profile that tapers towards the rear.
The rear wheels partly hidden by the wings.
The car that sinks down when the engine is switched off.
The hydropneumatic suspension using gas and oil kept the car at the same height regardless of load, and the same pressure system powered the brakes, the steering and, on many models, the gear change. The roof was made of glass-fibre-reinforced plastic.
A low nose with no visible radiator grille, a steering wheel with a single spoke, wings that cover the rear wheels and, from 1967, headlights behind glass that turn with the steering wheel.
The ID was a simpler version from 1957. There was also an estate, the Break, and a convertible made by the coachbuilder Chapron. The DS was made until 1975.