A superb and rare photo the famous Citroën 2CV during a photo shoot in France.

The Citroën 2CV (in French: “deux chevaux” i.e. “deux chevaux vapeur”, literally “two tax horsepower”) was an economy car produced by the French automaker Citroën from 1948-1990. It was technologically advanced and innovative, but with uncompromisingly utilitarian unconventional looks, and deceptively simple Bauhaus inspired bodywork, that belied the sheer quality of its underlying engineering. It was designed to move the French peasantry on from horses and carts. It is considered one of Citroën's most iconic cars. In 1953, 'Autocar' in a technical review of the car wrote of, "...the extraordinary ingenuity of this design, which is undoubtedly the most original since the Model T Ford." It was described by CAR magazine journalist and author LJK Setright as "the most intelligent application of minimalism ever to succeed as a car." It was designed for low cost, simplicity of use, versatility, reliability, and off-road driving. For this it had a light, easily serviceable engine, extremely soft long travel suspension (with adjustable ride height), high ground clearance, and for oversized loads a car-wide canvas sunroof (which until 1960 also covered the boot). During a production run of 42 years between 1948 and 1990, 3,872,583 2CVs were produced, plus 1,246,306 Fourgonnettes (small 2CV delivery vans), as well as spawning mechanically identical vehicles like the Ami — 1,840,396, Dyane — 1,444,583, Acadiane — 253,393, and Mehari — 144,953: a grand total of 8,756,688. From 1988 onwards, production took place in Portugal rather than in France. This arrangement lasted for two years until 2CV production halted. The 2CV belongs to a very short list of vehicles introduced in the middle of the twentieth century that remained relevant and competitive for many decades, such as the Jeep, Land Rover Series, Fiat 500, Austin Mini and Volkswagen Beetle. The 2CV would be produced for some 42 years with minimal design changes.

It has a very interesting history, Pierre-Jules Boulanger's early 1930s design brief, (after a pioneering market research survey done by Jacques Duclos), was to be astonishingly radical for the time, was for a low-priced, rugged "umbrella on four wheels" that would enable two peasants to drive 100 kg (220 lb) of farm goods to market at 60 km/h (37 mph), in clogs and across muddy unpaved roads if necessary. France at that time had a very large rural population, who had not yet adopted the automobile, due to its cost. The car would use no more than 3 L of gasoline to travel 100 km (78 MPG). Most famously, it would be able to drive across a ploughed field without breaking the eggs it was carrying. Boulanger later also had the roof raised to allow him to drive while wearing a hat. André Lefèbvre was the engineer in charge of the TPV (Toute Petite Voiture—"Very Small Car") project. By 1939, the TPV was deemed ready and several prototypes had been built. Those prototypes made use of aluminium and magnesium parts and had water-cooled flat twin engines with front wheel drive. The seats were hammocks suspended from the roof by wires. Its suspension system used front leading arms and rear trailing arms, connected to eight torsion bars mounted beneath the rear seat. A bar for the front axle, one for the rear axle, an intermediate bar for each side, and an overload bar for each side. The front axle was connected to its torsion bars by cable. The overload bar only came into play, when the car had three people on board, two in the front and one in the rear, in order to take account of the extra load of the fourth passenger and fifty kilos of luggage. During the German occupation of France in the Second World War, Boulanger refused to meet Dr Ferdinand Porsche or communicate with the German authorities except through intermediaries. He organised a 'go slow' of production of trucks for the Wehrmacht, many of which were sabotaged at the factory, by putting the notch on the oil dipstick in the wrong place resulting in engine seizure. In 1944 when the Gestapo headquarters in Paris was sacked by the French Resistance, his name was prominent on a Nazi blacklist of the hundred most important 'Enemies of the Reich' to be arrested in the event of an allied invasion of France. Michelin (Citroën's