B.E.A. Bulletins: test reports, technical monitoring and mileage records

In this document

List of test reports (p. 62)

Page 62 is the first page of a Documentation Bulletin from the Citroën B.E.A., listing test reports carried out by the "Experimental Physics" group. Fourteen tests are referenced (IX-1 to IX-14), covering a wide variety of subjects: crankshaft fatigue, moments of inertia, camshaft/tappet oil film, piston temperatures, carburetor tests (Solex, Weber), exhaust gas recycling, parking forces and steering elasticity on competitor vehicles (BMW 520, Peugeot 104), or even a test on a tank plastic for the Ami 8 p. 62.

Test mileage records 1957-1964 (p. 63)

Page 63 is a separate, difficult-to-read handwritten sheet that tracks the mileage of one or more test vehicles between 1957 and 1964. It notes the start of tests "at la Ferté" at 30,775 km, followed by a series of interventions: replacement of gearbox seals and bearings, reconditioning of an "HP pump", changing of an "H. motor", reassembly, and mentions of "HP pump replaced" (30,529 km) then "HP pump perfect condition" (67,954 km) p. 63.

The odometer was reset to zero on 15.1.63, followed by a resumption of records until 29.10.64 (113,082 km), the date on which a "block seizure" is noted p. 63.

Selection of technical articles 1972-1973 (p. 64)

Page 64 lists technical articles selected from external signaletic bulletins, not archived at the B.E.A. but available upon request. Among them: an article from Hydraul. and Pneumat. (1973) on design rules for a mobile hydrostatic transmission (Miller, VIII-18074); two articles on American automotive emission regulations (Highway Res. Rec. and World Oil, 1972-1973); an article from I.E.E.E. Trans. vehicular Technol. (1973) on electrical systems for hybrid vehicles; and an article on the kinematics of driver behavior in the face of sudden acceleration (A.S.M.E., 1972) p. 64.

Context

The B.E.A. (Automotive Design Office) was the advanced research department at Citroën where Paul Magès worked. These documentation bulletins, distributed internally, allowed engineers to order test reports or technical articles spotted in the international scientific press.

The interest shown here in "mobile hydrostatic transmission" p. 64 echoes Magès' own work on this subject during the same period (early 1970s), with Citroën having developed hydrostatic transmission prototypes for its vehicles (2 CV, 3 CV, GS, "L" vehicle). The tests on the BMW 520 and Peugeot 104 are part of classic "benchmarking" practices in the automotive industry of the time.

Archivist's perspective

This composite document illustrates well the documentary functioning of the B.E.A.: dissemination of internal test reports and external technical monitoring, two activities that likely fueled Magès' reflections on his own innovations.

The handwritten sheet on page 63, although it mentions no name or precise type of vehicle, seems to relate to the endurance monitoring of a hydraulic component ("HP pump", "H. motor") over several years (1957-1964) — a type of monitoring found in other pieces of the collection, such as the Mileage record of test vehicles with Hydrostatic Transmission (1960-1973) or the Endurance test monitoring of the 2 CV A12 with hydrostatic transmission, which explicitly mentions the "la Ferté" site also cited here p. 63.

The presence, on page 64, of an article on hydrostatic transmission dated 1973 confirms that this subject remained, at the international level, a line of research followed with attention by Magès' teams at that time.