{"id":1364,"date":"2005-06-03T05:12:59","date_gmt":"2005-06-03T05:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/"},"modified":"2012-07-17T13:45:43","modified_gmt":"2012-07-17T13:45:43","slug":"ds-a-fiftyyearo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/","title":{"rendered":"The DS, a fifty-year-old goddess, part I"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/files\/2012\/07\/citroen_ds_191.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"163\" alt=\"Citroen_ds_19\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/files\/2012\/07\/citroen_ds_19.jpg\" width=\"250\"  \/><\/a> Yes, the DS is nearly fifty. It appeared at the Paris Motor Show, on <\/span><span lang=\"EN-GB\">October 6, 1955<\/span><span lang=\"EN-GB\">. Drawn by Flaminio Bertoni, the DS astonished everybody: it was 20 years ahead. Everything about this car sent its rivals to the museum: hydro-pneumatic suspension, front disc brakes, front wheel-drive, hydraulic gear change, intense use of plastic and aluminium and a splendid streamlined body. The engineers, ruled by Andr\u00e9 Lefebvre, had been summoned to give the best of themselves. Special congratulations to Paul Mag\u00e8s, for designing the whole hydraulic system.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span>On the other hand, the engine was inherited from the <a href=\"http:\/\/adsauto.blogspot.com\/2005\/06\/automobile-4-from-adfunk-auto.html\">Traction<\/a>, and even if Walter Becchia had endowed it with a new top, the DS would always lack the flat-6 once planned for the top-of-the-range Citroen. The company was simply short of money to achieve its development.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span>The public was more than enthusiastic: on the first day, 12,201 orders were placed. At the end of the show, this figure rose to 79,996! Even if the DS reached new technoligical summits, it remained affordable.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span>Citroen was both delighted and embarrassed: only 8 copies had been made hitherto. If fact, the car was still a prototype and the first customers underwent appalling reliability problems. <\/span><\/span><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span>It took Citroen a few years to solve them: by the time, the DS had acquired a dubious reputation\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span>But then, the company constantly improved and developed its goddess on wheels. 1958 saw the introduction of a simplified DS called ID, which was declined in an estate body (Safari)the following year. In 1960, the convertible came out in the Paris Motorshow. In 1961, the engine was modified and saw its power rise from 75 to 83bhp.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span>In 1964, the luxurious Pallas trim was introduced and in 1965, the old 1911 cc unit was deeply modified (on the DS only). It received a 5-bearing crankshaft and its capacity rose. From then on available in 1985 cc 90bhp and 2175 cc 109bhpversions, it allowed the DS to jump into the highway age with ease and elegance, helped by a new 5-speed gearbox.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\"><span>It still had no real competitor: the <a href=\"http:\/\/gunroom.blogspot.com\/2005\/05\/double-whammy.html\">Rover P6<\/a>, the Peugeot 404, the Vauxhall Cresta, the Mercedes 220, all of them were left far behind in terms of comfort, roadholding or braking power.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yes, the DS is nearly fifty. It appeared at the Paris Motor Show, on October 6, 1955. Drawn by Flaminio Bertoni, the DS astonished everybody: it was 20 years ahead. Everything about this car sent its rivals to the museum: hydro-pneumatic suspension, front disc brakes, front wheel-drive, hydraulic gear change, intense use of plastic and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":1421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nostalgia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The DS, a fifty-year-old goddess, part I - Petrol Head<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The DS, a fifty-year-old goddess, part I - Petrol Head\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Yes, the DS is nearly fifty. It appeared at the Paris Motor Show, on October 6, 1955. Drawn by Flaminio Bertoni, the DS astonished everybody: it was 20 years ahead. Everything about this car sent its rivals to the museum: hydro-pneumatic suspension, front disc brakes, front wheel-drive, hydraulic gear change, intense use of plastic and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/files\/2012\/07\/citroen_ds_19.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"stephane schlesinger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/\",\"name\":\"The DS, a fifty-year-old goddess, part I - Petrol Head\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/files\/2012\/07\/citroen_ds_19.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2005-06-03T05:12:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-07-17T13:45:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/#\/schema\/person\/5c8103ba7561357f0d71a57e0901f797\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/files\/2012\/07\/citroen_ds_19.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/files\/2012\/07\/citroen_ds_19.jpg\",\"width\":\"250\",\"height\":\"163\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The DS, a fifty-year-old goddess, part I\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/\",\"name\":\"petrol-head\",\"description\":\"Just another The Social Media Group Network site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/#\/schema\/person\/5c8103ba7561357f0d71a57e0901f797\",\"name\":\"stephane schlesinger\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"stephane schlesinger\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/author\/stephane-schlesinger\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The DS, a fifty-year-old goddess, part I - Petrol Head","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"The DS, a fifty-year-old goddess, part I - Petrol Head","twitter_description":"Yes, the DS is nearly fifty. It appeared at the Paris Motor Show, on October 6, 1955. Drawn by Flaminio Bertoni, the DS astonished everybody: it was 20 years ahead. Everything about this car sent its rivals to the museum: hydro-pneumatic suspension, front disc brakes, front wheel-drive, hydraulic gear change, intense use of plastic and [&hellip;]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/files\/2012\/07\/citroen_ds_19.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"stephane schlesinger","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/","name":"The DS, a fifty-year-old goddess, part I - Petrol Head","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/files\/2012\/07\/citroen_ds_19.jpg","datePublished":"2005-06-03T05:12:59+00:00","dateModified":"2012-07-17T13:45:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/#\/schema\/person\/5c8103ba7561357f0d71a57e0901f797"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/files\/2012\/07\/citroen_ds_19.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/files\/2012\/07\/citroen_ds_19.jpg","width":"250","height":"163"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/2005\/06\/03\/ds-a-fiftyyearo\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The DS, a fifty-year-old goddess, part I"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/","name":"petrol-head","description":"Just another The Social Media Group Network site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/#\/schema\/person\/5c8103ba7561357f0d71a57e0901f797","name":"stephane schlesinger","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"stephane schlesinger"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/author\/stephane-schlesinger\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1364"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4054,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions\/4054"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.thesocialmedia.com\/petrol-head\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}