main shareholder) and Citroën managers decided to hide the TPV project from the Nazis, fearing some military application. Several TPVs were buried at secret locations, one was disguised as a pickup, and the others were destroyed, and Boulanger had the next six years to think about more improvements. Until 1994, when three TPVs were discovered in a barn, it was believed that only two prototypes had survived. As of 2003, five TPVs are known. For a long time, it was believed that the project was so well hidden that all the prototypes had been lost at the end of the war. It seems that none of the hidden TPVs were lost after the war, but in the 1950s an internal memo ordered them to be scrapped. The surviving TPVs were, in fact, hidden from the top management by some workers who were sensitive to their historical value. After the war, internal reports at Citroën showed that producing the TPV would not be economically viable, given the rising cost of aluminium in the post-war economy. A decision was made to replace most of the aluminium parts with steel parts. Other changes were made, the most notable being an air-cooled engine, new seats, and a restyling of the body by the Italian Flaminio Bertoni. It took three years for Citroën to rework the TPV and the car was nicknamed "Toujours Pas Vue" (Still Not Seen) by the press. Citroën finally unveiled the car at the Paris Salon on October 7th 1948. The car on display was nearly identical to the 2CV type A that would be sold the next year, but it lacked an electric starter, the addition of which was decided the day before the opening of the Salon. The car was heavily criticised by the motoring press and became the butt of French comedians for a short while. One American motoring journalist quipped, "Does it come with a can opener?". The British 'Autocar' correspondent said that the 2CV, "...is the work of a designer who has kissed the lash of austerity with almost masochistic fervour." Nevertheless, Citroën were flooded with orders at the show, and it had a great impact on the low-income segment of the population in France. The 2CV was a great commercial success: within months after it went on sale, there was a three-year waiting list. The waiting list was soon increased to five years. At that time a second-hand 2CV was more expensive than a new one because the buyer did not have to wait.[3] Production was increased from four units per day in 1949 to 400 units per day in 1950. Grudging respect began to emanate from the international press: towards the end of 1951 the opinion appeared in Germany's recently launched Auto Motor und Sport magazine that despite its "ugliness and primitiveness" ("Häßlichkeit und Primitivität"), the 2CV was a "highly interesting" ("hochinteressantes") car. In 1951, Citroën introduced the 2CV Fourgonnette van. It pioneered the use of a large box rear section, as later used by the Morris Minor, Renault 4, Citroën Acadiane and Citroën C15 vans and copied in the 1990s by Vauxhall/Opel and Ford. The "Weekend" version of the van had collapsible, removable rear seating and rear side windows, enabling a tradesman to use it as a family vehicle at the weekend as well as for business in the week. This was the fore-runner of the Citroën Berlingo and Renault Kangoo people carriers introduced in the 1990s. A pick-up truck version was used by the British Royal Navy for pioneering Royal Marine helicopter carrier amphibious operations aboard HMS Bulwark and Albion, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, due to the payload limitations of their first large helicopters. A special version of the 2CV was the Sahara for very difficult off-road driving, built from December 1960-1971. This had an extra engine mounted in the rear compartment and both front and rear wheel traction. Only 694 Saharas were built. The target markets for this car were French oil companies, the military, and the police. In 1960, the 2CV was updated, and looked similar until the end of production. In particular the corrugated Citroën H Van style "ripple bonnet" of convex swages was replaced (except for the Sahara), with one using six larger concave swages. The 1960s were the heyday of the 2CV, when production finally caught up with demand. In 1967, Citroën launched a new model based on the 2CV chassis, with an updated but still