Steering incident on a DS 19: letter from SNECMA to Citroën (27 June 1963)

In this document

This letter is dated 27 June 1963 and written from Villaroche by P. Mahoudeau, of SNECMA (Société Nationale d'Étude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation), Villaroche Test Centre.

It is addressed to Monsieur Clément, head of the super-control department at Citroën, quai André Citroën in Paris.

Mahoudeau sends Clément a copy of the report drawn up by the SNECMA control department "concerning the steering incident that occurred on my car DS I60 KL 77 which motivated your visit to Villaroche for an expert assessment" p. 15. He asks Clément to let him know his opinion "on the observations and conclusions of this report", with the aim of "drawing valid conclusions from it" p. 15.

The letter bears a registration stamp "27 JUNE 1963 – 03800". Visible as a watermark, under the text, is another document (probably the attached report) mentioning "Nature of the incident" and a date, "19 May 1963" — but this text, which is transparent, remains largely illegible and cannot be used with certainty.

A handwritten annotation in the margin indicates "X 35 – Magnetic metallic particle", probably added during the processing of the file at Citroën.

Context

The DS 19, unveiled on 6 October 1955, is equipped with the hydropneumatic suspension developed by Paul Magès — who joined Citroën in August 1925 and was then deputy head of the Super-Control (autobiographical notes) —, as well as power steering integrated into the same hydraulic circuit — a system that was very innovative at the time but also a source of concern for some users in the event of a malfunction.

SNECMA, an aeronautical engine manufacturer, maintained technical links with Citroën related to the manufacturing precision of hydraulic parts; it is therefore not surprising that one of its engineers, the owner of a DS, would address a quality control manager of the brand directly in the event of an incident.

The "super-control department" mentioned refers to the unit responsible, at Citroën, for verifying the reliability and safety of the vehicle's sensitive components, including the steering — the very department where Paul Magès served as deputy head.

Archivist's perspective

This letter is part of a series of exchanges dated June-July 1963 concerning the same steering incident on a DS 19, as evidenced by other documents in the same file: SNECMA internal note no. 63/667 of 20 June 1963, which seems to be the report transmitted here, and the reply from M. Clément to M. Cadiou dated 3 July 1963.

Although Paul Magès is not directly cited in this letter, the matter concerns the hydraulic system of which he was the inventor and the Super-Control department that he co-managed, which explains its presence in his personal archives, as suggested by the critical handwritten notes kept in the same collection.

The annotation "magnetic metallic particle" suggests that wear or contamination of the hydraulic circuit may have been discussed in subsequent exchanges, but nothing on this page allows this to be stated with certainty.