[FlatOut]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@Flatout; The DS from the fifties will be considered high tech even today, Hydropneumatic suspension, variable ride height, auto levelling, etc. The Two Horses (2CV) also boasted a linked rear and front suspensions to even out the bumps. I saw on a channel that Bentley used their dampers in their suspensions. Viva La France!!

Citroën were on a different planet from the 1930s to the 60s. It was an amazing company - their chief engineers were not narrow-minded, narrowly-educated automotive engineering graduates but had lived life for real, engineering and racing both motor cars and aircraft, designing much more than motor cars. Their suspension man, Paul Magès, joined the company after school and it is suggested that had he been through higher education he would have believed what he ended up achieving was utterly impossible.

Their main engineer was André Lefèbvre and he was the leading genius in many respects. He worked very closely with Flaminio Bertoni, the styling engineer who was from an Italian family of sculptors. Pierre Boulanger was the overseer of the company's greatest products.

I have driven many great cars, from old Alfa Romeos through Ferraris to Porsches - but none begins to come close to the abilities and engineering of a hydraulic Citroën DS, SM, CX or GS. They stretch the laws of physics. Their engineering was total, even if they didn't design for countries other than France, specifically. Designed for fast French roads which were poorly made, they can cover vast distances at great speed without tiring the driver or passengers, due to their poise and roadholding. You have to drive one in such a way to begin to appreciate their capabilities. They are also the very epitomy of cool.