Not a Soviet box- in fact the Citroen DS may be its antithesis. It’s French, it’s curvaceous, and it was a very advanced piece of machinery at the time of its introduction in the late fifties.
As well, where the Soviet cars were mechanically simple and utilitarian, the DS spoke of sophistication. As Roland Barthes put it the automobile was the modern equivalent of the cathedral and the DS is a great example of this: from the time of its introduction it has been thought of as more than the sum of its parts, an object of fetishistic yearning. The AvtoVAZ and Ladas I’m posting this week- while desirable at the time because few other cars were available to citizens of communist countries- have only really become desirable with a postmodern re-imagining of them.
So, at any rate, I was talking about some kind of fantasy world in my last post and here it is. My fancy neighbours, off to listen to see an Edith Piaf show or something. Small cars and the luxury of style, not of opulence.
The car’s name is interesting in that when pronounced in French, DS sounds like déesse, or “goddess.” There was a version of the car called the DS Pallas- as in Pallas Athene. The goddess of practical wisdom, of cunning, cleverness, and victory would probably have approved.
Let’s end this series at five with another 2101 that is missing a luggage rack but makes up for it by being smooooooooooooth.
