GTP Cool Wall - Citroën DS

Easily the coolest car of the 1950s, along with the BRM V16 (not to mention 300SL Gullwing, too). Sublimely comfortable hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension that saved a president's life, aerodynamic bodywork, rotating headlights and other advanced stuff for the time. Styling-wise everything else made in the 50s looked like piles of turds beside it. Quite successful in rallying as well.

Sub-Zero.

Sub Zero. Looks amazing even this long after it was originally released. Instantly recognisable as a Citroen, instantly recognisable as something a little bit special. Ride comfort that shames magic carpets. Can drive on three wheels, if necessary thanks to adjustable hydropneumatic suspension. Effortless Gallic charm. More character than a car park full of Alfa Romeos. Design classic.

It was a tough one between cool and sub-zero. I went with cool, if in doubt, play it safe I guess...

Seriously uncool. Heavy for it's power, not very pretty either.

homeforsummer

Sub Zero. Looks amazing even this long after it was originally released. Instantly recognisable as a Citroen, instantly recognisable as something a little bit special. Ride comfort that shames magic carpets. Can drive on three wheels, if necessary thanks to adjustable hydropneumatic suspension. Effortless Gallic charm. More character than a car park full of Alfa Romeos. Design classic.

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I was going to type something out but hfs pretty much covered it exactly how I would.

SVX

Seriously uncool. Heavy for it's power, not very pretty either.

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Funnily enough I was looking at the original post earlier and thought to myself 'I bet someone will ridicule it for only having 109bhp...'. But then I realised that nobody could possibly miss the point by such a large margin, and disregarded that idea at once.

Oh dear.

Jondot

Funnily enough I was looking at the original post earlier and thought to myself 'I bet someone will ridicule it for only having 109bhp...'. But then I realised that nobody could possibly miss the point by such a large margin, and disregarded that idea at once.

Oh dear.

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There's always one, lol.

Who drives these cars? What sort of people are into these things? That's usually how I judge whether a car is cool or not. But since I don't know anything about this thing all I can go on is it's weird classic French design, which I think is cool. It's one of those cars that's different than everything else, and better for it. If you rolled up in one people would probably notice, but not care. Some others would be interested and ask questions. It's a conversation starter. It's cool.

SVX

Seriously uncool. Heavy for it's power, not very pretty either.

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I don't think they were trying to make a fast car when they designed it and because of taxes they used a small engine.

At the time it was considered advanced.

Cool. Near the border of sub-zero. There's just so much fun stuff packed into that thing.

SVX

Seriously uncool. Heavy for it's power, not very pretty either.

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It has a power figure? And why would you even look at it? I'd drive it if it made 20 hp. It's that cool.

Keef

Who drives these cars? What sort of people are into these things? That's usually how I judge whether a car is cool or not. But since I don't know anything about this thing all I can go on is it's weird classic French design, which I think is cool. It's one of those cars that's different than everything else, and better for it. If you rolled up in one people would probably notice, but not care. Some others would be interested and ask questions. It's a conversation starter. It's cool.

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I'd agree.

They're in demand too, otherwise the used prices for them wouldn't be as high as it is. Cars that people don't really want don't hold their value. And I can't think of many French cars full stop that'll go for £45k like a good DS convertible can...

For a Car that Old, its Like a Time Machine to the Future.

Besides, for a car from the 50's, 109 Hp from a four banger its prety good, while fords huge V6's were making 120.

Cool Car, Almost Sub-Zero, JUST LOOK AT THE FRONT!! waaay cooler/aerodynamic/ advanced than its era.

Isnt Subzero, because like every car too modern for its era, it'll be called ridiculous, ugly and pointless, but isn't.

Sub-zero, not sure why I like it so much.

Sub-zero, naturellement.

Philly

It has a power figure? And why would you even look at it? I'd drive it if it made 20 hp. It's that cool.

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Very true. Absolute sub-zero.

TVC

I don't think they were trying to make a fast car when they designed it and because of taxes they used a small engine.

At the time it was considered advanced.

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It's still pretty bloody advanced. And they used a small engine because they're French.

EA11R

It's still pretty bloody advanced. And they used a small engine because they're French.

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I don't know if you could call it advanced still. It has some features that some cars today don't have but it's all powered by hydraulics which isn't very advanced at all.

If they put a bigger engine in it (like a V6) the car would be more expensive because of taxes due to the larger engine.


I think the 0-60 is 11.2 seconds just in case someone wants to add it to the stats in the first post.

Subzero.


Anybody voting otherwise must not know much about cars.

Sub-Zero. In a recent Wheels magazine article this was considered (according to them) the 4th prettiest car ever made I'm pretty sure, and I 100% agree with them, it does look timelessly beautiful. To be honest if you actually care about the power value in any French car of ANY sort you're missing the point (here's looking at you SVX).

