There DS 19 is a true icon of motoring. We are talking about a car that has written a piece of four-wheel history and that is one of the symbols of eclectic innovation after World War II. Presented at the Paris Motor Show of 1955, made headlines not only for an absolutely innovative bodywork, characterized by the original design signed by the Italian Flaminio Bertoni, but also for the ability to travel on three wheels.
Exactly. Like many fans of the seventies and eighties series, in the note TV series American “CHiPs”, In a 1977 episode, the driver of a DS 19 was stopped on the freeway while traveling peacefully without a wheel. This particular evolution was not only shown in the US TV series: in several commercials and shows, the Citroën car was able to switch from four to three wheels effortlessly. How is it possible? The secret is in its exceptional weight distribution, also aided by the excellent suspension system.
As in the forerunner of the DS 19, the Traction Avant, the Citroën engineers were very imaginative. By adopting front-wheel drive, they eliminated the driveshaft and rear differential, thus lowering the entire bodywork. On the DS 19, engineer André Lefebvre conceived a platform frame, very rigid and light, made thanks to a very precise design of the hollow bodies. One was fixed on this sort of platform body also incredibly light, which also offered anchor points for detachable body elements. The roof was made of plastic, the hood made of aluminum, and the doors and fenders were fixed to the body without weighing it down: a masterpiece of agility made an automobile.
The contribution of the hydropneumatic suspension, thanks to which the car could be raised from the ground up to block the suspension itself. Finally we must consider the ‘square’ of the whole, the center of gravity, which is located under the wheel axis. Thanks to this positioning, the DS 19 was essentially impossible to overturn under normal driving conditions. Finally, two thirds of the car’s mass had been placed on the front wheels (directional and driving), with the heavier parts placed behind the axles, so as to minimize overhangs. Said and done: in this way you could ‘forget’ a tire at home, given the specific and unique set-up of the car.
The South African subsidiary of Citroën, for the launch of the DS models in 1968, made a film in which an acrobatic team of cars danced on three wheels in a racetrack, showing how the perfect distribution of the masses allowed, even in the event of braking emergency and without holding the steering wheel, to stop in a short space, without deviating from the trajectory. Not bad for a car that took its first steps even in 1938, according to the wishes of the then general manager of Citroën, Pierre-Jules Boulanger. The world war delayed the plans, but the desire to create a technologically daring car was fulfilled in full.
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