Totally original Citroen ID 19 - 48,000 KMs! For Sale (1963)
After 18 years of secret development as the successor to the Traction Avant, the DS 19 was introduced on 5 October 1955 at the Paris Motor Show. In the first 15 minutes of the show, 743 orders were taken, and orders for the first day totalled 12,000. The Citroen DS also posited the nations relevance in the Space Age, during the global race for technology of the Cold War. Structuralist philosopher Roland Barthes, in an essay about the car, said that it looked as if it had "fallen from the sky". An American advertisement summarised this selling point: "It takes a special person to drive a special car".
The high price tag, however, hurt general sales in a country still recovering from World War II, and a cheaper submodel, the Citroën ID, was introduced in 1957. The ID shared the DS's body but was less powerful. Although it shared the engine capacity of the DS engine (at this stage 1,911 cc). The ID19 was also more traditional mechanically: it had no power steering and had conventional transmission and clutch instead of the DS's hydraulically controlled set-up. Initially the basic ID19 was sold on the French market with a price saving of more than 25% against the DS, although the differential was reduced at the end of 1961 when the manufacturer quietly withdrew the entry level ID19 "Normale" from sale. A station wagon variant, the ID Break, was introduced in 1958.
The ID19 followed the DS19s example in using a punning name. While "DS" is pronounced in French as "Déesse" (goddess), "ID" is pronounced as "Idée" (idea).
In 1963 a total of 93,476 all models Citroen DS/ID were built. This car was originally sold in France. The car is in very original condition and remains mainly in the first factorypaint. The bonnet has been resprayed. Some told us we should respray the car, but we love this original patinated bodywork. All details are photographed so you have a good idea about the current condition. Even the roof is fully original. She is rustfree and in good running, shifting and braking condition. Lovely first original interior is still fitted. The car is comming from the second French owner.
Please don't hesitate to contact us for further information.
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