History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek October 17, 1994; republished by author
“Je me suis inspire d’un oiseau aquatique.”
Well, it does look a little like a duck. For a car, that is. A sculptor name Bertoni – no relation to the Italian coachbuilder Bertone – penned the shape for Citroen’s revolutionary DS-19, saying a waterfowl, an oiseau aquatique, suggested the contour of the car that would become an archetype of French automotive individuality. The Deesse was French, France was the Deesse.
But styling was only the beginning. The DS had front-wheel-drive, still a novelty to most of the world in 1955, even if old hat at Citroen. The engine was mounted longitudinally behind the transaxle and the wheels were pushed out to the corners to maximize interior room. Suspension was fully independent, with double “L-arms” up front and a single trailing arm at each rear wheel. The rear track was noticeably narrower (by 8 inches) than the front. Front brakes were discs – still new technology – mounted inboard at the transaxle.
Most remarkable, however, was an engine-driven hydraulic pump that energized the hydrohydripneumatic “springs” with automatic load-leveling, plus the power steering, power brakes, and automatic clutch actuation and hydraulic gear-changing. Remarkable. And expensive. Plus potentially costly to repair. With all those hoses, seals, pumps and assorted devices, one’s mobility – not to mention one’s financial well-being – was at risk at every mile.
Citroen surely disagreed about the possibility of breakdown. The list price in the United States was $3295 (a full $1000 more than the cost of a ‘56 Chevy Bel Air with V8,and $60 more than a two-door Chrysler Windsor convertible that year). The price was similarly high in Europe. Citroen’s first U.S. sales outlets were on Park Avenue in New York and in Beverly Hills – no zip code yet.
Therefore, the DS – for Derivation Special or Desiree Speciale, you choose – was joined in 1955 (and in 1957 in the States) by the ID. The ID, for Idee Depouille, or “Idea Despoiled,” was stripped of all hydraulic accessories but the suspension. Doing so lowered the list price by $900, about a quarter off the price of the DS which, by 1957, had risen to $3495.
The ID-19 was therefore much more accessible. It effectively replaced the Traction Avant model – a low-slung sedan, better known as the 11 Legere and the 15, that was essentially a carryover prewar (1934) design the sold for $2400 in 1956, its last year.
Like the DS, the ID used the 1911cc four-cylinder engine. The engine was related to that of the 15 CV of 1934, though with a new cylinder head. The new head, with a hemispherical combustion chamber (pushrod-actuated valves at a 60-degree included angle), and higher compression raised output by a third, up to 75 hp (70 hp for the ID) at 4500 rpm. Torque was 101 lb-ft at 3000 rpm for the DS, 97.5 lb-ft at 2500 for the ID. The DS’s extra output came from a dual-throat Weber carburetor versus the ID’s single-throat Solex.
In truth, the elimination of the quirky hydraulics made a better car. Testers were underwhelmed by the DS-19’s semiautomatic shift; its brake “button” – quite literally a button on the floor in place of a brake pedal – has been the subject of thousands of words by car writers, most of whom liked the results but not the getting there. And like espresso, the DS-19’s self-centering power rack-and-pinion steering was, and is, an acquired taste. The ID-19 buyer didn’t have to make the effort.
The DS/ID had been so far advanced in 1957 that little was changed for years. A station wagon that could seat up to eight was added in 1960. By 1963, Citroen Car Corp. serviced a mere 140 or so U.S. dealers and the DS/ID remained an uncommon sight. Including an outlandish Ami-6 minicar, only about 2000 Citroen’s were sold Stateside that year.
One of them was the ‘63 ID-19 now owned by Dan Burke of Trenton, New Jersey. A car in excellent original condition, it’s as peculiar now as ever. It’s not possible to get in the car and just drive away. A look under the hood, around and under the car is obligatory. The 1.9-liter engine looks almost lost up front, pressed against the firewall. The radiator is mounted conventionally, but appears shielded in front by the spare tire. Obviously it isn’t, with airflow coming from under the front bumper. The wheel, however, shows another Citroen oddity: instead of conventional lugs, the wheel is affixed by a single central nut, with drive and braking forces borne by a hexagonal hub.
The hydraulic pump is V-belt driven, nestled low on the driver’s-side of the engine. Other than the hydraulic fluid reservoir alongside the radiator, a few extra hoses and those spheres (the suspension’s “springs”), little at first glance suggest anything unusual.
And, no surprise, the passenger compartment is anything but conventional, at least for anyone but Citroen. The “Cit-Safe” steering wheel has a single spoke. The theory was that, without seatbelts, the single spoke would in a collision direct the driver into the dash, made of “crash-yielding plastic.” Ouch.
There are, however, three pedals (no brake button in the ID-19), with brake and clutch covered with rubber pads and the Citroen chevron molded in. Instrumentation is minimal and trim is ‘50s Modern executed in cheesy plastic. Front seats are individual, but “buckets” would be overstatement. The backseat fits three genuine adults and their legs. And the trunk holds 17.5 cu ft of whatever, thanks to a low floor and the forward-stored spare.
The four-speed transmission is column-shifted but the real surprise comes after starting the engine. When not run for a while, the DS/ID settles like a Southern California low rider. Start it and pressure builds in the hydraulic system, the car rises, levels and you’re ready to go. Accelerate, it doesn’t, rather garnering speed like a train and holding it through corners, with the air/oil suspension keeping it level if doggedly understeering. There’s a whisper of wind around the A-pillar but the little four is quiet when cruising at highway speeds. The Citroen glides over broken concrete smooth as apricot sauce on a roast duck.
The DS/ID Citroen, sold in the States through 1972, never became a common sight on the American road. The price was high, near $5000 by the end, as was the necessary commitment to idiosyncrasy. For Yanks, the French foul was just too far afield. The Citroen DS/ID was simply not America.
Addendum: Citroen reprised the variable ground clearance of the CS-19/ID-19 in the Citroen XM which was briefly came to the U.S. as a gray market import.
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