Citroën Bulletin No. 544 (Sept. 1957): end of the Traction and Milan Grand Prix for the DS 19

In this document

Editorial: the end of the Traction Avant

On 18 July 1957, the last "Traction" was assembled on the Javel assembly line p. 177. The editorial describes the atmosphere in the workshops, where workers improvised decorations (paper flower bouquet, tricolour flag, SNCF red lantern) to salute the event p. 177. The Delivery Department wrote the word "FIN" on the number plate before Mr. Dufour, a dealer in Saint-Malo, took delivery of this Familiale 11 D p. 177.

The text traces the model's career: the first Traction, the 7 A, a 72×80 4-cylinder with overhead valves, replaced by the 7 C then the 11 Légère (46 hp, 120 km/h); in 1939, the 7 ECO, 11 Légère and 11 Normale coexisted; on 4 May 1955, the new 11 D engine was adopted p. 177. The bulletin highlights that the Traction-Avant "lasted" 23 years, 4 months and 15 days, beating, according to the text, the longevity record of the Ford Model T p. 177.

The DS 19 at the Milan Triennale

A press clipping dated "Milan, 12 December" announces that the first grand prix of the 11th International Triennial Exhibition of Art and Industrial Design in Milan was awarded to the Citroën DS 19 p. 179. A supplementary article specifies that the Palazzo del Arte hosted this Triennale from 27 July to 4 November, and that Citroën presented a DS 19 body, its lines responding "to the imperatives of speed, comfort and safety" as well as to "aesthetic concerns" p. 181.

Other echoes of the issue

• Inauguration of the "Centre-Rhône" store in Geneva on 18-19 July, with an appearance by Minou Drouet in a DS p. 178.
• 3rd Swiss 2 CV Rally "We will go to Geneva" (29-30 June), with results by category p. 178, 181.
• Public Works Exhibition: presentation of the T 55 heavy goods vehicles, including the T 55 4×4 (90 hp engine, 5-speed gearbox) p. 181.
• Ghana in a 2 CV: report by Mr. R.W. Howe, 8,000 km covered p. 181-182.
• Mobilgas fuel economy contest: Mr. Mangin (DS 19) at 6.96 l/100 km, Mr. Maurel (2 CV) with 100 litres for 2,167 km p. 180, 182.
• "Citroën on screen": films A Pied, à cheval et en voiture (Noël-Noël), the documentary Et pourtant... on the history of suspension, appearances by Brigitte Bardot and Bob Hope with DS 19s p. 183.
• Social section "Did you know?" and staff classified ads p. 184.

Context

Historically, the Traction Avant, launched in 1934, remained in production until 1957, a rare case of longevity for an automobile model of the time. The DS 19, presented at the 1955 Paris Motor Show, is renowned for its revolutionary aesthetics designed by Flaminio Bertoni and for its hydropneumatic suspension, an invention to which Paul Magès contributed significantly: having joined Citroën in August 1925 (autobiographical notes), he drew up the plans as early as February 1944 (hydropneumatic suspension plans) and conducted the first tests on a 2 CV in 1946 (first test notebook). The Milan Triennale was, in the 1950s, one of the major international events dedicated to industrial design; that an automobile should be distinguished there by a grand prix is notable, the automobile object being rarely treated as an artistic exhibition piece on this scale.

Archivist's perspective

This issue of the Bulletin Citroën is not a technical document by Paul Magès himself, but it sheds light on the context in which his work was situated: it illustrates, through the Milanese grand prix, the public and international recognition of the DS 19, a vehicle whose hydropneumatic suspension — the fruit of research conducted by Magès since the 1940s — constituted one of the major innovations.

It seems relevant to compare this piece with the theoretical study files on suspension kept in the same collection, notably the Folder "Theoretical study – hydropneumatic suspension 1943/44" and the Plans for hydropneumatic suspension with differential interaction and automatic levelling, which document the technical genesis of the system praised here, more than ten years later, for its aesthetic and functional qualities p. 179, 181.

This bulletin was kept by Magès, then deputy head of Super-Control at Citroën, as a testament to the recognition obtained by an invention to which he had devoted a large part of his engineering career — a career that would continue at Citroën until his retirement in September 1974 (photographs of retirement).