utilitarian body, with a hatchback that boosted practicality: the Citroën Dyane. This was in response to the direct competition by the Renault 4, that had used so many stolen design ideas from the 2CV and Traction Avant that Citroën contemplated legal action at the time of its launch. (Similarly, Volkswagen had had to pay damages to Hans Ledwinka over the Beetle in the 1960s.) At the same time, Citroën developed the Méhari off-roader. The purchase price of the 2CV was always very low. In Germany in the 1960s, for example, it cost about half as much as a Volkswagen Beetle. In 1970, the flat-2 engine size was increased to 602 cc (36.7 cu in) and the car gained rear light units from the Citroën Ami 6, and also standardised a third side window in the rear pillar on 2CV6 (602 cc) models. All 2CVs from this date can run on unleaded fuel. 1970s cars featured rectangular headlights. The highest annual production was in 1974. Sales of the 2CV were reinvigorated by the 1974 oil crisis. The 2CV after this time became more of a youth lifestyle statement than a basic functional form of transport. This renewed popularity was encouraged by the Citroën "Raid" intercontinental endurance rallies of the 1970s where customers could participate by buying a new 2CV, fitted with a ruggedising kit to cope with thousands of miles of very poor or off-road routes. The Paris to Persepolis rallye was the most famous. The Citroën "2CV Cross" circuit / off-road races were very popular in Europe. In 1981, a bright yellow 2CV was driven by James Bond in the film For Your Eyes Only, including an elaborate set piece car chase through a Spanish olive farm, in which Bond uses the unique abilities of the modestly powered 2CV to escape his pursuers in Peugeot 504 sedans. The car in the film was fitted with the flat-4 engine from a Citroën GS for slightly more power. Citroën launched a special edition 2CV "007" to coincide with the 2CV product placement in the film, it was fitted with the standard flat-2 engine, painted in yellow with "007" on the front doors and fake bullet hole stickers. This car was also popular in miniature, from Corgi Toys. The Charleston became a full model in 1981 and the Dolly in 1985. The Dolly used the "Spécial" models most basic trim rather than the slightly better-appointed "Club" as was the case with the other special editions. In the 1980s there was a range of four full models: * Spécial; * Dolly (an improved version of the Spécial); * Club (that was discontinued in the early 1980s); * Charleston (an improved version of the Club). All the special editions made a virtue of the individual anachronistic styling. The changes between the special editions and the basic "Spécial" base model, (that was also continued until the end of production), were only a different speedometer, paint, stickers, seat fabric, internal door handles, and interior light. Many of the "special edition" interior trim items were carry-overs from the 1970s "Club" models. Citroën probably gained former VW customers as the only other "retro alternative" economy car style of vehicle[citation needed], the Volkswagen Beetle, was withdrawn from the European market in 1978, (special order only from Mexico in the 1980s), when it ceased production in West Germany. The 2CV was mainly sold in France and some European markets. In the post-war years, Citroën was very focused on the home market, which had some unusual quirks, like puissance fiscale. The management of Michelin was supportive of Citroën up to a point, and with a suspension designed to use Michelin's new radial tyres the Citroën cars clearly demonstrated their superiority over their competitors' tyres. But they were not prepared to initiate the investment needed for the 2CV (or the Citroën DS for that matter) to truly compete on the global stage. Citroën was always under-capitalised until the 1970s Peugeot takeover. Consequently, the 2CV suffered a similar fate to the Morris Minor and Mini, selling fewer than 10 million units, whereas the Volkswagen Beetle, which was sold worldwide, sold 21 million units. Some of the early models were built at Citroën's plant in Slough, England from 1953- before this date British Construction-and-Use Regulations made cars with inboard front brakes such as the 2CV illegal. Producing the car in Britain also