1968 DS swivelling headlights: Cibié and Citroën press clippings (1967)

In this document

A Cibié advertisement for directional headlights

An advertising page from Sport Auto (October 1967) presents the new directional lighting system equipping the 1968 model DS: "the directional system for iodine headlights is a CIBIÉ creation" p. 100. The text emphasizes the anticipation of movement, which "also allows for lighting up the bend before entering it" p. 100. The insert identifies Cibié as a "Citroën Supplier" p. 100.

Press articles on the 1968 Motor Show

Several clippings (including an article signed by André Bloch) announce two Citroën novelties at the same time: the small "Dyane" and the modification of the "ID-DS" with "four headlights - two of which are swivelling" p. 101-102, 104.

The technical principle is described in two stages: a "dynamic control" adjusts the beam inclination according to the vehicle's attitude, and a "directional control" rotates the auxiliary iodine headlights "according to the orientation of the steering wheels", with "the rotation of the inner headlight in the curve [...] being greater than that of the other" p. 102, 105. In a tight bend, this headlight "swivels almost 90 degrees relative to the car's axis" p. 102, 105. The speed gain announced on winding roads at night is "20 to 30%" p. 102, 105.

These swivelling headlights are fitted as standard on the "Pallas, Prestige and Cabriolet" DS models, and as an option on other models for "300 F" according to one source p. 102 and "about 200 F" according to another p. 105 — both amounts appear in the corpus without it being possible to decide between them.

Prices and related characteristics

A table of prices cited in the articles:

The Dyane engine is described as a "2-cylinder flat, air-cooled, 425 c.c." engine developing "21 HP" p. 102, 105. A brief page 104 summarizes the whole: "A revolution: headlights swivelling in bends on certain I.D. and D.S. models". Page 103, unrelated to the automotive subject, contains a news item about Johnny Hallyday's accident.

Context

The Cibié system mentioned here is well known elsewhere as a directional lighting device, but the archive does not detail its internal hydraulic operation — only the visible result (headlight rotation) is described.

More broadly, this innovation is part of the history of the DS, whose hydropneumatic suspension, designed in particular by Paul Magès, already allowed for fine control of the vehicle's attitude; this Citroën hydraulic expertise is traditionally associated, in the history of the brand, with this type of technical improvement — but this link is not established by the document itself.

Archivist's perspective

This set of press clippings probably does not come directly from Paul Magès's technical work, but testifies to the media reception of a 1967-1968 Citroën innovation with which his department may have been associated, particularly via the attitude and suspension issues he had already mastered for the DS p. 102, 105.

It is interesting to note that this "revolution" of swivelling headlights is based on a logic of anticipation and dynamic correction similar to that developed for the hydropneumatic suspension itself — a parallel suggested, without being explicitly formulated, by the BBC Conferences Nov.-Dec. 1960 where Magès already mentioned "future improvements" to DS comfort and safety.

The presence, in the same folder, of the Summary of folder 60-74 suggests that this press clipping was kept as a documentary watch on the developments of the DS model, rather than as a direct trace of Magès's engineering work.