Citroën note of 23 February 1956 on the Citroën–Simca trial (road holding)

In this document

The Commercial Court judgment

This internal note from the Société Citroën, dated 23 February 1956 and addressed to Mr. Magès, summarises a judgment delivered three days earlier, on 20 February 1956, by the Tribunal de Commerce de la Seine p. 139.

The Court ruled that Simca was guilty of disparagement by comparing its cars to front-wheel drive Citroëns, a fault deemed "all the more serious" as it relied on the authority of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers p. 139. The court noted that the Conservatoire's report "mentions no index of road holding" and that Simca had allegedly mixed braking, acceleration, "S"-bend cornering and noise to fabricate indices in a leaflet and a film titled La tenue de route p. 139.

The judgment dismissed Simca's counterclaim for ten million francs against Citroën and Michelin, and cleared Citroën of any liability for potential acts by Michelin p. 139.

The conviction order

Simca, jointly and severally with the production company MA-RO-MA and the distributor Robert de Nesle, was convicted of "gross negligence" and ordered to pay one symbolic franc in damages, with the cessation and destruction of the leaflet, the cessation of film screenings under a penalty of 100,000 francs per infringement, and the publication of the judgment in thirty newspapers as well as a display in 500 Citroën points of sale p. 140.

The document also mentions that Michelin, despite a campaign for its "X" tyres on Arondes, was not found guilty of disparagement p. 140.

The criminal complaint

A second part mentions a complaint for "forgery and use of forged documents" filed by the Conservatoire, with the investigation entrusted to a judge named Gojon p. 140. A handwritten note refers to l'Argus of 23 February 1956 p. 140.

Handwritten annotations (red lines, boxed sentence) highlight the passages deemed essential for Magès p. 139.

Context

This case is part of the commercial rivalry of the 1950s between Citroën and Simca surrounding road holding, a central advertising argument at a time when Citroën was developing its hydropneumatic suspension, intended to equip the future DS presented in 1955. The Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers then enjoyed recognised scientific authority, which explains the severity of the judgment mentioned in the document.

Archivist's perspective

This document sheds light on a rarely documented aspect of Magès' work: the legal and advertising dimension surrounding the innovations he designed. The fact that the note was addressed to him personally, with passages underlined in red felt-tip pen, suggests that he closely followed the commercial issues linked to "road holding", a flagship argument of his work on suspension.

This document likely belongs in a larger file dedicated to hydropneumatic suspension, as evidenced by the Summary of folder 41-59, which gathers documents on the technical developments of the DS and its industrial context.