allowed Citroen to circumvent trade barriers and sell cars in the British Empire and Commonwealth. It achieved some success in these markets, to the extent that all Slough-built 2CVs were fitted with improved air cleaners and other modifications to suit rough conditions found in Australia and Africa where the 2CV's durability and good ride quality over rough roads attracted buyers. The 2CV sold poorly in Great Britain in part due to its excessive cost because of import duties on components. Sales of Slough-produced 2CVs ended in 1960. In 1959, trying to boost sales, Citroën introduced a glass-fibre coupé version called the Bijou that was briefly produced at Slough. Styling of this little car was by Peter Kirwan-Taylor (better known for his work with Colin Chapman of Lotus cars), but it proved to be too heavy for the diminutive 425 cc (25.9 cu in) engine to endow it with adequate performance. It served to use up remaining 2CV parts at Slough in the early 1960s. In 1975, the 2CV was re-introduced to the British market in the wake of the oil crisis. These were produced in France but avoided the crippling import duties of the 1950s, because the UK had joined the EEC. In the 1980s, the best foreign markets for the 2CV were the UK and Germany. Only a few thousand 2CVs were sold in North America when they were new; as in England their pricing was excessive relative to competitors. The original model that produced just 9 hp (6.7 kW) and had a top speed of only 64 km/h (40 mph) (even the fastest of the later models struggled to 115 km/h (71 mph))[20] was unsuited to the expanding post war US freeway network, and was never widely accepted in North America, unlike the Volkswagen Beetle, which was designed with Autobahns in mind and could reach speeds of over 115 km/h (and later versions were faster still). Citroën was marketed as a luxury brand after the launch of the mid 1950s Citroën DS in North America, and the importers didn't actively promote the 2CV, as doing so would undermine the brand image. Unlike larger Citroëns, there are no legal issues with owning a 2CV; the car is effectively a restored pre-1968 vehicle. It was one of these vehicles that became the focus of a recent news story, when musician Billy Joel had an accident in his 2CV in 2004, on Long Island, New York. Joel gave another 2CV to his bride Christie Brinkley as a present. A rare Jeep-esque derivative, called the Yagán after an Aborigine tribe, was made in Chile between 1972 and 1973. After the Chilean coup of 1973, there were 200 Yagáns left that were used by the Army to patrol the streets and the Peruvian border, with 106 mm (4.2 in) cannons. A similar car was sold in some west African countries as the Citroën "Baby-brousse". The 2CV was built in Chile and Argentina for South America. The 1953 Citroneta model of the 2CV made in Chile and Argentina used a type AZ chassis with 425 cc engine developing 12 bhp (8.9 kW). Both chassis and engine were made in France while the 'three box' bodywork (in both 2- and 4-door versions) was designed and produced in Chile. It was the first economy car on the market in Chile. The 1970s Chilean version mounted a 602 cc engine with an output of 33 hp (25 kW), and was designated as the AX-330. It was built between 1970 and 1978, during which it saw changes like different bumpers, a hard roof, front disc brakes, and square headlights.[26] A derivation called the "3CV" was built in Argentina with various modifications such as a hatchback. Citroën had produced more than 200,000 cars in Argentina by 1977; production ended in 1979 due to the collapse of the Argentinian economy. A 2CV with a heavily modified front end called the 3CV IES America was produced well into the 1980s, by an Argentinian company that bought the rights and factory from Citroën. The 1981 James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only caused a surge in sales of the car in Chile where it was specially imported from Spain to meet demand (mostly in yellow), since it had already been phased out on the Chilean assembly line. In 1985, Citroën drew up plans with the Escorts Group to manufacture the 2CV in India for the rural market, as well as spares for export. However, the Indian government rejected this scheme as it would have resulted in competition for Maruti in which they held a stake.

