Citroen DS 21 DS 23

Brand	Citroen
Years of production	1965 to 1975
Production	1,455,746
Class	Luxury Car
Engines	2,175cc 2,347cc
Gearbox	Manual, hydraulically operated or automatic
Unloaded weight	1170kg
Maximum speed	135 to 188 km/h
Acceleration	0 to 100 km/h in 10.2 to 17 s
Bodywork	Sedan Estate Convertible
drag coefficient	0.38
Length	Saloon: 4,800 mm Estate: 5,026 mm
Width	1790mm
Height	1470mm

After the DS 19 which have already been in production for ten years. the model with the new engine which finally brings the DS back on the same level as the most Advanced cars produced in the world. While with the presentation of the ID and the DS the makers’ The 2,175-cc engine capacity and the 109 hp SAE maximum power the new model is as durable and as economical to run as its predecessor. The car's maximum speed is however increased the tachometer in fact shows a scale of braking distances at various stages a warning light for the control of pressure in the servo-assisted braking circuit and also another warning light indicating excess wear of the pads of the disc brakes.
The system is extremely simple: inside calliper pad 'there is a metallic wire which. when it is uncovered by wear on the brake lining. comes into contact with the metallic surface of the disc and consequently closes the signalling system circuit in a manner that is at the same effective. precise and quite simple. Another device adding to the safety of the car is the variable tilt of the headlamps which is controlled automatically according to the trim of the car: the device works by means of systems of levers linked to the front suspension. and these may be easily adjusted during normal controls of the headlands eliminates dazzle to oncoming drivers. 

History

Designed by the Italian sculptor and designer Flaminio Bertoni in collaboration with André Lefebvre , an aeronautical engineer, and the hydraulic engineer Paul Magès , the DS could have been partly inspired by the Studebaker Commander Starliner, designed by Raymond Loewy . This car is revolutionary in many ways. Originally, its long bonnet was designed to accommodate a 6-cylinder engine, but both the 6-cylinder in-line of the 15 and the flat one could not be adopted, due to incomplete development and space because this engine 'penetrated' into the passenger compartment. Its code name is "VGD" (Vehicle of great diffusion), the design of the project being launched by the CEO of Citroën Pierre-Jules Boulanger then his successor Pierre Bercot . It was the centrepiece of the 1955 Motor Show. It has an extremely daring line, qualified even as revolutionary, and remarkable interior comfort thanks to its hydropneumatics suspension specific to the brand until May 2017. The DS also includes many technical innovations that set it apart from the world. of the automobile of its time in Europe: power steering, hydraulically controlled power-assisted gearbox, braking assisted by disc brake sat the front, steering pivot in the axis of the wheels and, from September 1967, pivoting headlights, then, from September 1969, introduction of electronics (injection engine). Important safety innovation: the single-spoke steering wheel, copied from the 1903 Humber Humberette and designed to avoid breaking the driver's rib cage in the event of a violent frontal impact. The tachometer of the DS 21 presented in September 1965 will also show the braking distances associated with the main speeds on the road.

After its presentation at the Paris Motor Show on October 7, 1955(at the end of the first day, 12,000 copies were ordered, the brand opting for an effective advertising strategy by having several models cross Paris in parallel in order to attract them to the show), the DS aroused great enthusiasm from the public, so much did its bodywork break with all the aesthetic canons then in force. At the front the muzzle is tapered, and the bumper lined in its centre evokes a thin chrome grille. At the rear, the flashing lights bordering the pavilion look like engine nozzles, and the exhaust outlet is in a "carp's tail" (only the first two years). A full fairing is fixed under the front of the car: this profiled sheet has two air inlets for cooling the brake discs which are attached to the gearbox (cooling with Venturi effect system). The interior equipment is also unusual for a car of this era: single-spoke steering wheel as on the Humber "Humberette" of 1904, futuristic dashboard, pedal-button as a brake pedal, disc brakes standard on the front, etc.).

