“Forty years of innovation in hydraulics” — Citroën Expert Notebook leaflet

In this document

A presentation leaflet for the “Hydraulics” Expert Notebook

The page opens with a presentation text titled Forty years of innov[ation] in the field of [hydraulics] (title partially cut off). It recalls that Citroën acquired “from the outset” a “technical and inventive” expertise, and that “the jewel” of its know-how, “at a high level”, is Hydraulics p. 7.

The text mentions a progression “from the experimentation of the first suspension” to “hydraulics and electronic intelligence”, with advances made “in giant leaps”. Among the “latest fruits of creativity” are cited “high-pressure braking, suspension [with] variable efforts”, which “equip our latest mod[els]” p. 7.

Stated pedagogical objectives

Two blocks present the purpose of the notebook:

• “Hydraulics, an essential refresher”: the training aims for “good diagnosis” and “safe and precise repair”, by relying on “the fundamental notions of Hydraulics” and the “new Citroën technologies of suspension, steering and braking” p. 7.
• “Notebooks designed for you”: the training, intended for the “CITROËN network”, promises to address “the physical principles” of hydraulics and their “detailed applications”, supplemented by “numerous recent scientific articles” p. 7.

A reminder about another training course

At the bottom of the page, a “REMINDER” box announces a “new 1994 session” of the Electricity Expert Notebooks, starting “mid-February”, with a program in 8 thematic notebooks (electrical energy, direct current, resistors, alternating current, magnetism, rectifiers, circuit laws, energy & power), plus a “Great Aide-Memoire” and a “revision quiz” p. 7.

Fragments of superimposed documents are visible: a cross-section diagram of a “pump”, a diagram evoking a “Diesse hydraulics” [uncertain], and an excerpt on current/capacitor/accumulator — too partial to be exploited.

Context

This leaflet is part of the internal technical training program for the Citroën network, known as Hydraulics Expert Notebooks, intended for technicians and dealers. The mention of “forty years” of hydraulics historically refers to the introduction of the hydropneumatic suspension — whose plans date from 17 February 1944 (hydropneumatic suspension plans) and whose first tests on the 2 CV took place in May-July 1946 (first tests notebook) — on the Citroën 15-Six, tested on 3-5 April 1954 (15-Six H test), then on the DS presented on 6 October 1955, the work of Paul Magès, who joined Citroën in August 1925 and remained in the company for 49 years (autobiographical notes). The mention of “high-pressure braking” and “suspension with variable efforts” likely echoes the Hydractive technologies and the high-pressure braking system deployed by Citroën in the 1990s — external context elements not detailed in the document itself.

Archivist's perspective

This leaflet functions as an opening page or cover of a training notebook: it details no precise technique but sets the historical and pedagogical framework of the series p. 7. It thus complements the presentation of the “Hydraulics Expert Notebooks” training, whose spirit and target audience it clearly shares.

The “REMINDER” box on electricity suggests that this leaflet is probably extracted from a multi-training communication medium, perhaps an internal magazine or a session catalog, rather than an isolated notebook — the superposition of technical fragments visible at the bottom of the page seems, moreover, to indicate a montage or a partially digitized recto-verso. It could usefully be compared with the “Welcome...” welcome booklet to reconstruct the entire training system. It should be noted that this piece, undated, is subsequent to the retirement of Paul Magès in September 1974 (photographs of the retirement): it illustrates the durability, within the Citroën network, of the technical legacy he had initiated.