French avant garde car maker Citroën was founded in 1919 by André Citroën. It was the world's first mass-production car company outside of the USA. The brand celebrated its 90th Anniversary in 2009. Originally a mass-market car maker with relatively straightforward designs, Citroën shocked the world in 1934 with the innovative Traction Avant, the world's first mass-production front wheel drive car (1934–56). Other significant models include the H Van (1947–81), the 2CV (1948–90), the DS (1955–1975) and the CX (1974–91). Citroën has an extremely interesting history. André Citroën built armaments for France during World War I and after the war he had a factory and no product. In 1919, the business started to produce automobiles, beginning with the conventional type A. The Type A was designed by Jules Salomon, Chief Design Officer from Le Zèbre. Citroën was a keen marketer—he used the Eiffel Tower as the world's largest advertising sign, as recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.[citation needed] He also sponsored expeditions in Asia (Croisière Jaune) and Africa (Croisière Noire), intended to demonstrate the potential for motor vehicles equipped with the Kégresse track system to cross inhospitable regions. The expeditions conveyed scientists and journalists. In 1924, Citroën began a business relationship with American engineer Edward G. Budd. From 1899, Budd had worked to develop stainless steel bodies for railroad cars, for the Pullman in particular. Budd went on to manufacture steel bodies for many automakers, Dodge being his first big auto client. In 1928, Citroën introduced the first all-steel body in Europe. The cars were initially successful in the marketplace, but soon competitors (who were still using a wooden structure for their bodies), introduced new body designs. Citroën did not redesign the bodies of his cars. Citroëns still sold in large quantities in spite of not changing the body design, but the car's low price was the main selling point and Citroën experienced heavy losses. In an attempt to remedy the situation, Citroën developed the Traction Avant. The Traction Avant had three revolutionary features: a unitary body with no separate frame, front wheel independent suspension, and front wheel drive. Citroën commissioned Budd to create a prototype, which evolved into the 7 horsepower (CV), 32 hp (24 kW) Traction Avant of 1934. In 1933, Citroën also introduced the Rosalie, a passenger car with the world’s first commercially available diesel engine, developed with Harry Ricardo. Achieving quick development of the Traction Avant and its production facilities at the same time was too costly and overly ambitious, causing the financial ruin of the company. In 1934, debt forced the company into foreclosure and it was then taken over by its biggest creditor, the tire company Michelin. Fortunately for Michelin, the Traction Avant met with market acceptance and the basic philosophy that had led to this design continued. Citroën has always been undercapitalized, so its vehicles have a tradition of being underdeveloped at launch, with limited distribution and service networks. For both the important DS and CX models, development of the original engine around which the design was planned proved too expensive for the finances available, and the actual engine used in both cases was a modest and outdated four-cylinder design. During the German occupation of France in World War II, Citroën researchers continued their work in secret and developed the concepts that were later brought to market in the 2CV and DS. These were widely regarded by contemporary journalists as avant garde, even radical, solutions to automotive design. This began a period of unusual brand loyalty, normally seen in the automobile industry only in niche brands, like Porsche and Ferrari. The cult-like appeal of the cars to Citroënistes took almost two decades to fade, from 1975 to about 1995. Citroën unveiled the 2CV (2 fiscal horsepower, initially only 12 HP) at the Paris Salon in 1948. The car became a bestseller, achieving the designer's aim of providing rural French people with a motorized alternative to the horse. This car remained in production, with only minor changes, until 1990 and was a common sight on French roads until recently. 