A Fitting Tribute To The Citroën DS

I always chuckle imagining my Dad deciding to buy a new DS21Pallas as our “family car” and his daily driver back in ’71. He ran an auto parts store in a small city in the Midwest and his boredom with the Detroit iron for which he most often supplied parts compelled him to find more interesting rides. First, a series of Alfas and then, because the family was growing, or so he explained to my ever practical Mother, the DS. He loved sharing the engineering and execution of the all the details with his gear head buddies and reveled in its highway cruiser sophistication. It was literally unstoppable in bad weather including the deepest snowfalls. But most all, he absolutely delighted in telling tall tales: Fellow gas station customer, “what’s she got under the hood?” “well, if you were wondering about that faint charcoal odor, it’s because of the revolutionary wooden engine, etc.” or “what’s this thing ride on, rubber bands?” “as a matter of fact, yes. the French are known the world over for the finest bubbly and high performance rubber bands” and so on. I’ve wondered how many folks that were told those stories retold them to friends and family members… Everything about the DS created a unique experience, from the hydro-pneumatic suspension, brakes and semi-auto shifter, absurdly comfortable seats and padded floors, to the very practical deep trunk, easily removable wings and slightly boring but run-forever, easy to service drivetrain. Truly a memorable automobile in so many ways.