“The DS: 30 years later” — Interview with Paul Magès in L'Est Républicain (1985)

In this document

An interview on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the DS

The article, by Dominique Faivre-Duboz, appears in the “Avant-garde” section of L'Est Républicain (handwritten annotation “Est-Republicain 10 Nov. 1985”, p. 1). It looks back at the frequent breakdowns of the DS in its early days in 1955: “a puddle of oil underneath it. And no way to fix it up” p. 2. Paul Magès is presented as “the father of the DS hydropneumatic suspension”, then aged 77 p. 1-2.

The genesis of the hydropneumatic system

Magès traces the technical progression: the 1934 Traction then the 1939 15 Six, equipped with torsion bars deemed uncomfortable (“racket blows at the rear”), then the 2 CV, deemed too soft but limited to 60 km/h p. 2. For the car intended to succeed the 11 CV, the team sought “a car as flexible as the 2 CV but which does not lift its tail” p. 1-2, hence the idea of “self-levelling”. He details the abandonment of rubber cones, replaced by gas and then oil used “at 150 kg” of pressure, against “3, 4, 5 kg” for American pneumatic suspensions deemed ineffective p. 2.

The patent and the American dispute

According to Magès, only the “height correction” was patented p. 2. He recounts being sent to Los Angeles to respond to an accusation of infringement based on a Swedish patent, a threat brought by an American law firm; Citroën reportedly settled the matter out of court p. 2.

The oil problem

Magès explains that the hydraulic oil, heated “to 80°” for more than an hour, became “acidic and corrosive”, causing the breakdowns in France, whereas American DS models, using brake fluid as on the 15 Six H, did not suffer from it — a solution deemed too risky on the DS because of its multiple assisted circuits p. 2.

Assessment and personal life

Asked about a possible repeat of the project, Magès states: “we would not do it again” and mentions an unfulfilled project for a small structure dedicated to very expensive cars, for which “the agreement with Maserati came too late” p. 2. He specifies that he drives a GS, criticizes the McPherson axle of the BX, and confides that he lives in Ramatuelle where he works on “sanitation, discharges into the sea, currentology”, claiming to have no engineering title: “I got my BEPS and that's all” p. 2.

Context

The Citroën DS, introduced in 1955, remained famous for its avant-garde design and its hydropneumatic suspension, a technical feat for the time. The industrial rapprochement between Citroën and Maserati, mentioned in the interview, actually existed in the 1970s (notably for the SM), but these general context elements are not developed by the document itself. In 1985, Magès had been retired from Citroën for eleven years (retirement taken in September 1974, photographs of the retirement departure) and lived in Ramatuelle, where he was involved in municipal life (list of members of the Ramatuelle municipal council); his mention of work on “sanitation, discharges into the sea, currentology” is part of this Var anchoring rather than a strictly professional activity.

Archivist's view

This press clipping offers a rare and direct testimony from Paul Magès on the technical genesis of his major invention, with a lively and sometimes polemical tone p. 1-2. It probably sheds light, better than technical documents, on the human dimension and the industrial tensions (American litigation, comparison with McPherson) surrounding the hydropneumatic system.

The regret expressed regarding the absence of a test structure dedicated to “very expensive cars” seems to reveal the engineer's frustration with Citroën's industrial constraints p. 2.