1955 saw the introduction of the DS, the first full usage of Citroën's now legendary hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension system that was tested on the rear suspension of the last of the Tractions. The DS was the first European production car with disc brakes. The DS featured power steering, power brakes and power suspension, and—from 1968—directional headlights. A single high-pressure system was used to activate pistons in the gearbox cover to shift the gears in the transmission and to operate the clutch on the Citromatic, Citroën's semi-automatic transmission. This high-pressure hydraulic system would form the basis of many Citroën cars, including the SM, GS, CX, BX, XM, and Xantia. These vehicles shared the distinguishing feature of rising to operating ride height when the engine was turned on, like a "mechanical camel" (per Car & Driver magazine). A lever located just ahead of the driver's door allowed the driver to adjust the height of the car. On right-hand drive models, this lever was located behind the driver's right foot. The height-adjustability of the suspension allowed for clearing obstacles, fording shallow (slow-moving) streams, and changing tires. This type of suspension was uniquely able to absorb road irregularities without disturbing the occupants. During Citroën's venture with Maserati, the Citroën high-pressure hydraulic system was used on several Maserati models, for power clutch operation (Bora), power pedal adjustment (Bora), pop-up headlights (Bora, Merak), brakes (Bora, Merak, Khamsin), steering (Khamsin), and the entire Quattroporte II prototype, which was a four-door Citroën SM under the skin. Citroën was one of the early pioneers of the now widespread trend of aerodynamic automobile design, which helps to reduce fuel consumption and improve high-speed performance by reducing wind resistance. The firm began using a wind tunnel in the 1950s. In 1963, Citroën negotiated with Peugeot to cooperate in the purchase of raw materials and equipment. Talks were broken off in 1965. That year Citroën took over the French carmaker Panhard in the hope of using Panhard's expertise in midsize cars to complement its own range of very small, cheap cars (e.g., 2CV/Ami) and large, expensive cars (e.g., DS/ID). Cooperation between both companies had begun 12 years earlier, and they had agreed to a partial merger of their sales networks in 1953. Panhard ceased making vehicles in 1967. 1968 saw a restructuring of Citroën's worldwide operations under a new holding company, Citroën SA. Michelin, Citroën's long-time controlling shareholder, sold a 49% stake to FIAT, in what was referred to as the PARDEVI agreement (Participation et Développement Industriels). That year Citroën purchased the Italian sports car maker Maserati and launched the grand tourer SM, which featured a V6 Maserati engine and a fully powered steering system called DIRAVI. The SM was engineered as if it were replacing the DS, a level of investment the GT sector alone would never be able to support, even in the best of circumstances. Circumstances became more unfavorable as the 1970s progressed. Citroën suffered another financial blow in the 1973 energy crisis. In 1974, the carmaker withdrew from North America, due to design regulations that outlawed core features of Citroën cars. Huge losses at Citroën were caused by failure of the Comotor rotary engine venture, plus the strategic error of going the 15 years from 1955 to 1970 without a model in the profitable middle range of the European market, and the massive development costs for the GS, CX, SM, Birotor, Maserati Bora, Maserati Merak, and Maserati Khamsin models—each a technological marvel in its own right. In 1974, Peugeot purchased 38.2% of Citroën and became responsible for managing the combined activities, in particular their research, purchasing, and investments departments. Peugeot sold off Maserati to DeTomaso in May 1975, and the Italian firm was quickly able to exploit the image of the Maserati brand to sell tens of thousands of newly-designed Bi-Turbo models. The takeover was completed in May 1976, as Peugeot SA purchased a 90% stake of Citroën SA and the companies were combined into a holding company, known as PSA Peugeot Citroën. The PSA venture was a financial success from 1976 to 1979. Citroën had two successful new designs in the market at this time (the GS and CX), a resurgent Citroën 2CV, and the Citroën Dyane in the wake of the oil crisis, and Peugeot was typically prudent in its own finances, launching the Peugeot 104 based Citroën Visa and Citroën LNA. PSA then purchased the aging assets of Chrysler Europe, which it rebranded as Talbot, leading to losses from 1980 to 1985. PSA gradually eliminated Citroën's ambitious attitude to engineering and styling in an effort to rebrand the marque as an economy brand. In the 1980s, Citroën models were increasingly Peugeot-based, which was part of a worldwide motor industry trend called "platform sharing." The 1982 BX used the hydropneumatic suspension system and still had a Citroënesque appearance, while being powered by Peugeot-derived engines and using the floorpan later seen on the Peugeot 405. By the late 1980s, many of the distinctive features of the marque had been removed or diluted—the AX GT, for example was noted by contemporary journalists for its poor ride quality, an unusual attribute for the brand. Citroën has expanded into many new geographic markets. In the late 1970s, the firm developed a small car for production in Romania known as the Oltcit, which it sold in Western Europe as the Citroën Axel. That joint venture has ended, but a new one between PSA and Toyota is now producing cars like the Citroën C1 in the Czech Republic. In