Desirée Spéciale (1955-1965)Desirée Spéciale (1955-1965)
Citroën's hydropneumatic suspension, which entirely replaces conventional
springs, has at its heart, a belt-driven high-pressure hydraulic pump which
among other functions supplies hydraulic fluid to four spherical containers,
one at each wheel. The spheres are half-filled with fluid, bisected by a
diaphragm, and half-filled with nitrogen gas. Pistons in the fluid half
are connected to the suspension link of the adjacent wheel, and pressure
within each sphere controls piston movement, which in turn raises or lowers
car height independently at each corner. A rod at the center of the car's
anti-sway bar connects to the height corrector control valve, and this device
regulates the flow of fluid into the spheres, maintaining a static height
independent of load or surface factors.
Bertoni's novel body for the new DS - and later the cheaper and less
exotic ID - was possessed of almost limitless innovations ranging far beyond
its unmistakable outward appearance. The doors and fenders, for example,
are easily removable - indeed the rear fenders must be removed for wheel
changes, after the hydropneumatic system has lowered the car onto its special
jacking block. And the wheels slip onto splined hubs, being held on with
only one bolt. If tire changing isn't ever fun, it's at least interesting
on a DS or ID.
Inside, the DS/ID's unique single spoke steering wheel is an important
safety feature. It's really the top of the steering column, bent down and
away from the driver, designed to yield harmlessly in the event of accidents.
The spare tire is mounted diagonally in front of the radiator in another
collision defense mechanism, and it doesn't block radiator air flow because
the air sweeps in below the bumper. Rear directional signals are placed
high at the corners of the rear window where they can never be missed. Later
models feature rubber bumper guards affording the same protection as is
today mandatory in the United States. All in all, an eminently safe motorcar,
especially when these features are combined with Citroën's exceptional
hydropneumatic handling and good ride. The car "could be hurtled around
the corners," said The Autocar, "braked violently, accelerated
violently, with nothing untoward happening."
Performance, in terms of road scorching acceleration, was never a high
point of the DS specification - the hemi four carried over from the TA was
giving 0-60 times in the seventeen second range as late as 1960. Still,
with the 119 hp DS21, it became the highest powered production car able
to provide one mile an hour for every single horsepower. And the DS/ID was
a formidable rally competitor. One of the first DSl9's to come off the production
line was best-in-class at the 1956 Monte Carlo Rally, and it started a string
of victories including first and fourth overall with thirteen Citroën
finishers at the 1959 Monte, a feat which won Citroën the Manufacturer's
Cup. Through the Sixties, the cars continually placed high in the Liège-Sofia-
Liège, Alpine Cup, Thousand Lakes, and other international rallies.
Obviously a design as chock full of innovations as this is here to stay.
So in many ways it comes as no surprise to find it still in full production
nearly twenty years later. Yet there have been plenty of changes along the
way: estates, station wagons, and a "Majestée" limousine
by Henri Chapron; a number of cabriolets by everybody from Chapron to Georg Autenrieth
of Darmstadt. Hydraulic gearchanges, centrifugal clutches (these came first
with the 1954 2 CV), long range iodine vapour driving lamps linked to the
steering so they light your way around bends, fuel injection, and five-speed
gearboxes have all been added to the original prescription, and well over
a million of the DS/ID range have been made so far.
But the success of the DS carried with it the seeds of another problem.
Increasing complexity and rising costs were carrying the car slowly but
surely towards the upper end of the market, and the only other really big
seller, the 2 CV/Dyane series, was right at the opposite extreme. In between
was a very unhealthy gap, right across the biggest and most lucrative part
of the whole car market. The 3 CV Ami 6 was too small and too bizarre in
its appearance to plug this gap properly - it would be succeeded by the
Ami 8 which was just too small supplemented later by the 6 CV Ami Super
- and year after year went by with no new model to make the range complete.
During the 1960's, a decade which saw numerous collapses and takeovers,
one answer would have been a merger with another company with a successful
middle market range of its own. But one consequence of paddling your own
canoe in such an individual way for so long, is that you don't take easily
to other people's ideas and attitudes. So discussion during the mid-Sixties
for an amalgamation with Peugeot foundered - according to Peugeot - because
Citroën directors insisted on treating the deal as a takeover of Peugeot
instead of a merger with it. Peugeot's equally prickly family pride being
offended by this, off they went to a research and development agreement
with state-owned Renault instead. In the French car industry at least, Citroën
had been left out in the cold. And for the first time ever, the late Sixties
saw the demand for Citroën cars beginning to fall. Hard times lay ahead.