#0833 Citroën DS

Chateau Rueil Malmaison

Form follows utility. This sentence in particular does not seem to apply to the DS - and yet it does so very much. Charles de Gaulle - French President from 1959 to 1969 - owes his life to the basic idea chosen for the DS - radically avant-garde in technology and form - and the design resulting from it. On August 22, 1962, his vehicle was badly damaged in an assassination attempt, but thanks to the hydraulic system for suspension, brakes, gearshift and power steering, which was unique in 1955, it was able to continue on three wheels. Each tire had its own suspension. The three remaining tires stabilized the vehicle and prevented it from swerving unintentionally and thus from breaking down at the scene of the assassination. The outer form was intended to embody the avant-garde of the technology, which it certainly did. In addition, the aerodynamics of the body made astonishing performance and fuel consumption values ​​possible. The daring basic technical idea was confirmed by the long-lasting operation of the hydraulic system over decades and was a building block of the success of the Citroën models that followed.