In every age, there are those who enjoy that which is different. Folks who astray from the usual, either due to fondness for the uncommon or a quest for new solutions or experiences.
Today’s series of vintage images featuring a ’64-’65 Citroën DS wagon seems to be such a case. From the looks of things, someone wanted to taste something quite different from your garden-variety Ford and found it in this nicely loaded Citroën DS. Then, piled on miles and miles across the US over the years, leaving a short but nice record of its journeys.
So, how about checking out America as seen by this DS wagon between 1965 to 1969?
A few caveats before we begin our journey. First, the images in this post came from more than one source. If there was an original upload for the whole lot, it’s gone or I never managed to trace it. Some deductions might be wrong on my part as I patched these together (with added help from a related post on a Citroën DS forum). So do feel free to add your own conclusions, or additional info in the comments section.
Now that we’re ready for the trip, we should perhaps start at the owner’s place. Or as the French say, chez lui. Here he’s in a shot dating from 1966, with the rather new DS posing on the snow alongside an older Ford wagon.
A couple of additional shots from the same date capture the DS putting its renowned hydropneumatic suspension to work. Excitement is evident in these: “Look fellas, this is no ordinary Ford!”
And where could home be? Folks at the DS forum figured the wagon was at the owner’s workplace in this image…
Which they have traced to this period ad from Brainerd, Minnesota. Could the DS belong to Mr. Rosenberg himself?
Enough speculation. Let’s get on with some traveling and check out what this Citroën wagon can do.
La belle voiture had actually found itself crisscrossing a great deal of the continent as early as 1965. Here it is, still sans official plates.
And if I read my Google Lens right, the DS has reached Colorado in this image.
Early on the DS’ travels, Mr. Owner seems to have shown to be a crafty fella. What looks like a nicely made homemade cargo carrier appears invariably on the DS’ roof rack in the 1965 shots.
And here’s the wagon again in Colorado, at the Wolf Creek Pass on the Continental Divide.
Here is another shot from 1965, with the DS reaching New Mexico.
Summer 1966 was another one of exploration, and the DS got a new cargo carrier. And who (and where) could the family be visiting on this shot? Relatives perhaps?
That 1966 trip reached the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. And if I may say, the DS’ futuristic shape seems so fitting in this otherworldly location.
In this image dated to 1969, the DS reaches Covey’s Little America in Wyoming. Here, the couple is traveling light, as the wagon is only using its factory rack.
And if you must know, Covey’s Little America has appeared in a previous vintage postcard gallery here at CC.
That 1969 trip extended to California, where the wagon took a ferry boat to Balboa Island.
And once again, visiting family/friends on that 1969 trip. Perhaps the right way to close a long trip?
So that does it for this brief tour across America in the past, all courtesy of this Citroën DS. We may never quite know the wagon’s whole story, nor that of its family, but for me, it’s been a pleasant voyage. And for that, I’ll say Mercy Beaucoup!
“Merci (without y) beaucoup” !
I was saddened to see that the pictures with the Rosenbergs themselves didn’t show them wrapped in furs. But good to see a French car bust the myth of enduring unreliability and provide years of faithful service across about 2/3rds of the country.
I’ll also declare that I’ve been to every location identified here but there was never a Citroen to be seen at the time I was there. Perhaps I blinked and missed it.
I could see this car being from Berkeley, but Brainerd, MN? Wow.
Looks like that large roof top box was probably first built/used on the Ford wagon, and they had to mount it so far forward to make room for that big rear hatch. That definitely didn’t help the Citroen’s aerodynamics, and probably explains the smaller cargo box that replaced it.
Roof is fibreglass the original mounts to the structure the suspension will carry any load you can fit in or on it.
Great retrospective, and commentary, Rich. Firsthand endeavors and trailblazers like this, could provide the inspiration and rationale, for mainstream autos like the AMC Eagle.
As a local kid, I would have been greatly intrigued with this off-the-wall station wagon, and its hydropneumatic suspension, passing through my community.
Would be wonderful, to learn more about the life and automotive experiences of this Citroën owner.
Final Photo:
I would imagine the background building is a new grammar or high school. The dirt road in the foreground is indicative of a mushrooming subdivision with the corresponding auxiliary buildings and roads in different stages of development.
A similar photo in the late 70’s would include trees, paved roads, and the school building painted a different color with modular classrooms to handle the growth from the baby boomers.
Today, the same school may be considered obsolete for use due to declining enrollment. My very typical suburban school district has closed 6 schools in the last few years due to the aging of the baby boomers and fewer new families in the area. The same has happen to several small country clubs which have closed as well. Developers are fighting over these properties to build MacMansions.
Something like this was done again about ten years ago. A man drove an old Citroën from San Diego to Miami , only having one breakdown. Near El Paso , the waterpump failed (it was a Sunday), and he rigged up an RV hot water pump to get back on the road.
You know that guy in the 2nd to last pic standing by the Chrysler wagon is thinking “I can’t believe Joe bought one of them foreign jobs”
That’s exactly the thought for a caption that I had when seeing that photo!
On the other hand, if they were relatives, they knew Joe/Sid was a march-to-his-own-drummer kinda guy. The homemade rooftop box probably established that fact to all who knew him.
And anyway, if they ever said anything out loud, all Joe/Sid needed to do was to jack the suspension up and down. Try doing THAT in your Town and Country, normie! 😉
Yeah, the home made roof top carrier is a sign that the owner does stuff his own way for sure!
