In a post a few months back, I asked when cars became “modern“. Two milestone cars I mentioned were the Citroen DS (in a comment) and the Nissan Leaf (in the original post). So imagine my surprise when I found a Leaf parked in front of my neighbor’s DS. Technically, the similarities pretty much end with front-wheel drive, but the shapes have a lot in common, taking into account the Leaf’s modern upright proportions.
In this view from the back, the similarity between the DS’s C pillar buttresses, and the shape of the Leaf’s tail lights, seems more than a coincidence. Hard to believe that nearly 60 years separates these cars.
One doubtlessly more reliable and leak free than the other.
Not necessarily. I had the pleasure of daily driving a DS for eight years – one of the most reliable cars I’ve ever owned. The key is regular use, they do get crotchety otherwise.
Yes, when things do go wrong in DS, plan on clearing out your weekend for the simple repair or replacement, especially the water pump in the most inaccessible area. Not to mention having to scout the parts…that could take days or weeks to arrive.
My old classmate had one in the 1980s. Whenever his mum answered the doorbell and warned me to abandon all hope should I dare to enter his hallowed garage, I knew right away that he was working on his Déesse…
That would be the Citroen then.
For what it’s worth, I believe this neighbor has had the Citroen for 30 or 40 years and it’s driven regularly. I’m not sure anyone but a museum or an electric car collector will own, let alone drive, a Leaf in 40 years. Though maybe fuel will be easier to find (or merely even be legal) for the Leaf than for the DS.
Citroen needs more tail lights.
There was a DS in Back To The Future 2 to represent a futuristic car. Obviously a big difference in crash worthiness between the two. The older car looks like it was designed by human hands with style as a main concern. I am drawn to older cars for that reason. As one to drive everyday, obviously I’d take the Nissan. I have several variations of the DS as Matchbox cars in my collection as it is very pretty to look at.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation also used a modified DS. I guess it was supposed to represent a “weird European car”.
I’d take the Citroen any day. Even Jay Leno has one.
dman, I was thinking of you and your original (then fairly recent) post when we came across this ad at the St. Louis Transportation Museum. I was too lazy to go back and post it there at the time but this provides a new opportunity.
In regard to your pictures, those two cars really do go together, a great pairing!
Gee, why didn’t I think of Turret Tops, instead of disc brakes or FWD or 16V DOHC engines as indicators of modernity? Nice find.
The Airflow models by Chrysler were arguably more modern than this GM example, but didnt sell due to styling being too far from mainstream.
GM did have the latest tech, for a mass producer, at the time, hydraulic brakes, IFS, coil springs all around, OHV engines, helical gear sychromesh transmissions, hypoid rear axles. The revolutionary Hydramatic would appear in another year or two.
Aerodynamics does dictate certain inevitable outcomes.
The Leaf’s high tail lights are of course hardly uncommon; lots of cars (starting with Volvo) in the past 20 years or so have had tail lights located high like that on both sides of the hatch. It’s practical too, as it gets them out of the bumper zone.
I’ll take the A70 Supra over these blobs, thank you.
Good catch! The Supra is a regular on that block, red interior and 5 speed. Very clean and nicely cared for … it seems to have replaced a 3rd gen RX7 in the same household, as far as I can tell.
The Citroen is a car of character and style. The Leaf is merely an appliance, of utility but nothing else.
What an interesting 100 feet of curb! Neither of these is/was ever common in the US, so to see them both together is cool. And both companies still in business. Could PSA be chortling a bit as their Franco-Japanese rival is in a bit of hot water now?
If you add the 100’ or so on the other side of the street, there are two Saabs, a 240 wagon, a Vanagon, a Chevy SSR, a Honda Insight, a C5 Vette, and a few other CC’s that are regulars on that block, along with the DS and the Supra. The Leaf was just a visitor, I think.
I already have one of the DS’s grandchildren as my daily drive its reliable and comfortable like most Citroens, but I’d have a Leaf as a commute car in a heartbeat they are good to drive and the range limitations arent a problem for city running, and keep my C5 for touring use which it excels at.
Back in my youth I thought that the DS was incredibly ugly and weird. My opinion today remains the same but now I think that they are very cool nonetheless. It was designed at the time to the most advanced car on the road, not the most beautiful. While it paved the way in any areas, aerodynamics, hydraulic independent suspension, FWD, disc brakes, impact absorbing steering wheel etc. Most manufactures realized that good looks were extremely important to sales.
‘Nearly 60 years separate these cars.’
So which car on the roads today shows where design will be in sixty years time?
The DS licence plate: Le cigare?!
The first-gen Leaf definitely has some French design. I wonder if partner Renault didn’t have a hand.
Having had a chance to drive one back in 1969 (a townie college friend lived in a family of DS-addicts, the had three on the road as daily drivers and two as parts cars), they are absolutely unbelievable.
I’ll always consider it a major failing of my life that I never got to own one.
And then last summer at the local Chick-Fil-A Friday night cruise in, I met a guy and his wife who had a pair of SM’s. As their only cars. They like them because child seats fitted nicely in the back.
Has there ever been a more advanced mass market sedan relative to its competition than the DS in 1955?
Anyone who enjoys cars should experience a big Citroen at some point. Citroen answered the automotive question in unique ways that must be experienced to be appreciated.
Yes. The Tesla Model S in 2012.
For me Acd, no, there has not.
Citroen relative to rivals in ’55: FWD, powered braking with (front) discs and proportioning, power rack steering (and clutching, thus semi-auto), CD of .34, suspension system of unrivalled and advanced effectiveness, and crash safety, all things done before but not combined in a mass-market item. As a package, it indicated the features of the cars we’d be driving well in the future. Which is, now: FWD, auto, properly-braked, well-suspended as standard, aero-efficient and space-efficient, with in-built crash safety. (The hydropneumatic was never universally adopted, but it did heaps to overcome tyre inadequacies that don’t blight modern cars).
Model S: an Li-sandwich structure and pure electric propulsion (like Citroen, done before) in an otherwise unremarkable post-DS package, albeit wonderfully polished even at birth.
It’s certainly arguable that the Muskmobile is AS advanced in that it points to the future where it’s ICE competition doesn’t, but I still favour the big Cit as the more advanced in time and place.
there was this mechanic/hoarder in my town who’s yard was full of furrin cars, I recall 2 of these sitting inThe driveway, along with a couple more in the yard along with some Saabs, air cooled Volkswagens and a couple triumphs, I think there were about 70 cars in his yard.
Nice juxtaposition. As cars become even more streamlined, the advancement of the DS for its time, will become even more apparent.
Where was this photo taken?
What a big boofa that “small car” Leaf is! To think, on release, the DS was a large (Euro) car.
Theoretically, I’d love the older French product because it’s gorgeous and clever, but in truth, for the daily dullness of the choked commute, I’d be in the Leaf. Which sounds like it should be “on the Leaf”, but I digress.
Great photo.
Though it would be sacrilege, converting a derelict DS to the Leaf drivetrain with a modern air suspension would create a fun parade cruiser.
The engine has always been the weakest part of a big Citroen so you’d get some forgiveness for this conversion.