Pierre Boulanger came from Michelin, and was assigned as CEO of the Citroën factories in 1934. Boulanger was the man that started up the development of the TPV , Toute Petite Voiture, that later got known as the 2CV.
In '38 he finished the B 15 Six; the jewel of the Traction line. In 1938 Boulanger wrote this idea in his notebook: "VGD, Voiture de Grand Diffusion". A car that should be more comfortable, spacious, aerodynamic, aesthetic and faster than the Traction, without weighing and costing more.
The DS was born.
Pierre Boulanger said to his men: "I'm not even demanding a result rate on 10%, and I ask you to study all possibilities, including the impossible". In 1942 he accidently saw the drawings to a new type of injection system. He was fascinated by the idea, an the designer behind the system, Paul Magès, was immediately put on the DS team. In '46 the first succesful test was done, and in '49 the revolutionary hydraulic system of the DS was a fact.
In 1950 Pierre Jules Boulanger was killed in a B11 on his way to Clermont-Ferrand.
Lefebvre was the technical father of the Traction, the 2CV and the TUB/HY. And, of course, one of the big brains behind the DS.
Conceiving the DS, he had his ideals from the very beginning: A wide wheel base, a gauge 20 centimters wider than in the back, front wheel drive, low centre of gravity, front weight 800 kgs, back weight 400 kgs and rack steering.
These proportions caused great difficulty to the engine designer, Walter Becchia, who also developed the 2CV engine. He worked on a 6 cylinder watercooled engine, which unfortunately gave much to much weight in the front. The performance was a disaster. In 1952, however, a Citroën engine constructor by the name of Poillot solved the problem. He created a lighter engine in new proportions from the old Traction engine that matched the DS perfectly.
The brakes turned out to be a problem as well. Lefebvre wanted drum brakes by the differential in order to make the steering geometrics perfect. But again, these brakes were ineffective in a car of this size. They were too small, and got soft as jelly when they used them repeatedly. The solution was at hand, though. Jaguar had developed a new type of brakes for the Le Mans races: Disc brakes. These were much too expensive to acquire from Jaguar, so the Citroën technicians developed their own. These were based on completely different principles than Jaguar's, and they matched the hydraulic braking system made by Paul Magès. Now, the DS braked better than any automobile on the planet!
Lefèbvre was the mastermind behind the steering wheel of the DS: He made analyses, that proved a spoke wheel to be much cheaper, lighter and easier to look through than the normal steering wheels. The Citroën designer, Flaminio Bertoni, sketched and modelled the new and beautiful steering wheel in no time.
André Lefèbvre loved new and exotic materials. He was one of the first french men in a nylon shirt, and his office and home were filled with plasticbags, nylon stockings and artificial materials. That is why the D-series got the roof, seats and carpeting in artificial materials. A 100 kgs of aluminium, stainless steel and other exotic materials were used in the DS.
And on wednesday, october 5th 1955, André Lefèbvre and three other members of the DS crew, drove the DS by the Champs-Élysées for the first time ever. And a piece of history was made.
Bertoni was the head of the Citroën design department. He was the man behind the classic curves of the Traction and the shockingly new and radically functional shapes of the 2CV, TUB and HY. And in 1938 he started creating his dream project: The DS.
And a dream project it was. In Boulanger's words, he was going to design "The world's best, most beautiful, most comfortable and most advanced car, a masterpiece, to show the world and the american car factories in particular, that Citroën and France could develop the ultimate vehicle.
The design of the evolved over a number of years, only interrupted by the war and the death of Pierre Boulanger. After the new head of Citroën, Pierre Bercot, took over, the VGD/DS project got strengthened. Everything and everybody was dedicated to get this car out on the streets.
Until now, the DS had a rounded rear end, similar to the early Saab designs. In august '55, Pierre Bercot demanded to see the DS as a high finish prototype. He disliked the rear end, because it looked too much like other cars at that time. He asked Bertoni to make a new rear end - and make it fast! In november 1955 - only one month before the introduction at the Salon d'Automobiles - Flaminio Bertoni sketched the famous rear window and roof indicators.
