Bastille Day Musclecar Monday

A little short on muscle today, but big on style points and innovation:

The Citroën DS is an automobile which was manufactured and marketed by the French company Citroën from 1955 to 1975. Styled by Italian sculptor and industrial designer Flaminio Bertoni and the French aeronautical engineer André Lefèbvre, the DS was known for its aerodynamic futuristic body design and innovative technology, including a hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension.

The DS set new standards in automobile ride quality, handling, and braking. Citroën sold nearly 1.5 million D-series during the model's 20-year (!!) production run. The DS came in third in the 1999 Car of the Century competition, recognizing the world's most influential auto designs.

What was really cool was the directional headlamps. Behind each glass cover lens, the inboard high-beam headlamp swivels by up to 80° as the driver steers, throwing the beam along the driver's intended path rather than uselessly across the curved road. The outboard low-beam headlamps are self-leveling in response to pitching caused by acceleration and braking. Sounds gimmicky I know but they really worked well.