1962 Citroen ID19

The Citroen DS19 was introduced at the 1955 Paris Salon. The futuristic new car had a revolutionary aerodynamic design and a radical hydraulic suspension setup. The ID19 followed in 1957 and it shared the DS's body but was less powerful and luxurious. The 1911cc engine offered nearly 70 horsepower compared to the 75 horsepower output of the DS19. Additionally, the ID19 had no power steering and a conventional transmission and clutch instead of the DS's hydraulically controlled setup. Sold on the French market, the ID19 had a price saving of more than 25-percent against the DS.

In 1958, Henri Chapron created a DS19 convertible called La Croisette. Approximately 390 Chapron convertibles and coupes were built over the next three years, and all were exclusive and hand-built to customer order. Various coupe rooflines were developed and named Le Paris, Le Leman, Concorde, or Le Dandy. Approximately 50 examples of the Citroen Le Dandy were built over a seven-year period. It is believed that two examples of the Le Dandy Coupe were built on the ID 19 chassis and 12 were clothed in this particular body style.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2019