Presentation of the DS: public reception and attribution to the Lefebvre-Bertoni-Magès team

In this document

The text evokes the reception reserved for the public during the presentation of a Citroën model: in the first 45 minutes following the opening, a large number of visitors "placed orders for it" p. 1.

The document attributes this achievement to a specific team: "the Lefebvre-Bertoni and Magès team" p. 1, as with the brand's previous creations.

An ironic then conquered reception

The text mentions "ironic comments", the car being described as a "toad-faced car", especially as it "was displayed in green, yellow and aubergine" p. 1. The document specifies, however, that "the evidence would quickly become apparent" p. 1.

Cited characteristics

The text lists several distinctive features: "its plunging nose, its gathered rear, its single-spoke steering wheel on a futuristic dashboard, its disc brakes and its hydropneumatic suspension (signed Paul Magès)" p. 1. It adds that the car "would become the benchmark car" for many years p. 1.

Finally, a numerical figure is provided: "1,330,755 units" produced "between 1955 and 1976" p. 1.

Context

The model described corresponds to the Citroën DS, presented on 6 October 1955. The collection precisely documents the journey that led to this presentation: as early as 17 February 1944, Paul Magès drew his first plans for hydropneumatic suspension with differential interaction; the first tests on the 2 CV took place in May-July 1946, then the test of the 15-Six H on 3-5 April 1954, just before the presentation of the DS. This text, coming from a medium at the Le Mans Automobile Museum, summarizes for the general public the reception and legacy of this iconic car in the history of Citroën.

The design team mentioned refers to André Lefebvre (chief engineer), Flaminio Bertoni (stylist) and Paul Magès, who joined Citroën in August 1925 and remained with the company for 49 years, a self-taught man who became a technical writer and then deputy head of the Super-Control before joining the design office from 1939-1940 (autobiographical notes: Draft of a letter from Paul Magès to Mr. Sarre), and associated with the development of the hydropneumatic suspension.

Archivist's perspective

This short excerpt does not directly carry the voice of Paul Magès, but it testifies to how his name has remained associated, in collective and museum memory, with one of the most striking systems he helped to develop: the hydropneumatic suspension p. 1.

It seems that this document has more commemorative than technical value — it is probably a panel or a museum notice intended for the general public, rather than an internal Citroën document.

Its place in the Magès archives seems symbolic: it illustrates the late public recognition of an invention, contrasting with the initial ironic reception reported in the text p. 1.