Wow, that\’s a lot for an odd French car to get, now isn’t it? Actually, the Citroen DS is more than odd, it\’s really odd, and it is also a design much loved and respected by car stylists across the world, having just been voted as the most beautiful car of all time.
And Retromobile? Retromobile is this completely French, completely odd and idiosyncratic auto show/auction/yearly museum/swap meet that happens in Paris every year, so it all starts to fit, doesn’t it?
The particulars are like this.
At the Bonham\’s Retromobile auction in Paris, one rare Citroen sold for a high bid of 337,500 Euros which is about $440k, and is assumed to be the highest amount ever paid for the French marque. This particular DS was quite rare indeed, a 1973 DS23, converted by coachbuilder Henri Chapron to a convertible – one of only three DS23 convertibles built, and the only one with fuel injection.
Chapron himself is quite the rarity, one of the last Euro coach builders that can trace their lineage back to the days when you would by a naked chassis from a manufacturer and THEN have a body designed and built to your specifications to be mounted on that particular chassis.
You can see how that is an inefficient way to make cars, but it DID make for some amazing one offs for people richer than Croesus.
And although the DS, in any form, coupe, sedan or convertible, is strange and French, you can\’t say it is not distinctive – particularly when the roof has been removed. Is it any wonder that Uma Thurman drove one of these in Gattica?
No, no it\’s not. And just because this one is a drop top that has been worked on by Henri Chapron doesn’t mean it\s lacking any of the standards DS weirdness. You\’ve got your ultra-smooth and floaty hydro-pneumatic suspension, the lack of brake peddle, the one spoke steering wheel, it\’s pretty much all there.
And all for the low-low price of just 337,500 Euros if you happened to be in Paris this year for the Retromobile.
Source: AutoBlog
