DS 19 1955

The introduction

The introduction of the DS took place at the October 1955 Paris motor show. The orders taken at the show (12.000) were well above the amount Citroën could build within the first production year. Enormous crowds gathered at the Citroën display and at the occasional DS on the streets.

ID1961

People believed it came from another planet, due to the hydraulic suspension and looks of the bodywork and dashboard.
A stripped version of the DS called ID (no power steering, no power braking, and no semi-automatic hydraulic gearbox) was introduced at the October 1956 motor show.

break 1961

In October 1958 the Break (Station wagon) was introduced. It supplies room for around 7 people. The chassis was extended to create more room.
Click here for a more detailed description of the first series breaks .
Click here for pictures of a first series break Confort .

DS 1968 pallas DS pallas 1968

Twenty years of evolution

During the first years a lot of effort was put in making the hydraulics reliable. Citroën had developed the car fast and with lots of new techniques. This meant that the cars were troublesome in the first years. After 1961, hydraulics turned out to be very reliable and effort was mainly put into developing a stronger engine and a more luxurious interior.
Engine power was raised over these 20 years from 75 SAE HP to 141 SAE (130 DIN) HP. In 1963 also the front of the car was changed slightly.
A major change to the looks of the ID/DS was done for production year 1968. The DS got its so called 'new' or 3th front (see picture)

The end

In 1975 the production of this Citroën was stopped after around 1.5 million pieces.

cabriolet 1968

Special bodies

Apart from an individual changing the looks of the DS a number of companies worked on the body work of the DS. The most famous was the France Chapron, Chapron build the factory cabriolets and did special orders for luxury DSs. Another major name in this field was Currus who build the DS ambulance (Along with other firms).

Did you know that....