The enduring beauty of the Citröen DS
As a child in the mid 70s, most summers my family and I would set off on an epic road trip. Early in the morning, we would squeeze into an overpacked car, with its headlamps painted translucent yellow and an oval GB sticker on the boot, we would head for Dover. I was lucky, I wasn’t one of those kids that got bored in the back of a car. It was a good job too because the trip from London to Campobasso, in southern Italy, was a long one, over 1300 miles (2100 km). For me, it was fantastically exciting, the boat, driving on the right, looking out of the window at the ever-changing roadscapes, and of course, the thing I liked best, the continental service station shops!
It was while sitting in the back of Mum and Dad’s car, driving through France, that I noticed them for the first time. Sleeping low, parked on street corners, they were everywhere in towns and villages. With their long shark-like bonnets and distinct glazed eyes, I had never seen anything like them. Smooth, sleek, torpedo-shaped bodies tapering back, their rear wheels encased behind metal. I was immediately fascinated by them. When I saw one raised up high, effortlessly cruising on the road in front of us, I saw that most unique and coolest feature, rear indicators built into the chrome trumpet of the roofline trim. That was it, they became my favourite car. I nagged my parents endlessly “there’s one” I would say pointing. “Look Mum can you see it?” every time I saw one. Slowly France became Switzerland and then northern Italy. The Citröen’s became fewer and by the time we were in the south they were gone. Maybe the odd one was around but the dusty roads of the Mezzogiorno were the domain of Fiat’s and Lancia’s. That was until the journey back...
My love for the Citröen DS has never left me, I still get excited every time I see one, and for me, it is unquestionably one of the automotive worlds most beautiful machines. Rarely has a cars name been more appropriate than the Déesse - it truly is a Goddess.
Thanks to Charles Evans of Douze Coupes for letting me shoot his fantastic 1973 brun scarabee DS.