This car is so cool, it never needs an air conditioner.

This car is so awesome, it runs on rule of cool and plot device.

This car is so full of win, it's not raced very much because the guide lines call it cheating.

A DS was the first vehicle ever to go faster than the speed of light. It's simply not recorded because everyone who saw it had their minds blown. In all possible definitions.

Do I need to elaborate, or is this enough explanation of why this car is the coolest thing ever.

StigNumbers

This car is so cool, it never needs an air conditioner.

This car is so awesome, it runs on rule of cool and plot device.

This car is so full of win, it's not raced very much because the guide lines call it cheating.

A DS was the first vehicle ever to go faster than the speed of light. It's simply not recorded because everyone who saw it had their minds blown. In all possible definitions.

Do I need to elaborate, or is this enough explanation of why this car is the coolest thing ever.

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I'm pretty sure all that is incorrect, but you ain't lying.

TVC

I don't know if you could call it advanced still. It has some features that some cars today don't have but it's all powered by hydraulics which isn't very advanced at all.

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I had a beautiful rant typed out, but there's nothing for it; you need to hear it from the king of... this sort of thing. James May:

I think the 0-60 is 11.2 seconds just in case someone wants to add it to the stats in the first post.

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I repeat, they are French. Where do they have to get to so urgently? It's fast enough for a three-wheeled presidential limousine making a getaway, and it's fast enough for the rally. It's fast enough, and the French are not exactly known for their wild excesses; they are known for cleverness, and this car is nothing if not clever.

StigNumbers

Awesomeness

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EDIT: Also, though it isn't strictly relevant to this car, the Citroën SM, successor to DS, was equipped with a Maserati V6. Do you like that car?

StigNumbers

This car is so cool, it never needs an air conditioner.

This car is so awesome, it runs on rule of cool and plot device.

This car is so full of win, it's not raced very much because the guide lines call it cheating.

A DS was the first vehicle ever to go faster than the speed of light. It's simply not recorded because everyone who saw it had their minds blown. In all possible definitions.

Do I need to elaborate, or is this enough explanation of why this car is the coolest thing ever.

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I still think the 300SL Gullwing is cooler.

SVX

Seriously uncool. Heavy for it's power, not very pretty either.

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Power and weight have nothing to do with cool.

Pretty has a lot to do with it.

Unfortunately for you, a whole lot of people consider this car the prettiest to ever set wheel to tarmac... ever. And a whole lot of others, myself included, give it a permanent spot on their top ten.

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Subzero.

Even if you have to actually explain how significant a car it is, you don't have to explain how cool-looking it is. That part explains itself.

Cool... it would be sub-zero, but if the DS is sub-zero that means it's on par with the SM... which it isn't quite.

SM = one of the coolest cars ever built.

I think the thing about this car is that Citroen could make it today, in that exact bodystyle, only de-chroming it and putting new wheels and drivetrain in it, and it'd still look like a brand new car. That's pretty cool.

80Y 2C2

I still think the 300SL Gullwing is cooler.

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Yes. I nominated it precisely to know if everyone thought the same as I did.

niky

Power and weight have nothing to do with cool.

Pretty has a lot to do with it.

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Remember that some people relate power and weight to coolness. It's just the way it is.

Voted Cool, without knowing anything about the car, based only on looks. After reading about it, would have definitely voted Sub-Zero.

Well, i was only going for Cool, but since the rallying bit in that clip, I went for SZ

Codename L

Remember that some people relate power and weight to coolness. It's just the way it is.

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It's not extraordinarily heavy for a saloon. And for its time, that was a respectable amount of power for an OHV engine. Still is... compared to American cars of the time with nearly twice the CiD and the same output.

One always has to remember the milieu into which a car is released. Otherwise... well... does the fact that the Ferrari F40 "only" makes 475 hp make it any less cool than a GT-R? Nope. For the time, it was an amazing amount of power (still is, but that's beside the point).

Based from a pure power-to-weight ratio type of reasoning, whether a car is cool or not will have to be rewritten every decade, as power figures soar ever higher for supercars. And cool is not time-bound. Cool is timeless.

Not that the Citroen's 100 odd horses were an amazing amount of power for the time, but it was hardly underpowered and overweight, compared to some of the 4000 pound barges that were also coming out at the same time.

Crap, I just realized we're tragically mixing up the meanings of 'cool' and 'good' again, and this time I got caught up in it. Let me try again.

Bloody beautiful, rare, and does a groovy helicopter takeoff when you start it up. Sub-zero.

Okay, fine, the helicopter thing takes about 20 seconds, so you can't go anywhere in a hurry, but "If you're important, they will wait."