L'Auto-Journal No. 55 (1 June 1952): first scoop on the future Citroën 10 CV

In this document

The front page: a world scoop

L'Auto-Journal announces in a "world exclusive and under copyright" the Citroën 10 CV prototype, presented as a "front-wheel drive... 6-cylinder flat water-cooled engine" p. 1. The journal recalls having already photographed a camouflaged prototype "near Draguignan", equipped this time with an air-cooled engine, and mentions "considerable difficulties regarding soundproofing and cooling" which apparently led to the choice of water cooling — a "recent and very grueling ascent of Mont-Ventoux" having weighed in the decision p. 1.

The text specifies that this 6-seater 10 CV targets the same audience as "the Vedette and the Frégate", and mentions that Mr. Boulanger prioritized the development of the 2 CV over that of this 10 CV, reserving his attention for the new "hydropneumatic suspension already fitted for some time on experimental 11s" p. 1. The silhouette is described: "very low line, long wheelbase, strongly curved windshield" p. 1. The diagrams on the front page are signed "R. BELLU" (or A. BELLU, uncertain).

Page 2: engine, suspension, chassis

Three photographs captioned "Closed trunk", "Open trunk" and "Front axle" illustrate the rear (compared to that of the Aurelia) and the front axle, where one can distinguish "the hydraulic suspension circuit" and its oil reservoir p. 2.

The engine is detailed by a diagram with 23 numbered references: it is a flat 6-cylinder light alloy engine, water-cooled, oversquare, 74 mm bore, 70 mm stroke, i.e., a displacement of 1800 cm³. Its power, "initially 60 real HP", was "increased, on certain models, to 70 HP (at 4,500 rpm)" p. 2. Fuel supply is via "a double-barrel carburetor", with an injection version "also under study". The text attributes this engine to "engineer Becchia" p. 2.

The suspension circuit is described via a plan diagram: "bells containing compressed air separated, by a membrane, from the liquid circulating in the entire network", with a "high-pressure pump" p. 2. A chassis at the rear, of "fairly new design and drawing", serves as the car's frame p. 2.

Context

This 10 CV announced in 1952 is, as we know today, the prototype that would become the DS 19, officially presented on 6 October 1955. The 6-cylinder water-cooled engine mentioned here would ultimately never be produced: the DS would be launched with the existing 4-cylinder from the Traction, due to a lack of budget to develop this new block.

The hydropneumatic suspension, on the other hand, is indeed the one developed by Paul Magès: the design office drew up the plans as early as 17 February 1944 (plans of 17 February 1944), the first tests on the 2 CV took place from May to July 1946 (first test notebook), and the device was further tested on the 15-Six H in early April 1954 (test of 3-5 April 1954) — the suspension mentioned here as "already fitted for some time on experimental 11s" fits exactly into this development timeline. Pierre Boulanger, head of Citroën until his death in 1950, had effectively given priority to the 2 CV.

Archivist's perspective

This document is precious: it shows that in June 1952, more than three years before the release of the DS, the specialized press was already aware of Magès's hydropneumatic suspension and sought to describe its operation, with remarkable technical precision for the time p. 1-2.

It also illustrates the vagueness still surrounding, at this stage, the final architecture of the vehicle: the 6-cylinder described here would be abandoned, unlike the suspension which would become the brand's signature. The comparison with L'Auto-Journal No. 134: "Here is the Citroën bomb", published in September 1955 just before the official presentation, allows one to follow the evolution of the information gleaned by the journal over three years, and the progressive confirmation of the device imagined by Magès.