The original dashboard was created during the last phases of the process. Bertoni was competing with an external designer by the name Robert Michel of making the best solution. At the last moment, Flaminio Bertoni showed up with a huge box under his arm. He opened it, and took out an immensely beautiful dashboard: 3 soft curves, containing an elegant and minimalistic speedometer, a huge rounded glove compartment covering 50 percent of the entire dashboard, ending up in symmetric air nozzles in each side. The dashboard got approved. And produced.
Lefebvre wanted a simple, see-thru steering wheel. Bertoni designed and modelled the caracteristic and sensual 1-spoke steering wheel in a split-second no time. This is now considered one of the most beautiful features of the DS.
Magès was the man behind the hydro-pneumatic suspension of the DS.
His ideas were discovered by Pierre Boulanger by accident, and Boulanger was fascinated by them, even though the Citroën technicians considered them hopeless. Boulanger employed Magès in the development department. A decision, he never would regret.
Paul Magès was a curious man, and he consumed all literature concerning wheel suspension, suspension in general and braking systems. He defined a question to himself: "How do you create a suspension, that is soft when driving slow, and gets harder when speed is increased?"
The answer to that question was hydro-pneumatic suspension. In 1944 a 2CV prototype was ready with a simple version of the system. The car broke down after 15 minutes. Magès improved his solutions and in 1946 Boulanger, Lefèbvre and Magès drove another 2CV prototype - no. B9 - through "Du long du mur", a torture stretch. The suspension worked perfectly!. After this, Boulanger decided to move Paul Magès to the DS project in order to give this big, beautiful car the world's most comfortable suspension system.
Magès rebuilt the Traction from 1948, and the first B11 prototype was ready in 1949. After a thorough test drive, the enthusiasm would take no end. But why stop at the suspension? Magès started to develop power steering, brakes and gear system based on the central hydro-pneumatic system. He worked fast and used simple means to get things done. Only one thing, the "Pédalo", the small mushroom brake, was too advanced even for Lefèbvre. However, when a test driver saved the lives of two children with a miraculous braking, the bosses surrendered.
At eight o'clock in the morning, wednesday october 5th 1955, a DS was parked with the motor running behind the big gates of Quai de Javel. It was the first time the DS was to see the light outside the factory. It was the day of the Salon D'Automobile de Paris. André Lefèbvre decided that Paul Magès should drive the car. The car with the most advanced design and suspension system ever. The car of the century.
Pierre Michelin was the son of Edouard Michelin, head of the tyre firm based in Clermont-Ferrand, central France. He and Pierre Boulanger came from Michelin to Paris in 1934 to assist André Citroën. 3 months before his death, he hands over his shares to Michelin. After his death, Michelin and Boulanger continue to manage the quai de Javel plant, a magnificent showcase of glass, steel and concrete that houses a diamond: the Traction Avant. But the diamond is still uncut. It must be finished and polished before it can reveal the splendour of which it has already given a glimpse.
At the price of many sacrifices, Citroën returns to the ranks of leading carmakers from 1937. The Traction legend is coming true.
Pierre Michelin dies in an accident at the end of 1937.
After Pierre Michelin's sudden death, Pierre Boulanger took control of the company, and launched a new project, one which André Citroën had already dreamed up : a "very little car", in french, the TPV , Toute Petite Voiture.
After Pierre Boulanger was killed at the wheel of an experimental Traction 1950, Robert Puisseux became Président-Directeur Général of Michelin who owned Citroën. He handed control of the VGD project over to Pierre Bercot, the new managing director of Citroën.
Bercot agreed to a redefinition of the project, believing that here was the opportunity to create a car that would be as far ahead of the Traction as that car was of its contemporaries in 1934, even if that meant that the new car's launch would be delayed.
André Lefebvre was given carte blanche yet again and thus was born Projet D.