China, the C3 and Xsara are sold alongside the Fukang and Elysée local models. Citroën is still a global brand except in North America, where the company has not returned since the SM was effectively banned in 1974 for not meeting NHTSA bumper regulations. Production of the versatile 2CV was ended in 1990. Companies like Chrysler with the CCV concept car, Toyota with the Scion xB and Honda with the Element have recognized the 2CV concept and translated it to the modern era. More recently, Citroën has introduced the C3 Pluriel, an unusual convertible with strong allusions to the 2CV, both in body style (such as the bonnet) and in its all-round practicality. A "retro style" C3-based, post-modern 2cv like the new VW Beetle and BMW MINI is under active consideration by Citroën. The Pluriel is but one example of Citroën's return to innovation, after launching somewhat dull (although efficient) models throughout the 1990s. Other examples are the C2, C4, and C6. The introduction of newer models, such as the long-awaited XM replacement, the C6, indicates Citroën's continued commitment to innovation in the 21st century. But the days of clean-sheet thinking and truly radical innovation are long gone. Being too avant-garde and too far ahead of public taste is too risky. European Car of the Year awards winners: 1971: Citroën GS; 1975: Citroën CX; 1990: Citroën XM. Podiums: 1971: Citroën SM; 1979: Citroën Visa; 1988: Citroën AX; 1994: Citroën Xantia; 2003: Citroën C3; 2005: Citroën C4; 2007: Citroën Grand C4 Picasso. It also received a USA Car of the Year award in 1972. That year the Citroën SM was the Motor Trend Car of the Year. Citroën is also a major competitor in the World Rally Championship. After an abortive attempt with the Group B Citroën BX 4TC in 1986, and rally raid and kit-car successes in the 1990s, a works WRC squad debutted in 2001, winning the Constructors' title in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009. In 2004, 2005, and 2006, French driver Sébastien Loeb won the Drivers' Championship driving the Citroën Xsara WRC, and in 2007, 2008 and 2009 with the Citroën C4 WRC. Citroën missed out on the Constructors title to Ford in both 2006 and 2007. In the early 1970s, Citroën investigated the possibility of producing helicopters with the Wankel engines manufactured by its subsidiary Comotor. Some models, like the Citroën RE2, were flight-tested and still exist. Citroën vehicles are well known for their longevity—many CX models have travelled over 400,000 kilometers. The Iconic Citroën DS celebrated its 50th birthday in 2005 with over 2000 DSs, covering every year of production from 1955 to 1975, driving in convoy through the streets of Paris. One car travelled from Australia for the event. Australia has been one of Citroën's longest continuous sales markets in the world beginning in 1925. The DS was made in Australia in the 1960s, the only Citroën to be built there. One of Citroën's biggest factories is in Vigo, Spain. Beginning in 1955, Citroën began to use a steering wheel with only one spoke. The defunct language magazine Quinto Lingo ran an article of puns, including this one in German: "Kennst du das Land wo die Citroëns bluehn?" ("Do you know the land where the Citroëns bloom?") In the TV show The Mentalist Simon Baker (as investigator Patrick Jane) drives a Citroen DS 21. In 2008/9 Citroën appointed Landor Associates to reinvent the corporate brand for the Citroen dealer network. A new logo, a metallic variation on the previous logo, and a new strapline "Creative Technologie" was created. This is currently being rolled out around the world and is expected to take three to five years. Citroen celebrates its 90th Anniversary in 2009. As well as a new brand identity, launched in February 2009, a number of other events are scheduled to take place throughout the year, including the launch of a special-edition C3 Picasso 90th Anniversary Edition in the UK.

This is a very nice and very rare photo that reflects a wonderful era of Citroen and automotive history in a wonderful way.  This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 9" (ca. 20 x 23 cm).  It makes it perfectly suitable for framing.

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No copyright expressed or implied. Sold as collectable item only. We are clearing out our archives that we have gathered from various sources.

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We have photographs that came from professional collections and/or were bought from the original photographer or press studio! They are all of professional and excellent quality.

After many decades of professionally collecting photographs and posters we are clearing out our archives. They make the perfect gift and are perfectly suited for framing. They will look gorgeous unframed and will be a true asset nicely framed with a border. They are a gorgeous and great asset in every home, workshop, workplace, restaurant, bar or club!

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