In 1958, Henri Chapron, a French automobile coachbuilder, created the first DS Convertible. His creations become collector's items. He produced very small series of numerous versions of DS sedans, coaches, convertibles and convertibles. The DS Prestige, presented in 1958, was integrated into the Citroën catalogue in 1965. A rebodied sedan called Majesty was presented in 1964 before being replaced by the Lorraine, only 19 of which were produced between 1969 and 1974.
It was Chapron who is chosen by Citroën to design and manufacture the so-called " factory" convertible, launched at the 1960 show (1961 vintage) and discontinued at the end of the 1971 vintage. 1971), DS 21 electronic injection (1969-1970) and DS 23. An ID variant of the "factory" convertible also exists.

Even the secondary details are astonishing: fixing of the wheels by a simple central nut (until 1966), inclined spare wheel placed at the extreme front of the car, under the bonnet in front of the radiator, rear track narrower by 20  cm that of the front, front and rear tires of different widths, necessary removal of the rear wing (held by two fittings towards the front and a bolt at the rear) to access the wheel during a replacement, gear lever controlling the starter, curved windscreen with very thin uprights… (windscreen which caused problems during its manufacture, because this innovative shape had never been practiced then).

On the tailgate of the DS break, with double opening, there are two license plates: one vertical and set back and the other flat horizontally in order to be visible even when the lower flap of the tailgate is lowered. As on the sedan, the rear trim of the body is kept horizontal even at full load thanks to the suspension trim corrector, which has made it adopted by many traders.

Regarding the bodywork, the first major modification appeared at the 1962 Paris Motor Show, for the 63 vintages: new front bumper with rubber buffers in the shape of vertical boomerangs framing the license plate. The lower apron is no longer separated from the body, while the front fenders are imperceptibly modified, all for an improvement in aerodynamic efficiency (+ 10 km/h), and a modernization of the line. In September 1967 (model year 1968) the front was redesigned again, incorporating four streamlined headlights. Citroën, which bought Panhard & Levassor, in 1965, will "borrow" the idea - for a DS!! - of the double headlights of the 24 CT). The large external headlights including the codes adjust to the plate as on the models after 1965, while the interior long-range headlights with iodine can orient themselves according to the trajectory of the car, at least on the models equipped with power steering. Standard on all DS versions, this device is however optional on the other models in the ID range.

The interior also has several generations of dashboards. The initial panel of the DS 19, in synthetic material in one piece, has aerators at each end replacing deflectors. It is an exercise in style of great purity and very design; it has in particular a splendid watch integrated into the ashtray (until April 1959). It was replaced in September 1961 (model year 1962) by a more ergonomic, more modern version, but above all easier to manufacture and assemble. The last dashboard, common to the entire "D" range, appeared in the 1970 vintage (September 1969) with three round dials: control lights testable by a push button, tachometer and rev counter, the upper part is padded for security reasons. Offering only advantages on paper, the style of this dashboard is for many people not at the level of its predecessors in terms of its style.

Independently of the technical and style modifications, the launch at the 1964 show took place (vintage 1965) of the Pallas finish, available on all DS until production stops. Externally, it can be recognized by its brushed aluminium quarter panels and centre pillars, its stainless steel upper and lower body trim strips, its side protection strips with ribbed rubber insert joining the reflectors, its specific wheels including an ephemeral radially ribbed model for the 1965 model year alone, its front turn signals surrounded by stainless steel as well as its stainless steel-looking plastic rear lights and whose stops are orange in colour until around 1973. On some foreign markets (Belgium, Switzerland etc.) the stops are red while the top of the safe door is lined with an upper strip in stainless steel similar to those of the doors as well as a "Pallas" logo placed on the left symmetrically to the possible "DS21" logo. Additional long-range halogen headlamps simply placed on the front of the front fenders from September 1964 until September 1967 were standard on the Pallas then DS21 but optional on the other models. A medium palladium metallic gray colour is also available and specific to this luxurious Pallas finish. Inside, the doors are fully padded, the interior handles have stainless steel door plates, the floor is covered with a Dunlopillo carpet, the door sills in stainless steel, the backs of the front seats are higher, the fabric-covered roof and, optional,