A month back, sadly without camera, I saw one of these driving along with a sedan mate. Looked to be going somewhere. Also looked stunning. In a good way Cybertruck.
I go to a Citroen service agent infrequently, the place is usually jam packed with rare Citroens, and it is the only place Ive seen one the same model I have. 3x C6s makes them not as rare as I thought petrol driven C6 now thats rare, when you count Citroen production numbers then count RHD builds.
Rich, your efforts are well appreciated. We should compliment Sid, or whoever owned this Citroen, for having it appear in so many photographs. The Citroen DS rode beautifully thank to suspension and those oh-so-comfortable deep foam cushion seats. Pours les hommes, Sportif, nous offerons une Citroen different. (image a bas).
I don’t know what all of that French talk means but that is one fine looking coupe.
Except for one shot, with one littlie, I can’t see any kidlets aboard occupying all the seats that would justify the need for that…that dirty great WARDROBE that’s slung on top of the once-slippery Cit. Maybe they’re all playing Hide and Fur, but assuming not, I’d say just take less stuff, Sid!
A lover of the sedans, I can’t pretend the wagon is an artwork. Aft a certain point, it just becomes a collection of things on things, and not many of them much interested in getting along nicely. For reasons unknowable, I still like them, but I understand the heaving masses who mainly think them execrable. Especially in ’60’s America, as Ford and GM absolutely peaked in aesthetic excellence.
The local garage owner had a wagon that I passed close by each day on the way to school, and this most unlikely Citroen lover – curmudgeonly, ancient, racist, right-winger – swore that as long as fluids were changed and the things were in constant use, they’d outlast religion.
The hydraulic system is remarkably reliable and fortunately simple to repair, the basic models didnt change the hydro-pneumatic system untill the last Xantias this century,
Upscale efforts like XMs got a more sophisticated system with automatic self leveling that evolved into the computer controlled hydra-active in the last Xantias and early C5s, I have hydra-active 3 the final evolution, its very clever and in just over 210,000kms in 2 C5s has given trouble once.
The Chrysler wagon is the same color as the DS. Maybe the relatives liked the DS enough to copy it.
First pic includes a familiar winter trouble, ladder to knock off ice dams.
Great photos and story. A few observations;
Photo #2 The Ford is a ’63 Country Sedan.
#3, 4 & 14 (last) There is a decal on the left corner of the front bumper that all I can read is the number 4, but it reminds me of a military base permit. Also, in the left quarter glass is a sign that I also can’t really make out but the bottom line may read ‘Planned Parenthood’.
#5 Brainerd Hide and Fur apparently also deals in scrap metal per the sign on the side of the building. That must be during the off season. There is a gas pump next to the loading dock which seems odd for that size of a business. The car is a ’60 Ford Galaxie Town Victoria.
#7 Do you suppose they were delivering merchandise in that rooftop carrier?
#9 Some of the kids on the left side are probably also in #13 plus a few years. I can’t tell what is in the garage but the pickup at the curb is a ’54 Dodge Job-Rated.
#11 A ’67 Dodge Coronet on the left. To the right of the Citroen is a new looking ’69 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Custom Town Sedan with a boy watching the camera and a ’62 Buick Skylark convertible.
#13 The Town & Country is a ’68 model.
#14 That may be a ’51 or ’52 Chevrolet on the left side.
There is a Sidney Rosenberg buried in a Brainerd cemetery listed in ‘Find a Grave’ that gives little information other than a birth date of 1915 and a death date of 1981. That would make him in his early fifties in these photos which seems to fit.
Thanks for the photos and write up.
No it’s not a Zamboni it’s the DS of the ‘famous’ Jean Béliveau hockey player of the Canadiens de Montréal when the team was glorious ( long time ago ). But in reality the humble Jean drove a more discreet one like the man himself .
Different D-Safari?
Body work and repaint?
The photo at the Continental Divide on US-160 at Wolf Creek Pass shows the wagon seemingly without the lower body trim found on DS and Pallas models, but not on ID series.
Even with a good zoom I don’t see the trim which would extend from the front wheelwell to the rear.
We’ve toured extensively in three 1967 DS-21 and Pallas sedans and three D-21 Wagons (Break/Safari) 1967 and 1971. These, as well as our SM, 2-CV, Ami-6, and Mehari were all a joy to own, tour, and just plain drive. Growing up, our kids assumed all cars could elevate. Many years ago an apparently inebriated gent on the corner of Bourbon St and St. Louis, across from Al Hirt’s Club stared as I put our ’67 Pallas through her down-up-down cycles. He stared at the brown paper bag he had been lifting to his lips, shook his head vigorously, and carefully placed the bag on the sidewalk.
Hmm, interest in these odd ball cars is giving me ideas I’m trying to compose a post about some of its descendants Ive owned as daily drives for the last 14 years, I guess if you cant read they are complicated and unreliable, but in approx 500,000kms so far in them I disagree,
Two will not start/move events so far and solved with phone call assistance by me and various maintenance jobs like cambelts and oil changes do not mean unreliable to me. Worst fault on my current car is courtesy of Bosch so that will probably never be solved, dont care.
Cool wagon that Citroen. A fellow who ran a used car lots in the mid to late ’70s near to my home, had several sedans as his personal drivers. As a kid, I marveled at watching the suspension cycle when he fired up the cars to drive away!