Citroën road tests: Auvergne (1948), Verdon (1949) and Algeria (1954)

In this document

This page brings together three black and white photographs, each accompanied by a handwritten ink caption specifying the date and location.

Test in Auvergne (1948)

The first caption indicates "13 July 1948 / During a test in Auvergne" p. 5. The associated photograph shows an old automobile, seen from the rear three-quarter view, parked on a stony dirt path in a mountainous area, with a man standing by its side.

Gorges du Verdon (1949)

The second caption mentions "April 1949. Gorges du Verdon with Lefèvre - Pastier Dascotte" p. 5. The corresponding photograph shows four men in summer attire, standing on a rocky promontory overlooking deep gorges.

Test in Algeria (1954)

The third caption indicates "30 September 1954 / During a test in Algeria" p. 5. The accompanying photograph presents a low, service-station-type building, with visible pumps, an old vehicle and several people gathered in front, against a backdrop of mountains.

No further identification of the people (apart from the three names mentioned: Lefèvre, Pastier, Dascotte) or technical details about the vehicles appear in the transcripts.

Context

These three episodes are part of the period when Citroën conducted numerous road tests to prove its vehicles and their equipment under varied conditions — mountains, rough terrain, North African heat. The Gorges du Verdon and the Auvergne were classic grounds for testing road holding and mechanical robustness, while Algeria, then a French territory, offered different climatic and road conditions, conducive to endurance tests. This period (1948-1954) corresponds precisely to the years when Paul Magès, who joined the Citroën design office in the late 1930s, developed and tested the hydropneumatic suspension, from the plans of February 1944 (Hydropneumatic suspension plans with differential interaction (17 February 1944)) and the first tests of the 2 CV in 1946 (Notebook of the first 2 CV hydropneumatic suspension tests (May-July 1946)) to the test of the 15-Six H in April 1954 (Road test of the 15 Six H (ELV 412) by Paul Magès, 3-5 April 1954), a few months before the presentation of the DS in October 1955: these road test campaigns in varied terrains likely fall under the same development effort.

The name Lefèvre could refer to André Lefèvre, a historic Citroën engineer associated with the design of the Traction Avant and involved in the technical developments of the time; however, this identification remains external to the document, which provides no first name or function.

Archivist's perspective

This photographic sheet seems to have primarily documentary and memorial value: it captures, over nearly six years (1948-1954), moments of road tests with which Paul Magès or his professional entourage were likely associated, without his personal presence being attested by the captions themselves.

The staggering of dates — Auvergne in 1948, Verdon in 1949, Algeria in 1954 — suggests a continuity in the test campaigns conducted by Citroën teams on varied terrains, probably linked to the ongoing developments on running gear and suspensions, which we know otherwise occupied Paul Magès at the design office at the time.

This page finds a natural echo in the Photographs: meeting of executives and Citroën-Peloux preliminary study mission, from the same file, which could shed light on the context of these test missions.