Citroën style in the heart of London

The Design Museum on the south bank of the Thames by Tower Bridge recently ran a Citroën style exhibition (ending October 12^th 2003) that showed the genius of Italian designer Flaminio Bertoni who worked with chief engineer André Lefèbre for many years. 

The exhibition, which was on the top floor (how they got the cars up there is a mystery), featured cars spanning eight decades plus supporting historical information, blueprints, models, films and advertising material.

At the entrance was a blue Light 15.  The front of the car was cut away to display the engine and the front wheel drive mechanism a Citroën ‘first’ that was revolutionary at the time.

Next there was the history of the development of the “trés petite voiture” that became the 2cv, supported by a prototype car on loan from Citroën, which was in remarkably good condition because these cars date from the late 1930s. 

At the outbreak of World War II they were all hidden, five were buried at a farm outside Paris.  The car on display was one of three that were concealed in an inaccessible attic at one of Citroen’s factories. The shape of the prototype is close to that of the production version of the 2cv. 

The accompanying promotional material included a film showing the last 2cv produced (a grey Charleston) rolling off the line in Portugal in 1990.

The next car was the supremely elegant ‘Goddess’ the DS.  The car on display was a black DS19, which I think of the General De Gaulle car, the DS was an instant and huge success. 

Unveiled at the 1955Paris Salon exhibition Citroën received twelve thousand orders on the first day.  The DS included some highly innovative engineering especially the suspension, which was put to the test when an assassin shot away one of the tyres in an attempt to kill General De Gaulle.  The DS sped away safely on three tyres and De Gaulle survived.

Finally there was the Ami, introduced in 1961, a family car in a very different style with sliding windows and a sharply angled rear window.

After that we walked by the river following Queen’s Walk under Tower Bridge past David Blaine to City Hall, which is open to all. 

On the lower ground floor there was a small exhibition on the history of black music in London from the 1940s. The most striking item was the carpet, an aerial photograph of London that is large enough to identify streets and landmarks.  There were little groups of people staring at the floor all trying to work out where they live.  We located our current home and places where we had lived in the past.  If you have not been to City Hall I recommend it.  The architecture is striking, the staff are welcoming and it has a real community feel about it.