Mechanical Evolution 

It is the first car to generalize the centralized hydraulic systems of assistance, in particular the steering, the braking and the hydropneumatics suspension which makes it possible, with the exception of the first two hundred examples produced; to vary the ground clearance thus facilitating changing wheels, the jack being replaced by an adjustable stand. The hydropneumatics suspension was mass-tested in more than 3,000 units on the rear of the Citroën Traction Avant 15 CV 6 Cylinders "H" from 15 April 1954. But above all, it provided the DS with and exceptional comfort for the time. An engineer's car, its construction required the invention of new precision machines used for the (pneumatic) measurement of parts. Despite its old Traction AV engine, improved with a side camshaft for the first models, its rearing up when accelerating and its dive on the front when braking, its sensitivity to blackcurrants and the fact that the rear passengers may be subject to “seasick “, it was the benchmark for luxury cars throughout the 1960s, giving Citroën a big head start. Since the hydropneumatics suspension system is the only alternative to spring suspension, Rolls Royce and Mercedes adopt a similar technique for their heaviest and also higher-end models. Its comfort and its handling, exceptional for the time, as well as the large space in series for the legs of the passengers in the back.

The four-cylinder in-line engine goes from 1.9 to 2.0 then 2.1 and finally 2.3 Liters hence the designations of the different versions (DS 19, 20, 21, 23). This engine, designed in the 1930s for the Traction, already considered one of the weaknesses of the later Tractions and, a fortiori of the DS, because of its lack of sophistication (lateral camshaft, crankshaft with only three bearings until 1966), evolves all the same and will even still be used on the first CX.

PERFORMANCE: DS 21

• Engine capacity: 132.72 cu in, 2,175cc
• Fuel consumption: 28.8 m/imp gal, 24 m/US gal, 9.8 X 100 km
• Max speed: 108.7 mph, 175 km/h
• max power (SAE): 109 hp at 5,500 rpm
• max torque (SAE): 128 1b ft, 17.7 kg m at 3,000 rpm
• max engine rpm: 6,600
• specific power: 50.1 hp/l
• max speeds: 35.7 mph, 57.5 km/h in 1st gear; 59.6 mph, 96 km/hin 2nd gear; 91.3 mph, 147 km/h in 3rd gear; 108.7 mph, 175 km/h in 4th gear
• power-weight ratio: 25.8 lb/hp, 11.7 kg/hp
• acceleration: standing 1/4 mile 19.5 sec

From the 1969 show, Bosch electronic injection (D-Jetronic type) appeared on the DS 21 electronic injection (139 hp SAE, or 125 hp DIN - 188 km/h). It was in vintage 71 that the mechanical gearboxes received a 5th ^gear, welcome on the motorways. The following year, all the “21” were offered with a Borg-Warner 3-speed automatic gearbox, as a catalogue option. The “21” gave way to the “23” with 2,347 cc from 1973, providing 115 DIN with carburettor or 130 hp DIN with injection, on the DS 23 electronic injection.

The red liquid, LHS (synthetic hydraulic liquid) used in the hydraulic circuit, caused an epidemic of breakdowns shortly after the launch of the car due to a major oversight by Citroën chemists: this liquid, although identical to that used in aviation, becomes oxidizing above 40 °Cand eats away at all joints in the circuit causing leaks. The slight change in the formula of the LHS2 solved the problem in 1957. From October 66 (model 67) a brand-new green oil of mineral origin, the LHM ("Liquid Hydraulic Mineral"), also used in most machines’ solutions, will solve the problem of leaks and offers the advantage of superior stability with a boiling point of 265 °C. Hydraulic parts for LHS (synthetic hydraulic fluid) and LHM (mineral hydraulic fluid) will be incompatible.

VARIATIONS AND OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES
power-assisted steering; iodine headlamps; separate front seats; boosted heating for temperatures below 200C, 680F Break Luxe 21 separate front seats Familiale Luxe 21 Familiale Confort 21 Break

The DS in the United States 

In addition, US law at the time banned certain innovative devices, such as LHM's mineral hydraulic fluid and aerodynamic headlights, two pieces of equipment now common in vehicles sold in the United States. Nevertheless, 38,000 units have been sold in the United States, which is ultimately quite an honourable performance in a market known to be difficult to access for French manufacturers.