Manuscript summary of hydrostatic transmission tests (1955-1960)

In this document

This manuscript sheet draws up a chronological summary of the major stages of the hydrostatic transmission tests conducted by Paul Magès, from the mid-1950s to 1960.

Chronology of tests

The document explicitly mentions the 1.3 cm³ hydraulic motor designed for the DS fan drive p. 84, proof of an application already oriented towards a production vehicle.

A manuscript annotation indicates the date "1960" underlined at the top of the page, consistent with the last dated event of the summary p. 84.

Context

The DS, introduced in 1955, already incorporates the hydropneumatic suspension designed by Magès. Research into hydrostatic transmission is a continuation of this hydraulic expertise developed at Citroën, with the ambition of extending the principle to other vehicle components (starter, alternator, complete transmission).

The Paris - Ventoux - Massif Central - Paris raid corresponds to a classic practice of Citroën tests at the time, consisting of testing prototypes on hilly routes representative of real conditions.

Archivist's perspective

This sheet likely has the value of a retrospective synthesis: it seems to have been written to retrace, in a single view, five years of technical trial and error on hydrostatic transmission p. 84. Its condensed form makes it a valuable document for chronologically situating other items in the collection.

It notably sheds light on the origin of the project that would lead, much later, to the Citroën technical drawings – GS hydrostatic transmission and the Citroën drawing E 3091 — Hydrostatic transmission of vehicle L, demonstrating the continuity of research begun as early as 1955.

The test of 29 June 1960 also finds an extension in the Record of mileages of test vehicles with Hydrostatic Transmission (1960-1973), which documents the continuation of these campaigns over the following decade.