As well as building the factory catalogued DS cabriolets for Citroën, Henri Chapron maintained a steady trade in small batches of more specialised variations on the same theme for a decade. These rare and glamorous trinkets have for years been the ultimate prize in the world of DS fancying.
A Chapron, the last of the great French coachbuilders, had forged his reputation building bodies for Delage and Delahaye in a Paris workshop that, at its peak, had employed 350 artisans producing 500 cars annually. But when the French government's post-war fiscal assault on large-engined luxury vehicles killed off the indigenous grande routière trade almost overnight, it looked as if Chapron, starved of body-on-frame raw material for his creations in an industry moving to unitary construction, might follow them into oblivion.
It's strange to reflect, then, that it was the introduction of the ultra-modern DS in 1955 that in effect saved - and reinvented - this very traditional, near-40-year-old business for its already near-70-year-old founder. The déesse (goddess) didn't have a chassis in the conventional sense, but central to the concept of this front-driven, hydro-pneumatically suspended wonder-car was its base unit construction, by which none of outer panels played any part in the rigidity of the body.
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Denne historien er fra March 2023-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?
The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.
Daring to be diminutive
AMC's Gremlin and Pacer, and Ford's much-derided Pinto, led America's response to the threat of imported European compacts
THE LONG WAY ROUND
There is a great tradition of overland trips by Land-Rover, but the tale of this 70s Aussie epic and the car itself was discovered by chance
Handsome cab
The Phantom V limousine marked the beginning of the end for coachbuilder James Young, but this Rolls-Royce represents the craft at its very best
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Racing for their own F1 teams brought some drivers success and an enduring legacy. For others, it turned into a nightmare
20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD
Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans
ICON.
The three top-selling vehicles in the USA in 2023 were pick-ups, topped by the Ford F-Series. This is the truck that started it all
Blurred Lines
lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates
Home of the brave
The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named
PLAYING ALL THE ANGLES
Alfa Romeo's wild RZ eschewed the jellymould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring