B.E.A. conference notes of 13 February 1956: DS incidents related to cold weather

In this document

This sheet is a handwritten report dated 13 February 1956, written for the B.E.A. (Automotive Design Office), dealing with "DS incidents due to cold", specified as "Hydraulic Incidents" p. 138.

Interventions by Mr. Hermet

"Small oscillations sensitive to cold" are reported on the suspension, as well as braking problems: "Distribution and cold delay", with rear buffers under review to improve sealing "2cv style" p. 138. The fast idle is considered troublesome on ice by Mr. Hermet, set at "850+/min", but other people report the opposite opinion p. 138.

Interventions by Mr. Chalard

He mentions gear shifting (examination of clearances), "minimal clunks when cold" on the steering, and a front braking study aimed at "installing a single tube" p. 138.

Other points raised in the conference

• Car attitude: the rear height corrector allegedly has an inverted control and device (Messrs. Guyitout and Sabozat) p. 138.
• Tubes: significant rust in the wheel arches, requiring special protection via CC or plastic sheathing p. 138.
• Selector: a spring replaces the worn "rubber lacquer", with another spring still to replace it p. 138.
• Carburetion: the fast idle is said to hinder cold starting; Mr. Guiard is tasked with examining the issue p. 138.

The document is signed "R. Meignan" (uncertain reading) p. 138.

Context

The DS, presented by Citroën on 6 October 1955, is the first production car equipped with the hydropneumatic suspension developed by Paul Magès, whose plans date back to 17 February 1944 (plans for hydropneumatic suspension with differential interaction and automatic attitude correction), followed by the first tests on the 2 CV in 1946 and the test of the 15-Six H in April 1954. This revolutionary system remained in 1956 an object of constant technical adjustments, particularly in the face of extreme climatic conditions such as cold, which affects the viscosity of hydraulic fluids and the elasticity of seals.

The B.E.A. likely refers to Citroën's internal automotive design department responsible for monitoring incidents in customer use and testing during the critical first years of the model's commercialisation — a department to which Paul Magès, a self-taught man who joined Citroën in August 1925 and became a technical writer and then deputy head of the Super-Control (draft of a letter from Paul Magès to Mr. Sarre and maintenance plan of the 11), was directly attached through his duties at the design office.

Archivist's perspective

This document illustrates, in a concrete and almost daily manner, the post-launch development work on the DS. It appears to be a simple record of incidents reported during a technical meeting, without any direct intervention attributed to Paul Magès in the text itself — but the subjects addressed (suspension, height corrector) typically fall within his field of hydropneumatic expertise.

The mention of the "rear height corrector" echoes the automatic attitude correction devices studied as early as the 1940s by Magès, as in the plans for hydropneumatic suspension with differential interaction and automatic attitude correction — a likely sign of technical continuity between the pre-war design and the fine-tuning post-launch in 1956.

This sheet, precisely dated, offers a precious snapshot of the real difficulties encountered by the first users of the DS, far from the smooth image often associated with this iconic model.