Citroën
Founded in Paris in 1919 by André Citroën, Citroën spent the twentieth century as France's laboratory of automotive ideas. The Traction Avant of 1934 pioneered mass-market front-wheel drive and monocoque construction; the DS of 1955 introduced self-levelling hydropneumatic suspension and, in production form, the first mass-produced disc brakes; and the Maserati-engined SM of 1970 answered the grand-tourer question with DIRAVI self-centring steering and a Maserati V6. Now part of Stellantis, the collector market centres on the DS — especially the coachbuilt Chapron Décapotable — and the technically singular SM.
Citroën DS
Bertoni's aerodynamic FWD executive car — with self-levelling hydropneumatics and the coachbuilt Chapron Décapotable as its halo.
Citroën SM
A technically singular French GT — Citroën hydropneumatics and DIRAVI steering with a Maserati V6.