Summary of the folder "SAGA air suspension" (14 February 1956)

In this document

This page constitutes the handwritten summary of an archival folder dedicated to the "SAGA air suspension", dated 14 February 1956 (date written twice: in the header and in the margin, p. 1).

Announced contents of the file

The summary lists the items that should be in the folder:

• "2 magazine extracts" p. 1;
• an article or clipping entitled (with an uncertain word) "[The] air suspension encounters difficulties in [the] United States" p. 1;
• a "Note from Mr Paul Magès to Mr Cadioa concerning [the] air suspension" p. 1 — the recipient's name is transcribed as "Cadioa", spelling uncertain;
• a document relating to the "Bougeard air suspension tested at the BEA on 2 CV, 4 CV, Vedette" p. 1.

No other technical, numerical, or nominative details are given: it is a simple list of items, without further development.

Context

The BEA (Automotive Design Office) is, in the history of Citroën, the department where Paul Magès conducted his research on suspensions; he joined Citroën in August 1925, at 17 and a half, and spent his entire career there until his retirement in September 1974 (autobiographical notes: Draft of a letter from Paul Magès to Mr Sarre and interview plan of 11). The vehicles mentioned — 2 CV, 4 CV (Renault) and Vedette (Ford France/Simca) — correspond to the popular French models of the time, often used as test benches to compare suspension solutions.

The mention of difficulties encountered by "air suspension" in the United States refers, in the general context of the 1950s automotive industry, to the compressed air systems experimented with by American manufacturers (notably General Motors and Cadillac), which indeed experienced reliability issues — but this link remains knowledge external to the document, not confirmed by this page.

This file is situated in the period when Citroën was developing its own solution in parallel, the hydropneumatic suspension — whose first plans date from 17 February 1944 (Hydropneumatic suspension plans with differential interaction and c) and whose first tests on 2 CV took place in May-July 1946 (Notebook of the first tests of the 2 CV with hydropneumatic suspension) — which would equip the DS presented on 6 October 1955.

Archivist's perspective

This summary is not a technical document in itself, but a reading key to understand the organization of the "SAGA" folder. It reveals that at that date, Paul Magès and his team were closely following competing solutions — whether they came from an engineer or supplier named Bougeard, or from the specialized press mentioning American setbacks.

It seems that this document was designed as a comparative monitoring tool, probably complementary to the more detailed reflections that Magès would develop the following year, such as in his note to Mr Cadron on air suspension classes or his comparative study with the Cadillac Eldorado.

The uncertain spelling of certain names ("Cadioa") invites caution: only a comparison with other documents in the collection would allow the doubt to be cleared.