Translated note: air suspension and its problems on 1958 American models

In this document

This text is a translated note relaying information from Detroit regarding the air suspension envisaged for 1958 American models. It is clearly a piece of documentary monitoring circulated internally at Citroën.

American uncertainties

The document indicates that air suspension "may be fitted to several 1958 models," but that it "could be dropped if service problems prove too difficult." The difficulties would not stem from the air chambers themselves, but from "control and leveling devices" p. 39. The additional cost is estimated at approximately $150 per installation p. 39.

Manufacturers cited

The document provides a status report by brand:

p. 39

The text specifies that the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, the "most expensive car" and produced in very small numbers, is then "the only car in the world" equipped with air springs, while G.M.C. buses and trucks have been using this system "for several years" p. 39.

A comparison with Citroën

The document mentions that Dunlop, in England, has announced a comparable system, and that "Citroën, in France, began adopting a hydropneumatic suspension for its cars in 1956, but it is not based on air" p. 39. It also mentions, as a historical precedent, the William Stout Scarab prototype from the 1930s, equipped with air bags p. 39.

Context

The DS, introduced by Citroën in 1956, inaugurated the hydropneumatic suspension designed in particular by Paul Magès — a hydraulic system using pressurized nitrogen, distinct from the pure air suspensions developed in the United States. This note illustrates the competitive monitoring that the automotive industry was conducting on both sides of the Atlantic at a time when several manufacturers were seeking an alternative to the classic steel spring.

Archivist's perspective

This document seems to have circulated as technical monitoring information within Citroën departments: the handwritten annotations ("Mr. Henry-Biahaud", "Copy: Mr. Cadiou", "Mr. Rogès", "H.B.") and the pink underlining on passages relating to technical difficulties and the use of compressors p. 39 suggest a marked interest in the potential weaknesses of competing systems.

It is likely that this note reinforced, for Magès and his colleagues, the conviction that the Citroën hydropneumatic solution — already in production since 1956 — was advantageously distinguished from the still-experimental American approaches. This document finds an echo in other items in the same file devoted to the comparison of suspensions, notably the B.E.A. meeting sheet of 17 January 1961 and the Magès note of 19 June 1961 on the Bongrand affair, which extend this comparative reflection over several years.