Seattle Citroën
1961
UPDATED
7/2024
DS CONVERTIBLES
It looks like it was in 1961 when Citroën introduced the factory convertible to the USA. Scouring newspapers of the era revealed an article stating that the very first DS convertible in the USA was air-freighted at the last minute to California in November of 1960 and shown in the San Francisco and Los Angeles auto shows that were showcasing the new 1961 models.
LA Mirror, Nov 1960
CONVERTIBLE EXTERIOR LIGHTING
These early convertibles in the USA had the same front end lighting that other North American DS sedans had; sealed beam headlights and Lucas front turn signals.
For the rear lighting, USA convertibles had Lucas tail lights like Euro convertibles, but American convertibles did not get the boomerang turn signals on the rear deck. Instead, one of the Lucas tail lamps on each side was changed to a dual filament unit that incorporated the turn signal function.
Sportscardigest.com
USA Specification DS19 Convertible without boomerang turn signals
But if you look a bit closer, not only were the boomerang turn signals gone on USA cars, but the entire rear body section was different! Notice that on European convertibles, there was a raised boss on the body of the car for the rear turn signal lamps. On USA cars, this area was completely flat.
Boomerang turn signal on rear deck of a Euro convertible
Notice the raised boss under the Euro turn signal unit
I am pretty sure that between 1961 and 1967, Canadian convertibles did not have the boomerangs either.
WAGON REAR LICENSE PLATE HOLDER
According to the parts book, USA wagons received the characteristic folding license plate holder on the lower rear tailgate in 1961. This holder uses the ubiquitous Lucas license plate lights. The folding license plate holder was used on American wagons until Citroën stopped importing cars into the USA in 1972.
Chris Dubuque
Bringatrailer.com
Folding license plate holder on USA wagons from 1961
Non-folding rear license plate treatment on all Euro wagons and USA/Canadinan wagons for one year only; 1960
Mark Krahn
We think Canadian wagons received the folding license plate holder at the same time that USA cars did. Note that Canadian license plates are almost exactly the same size as USA cars.
1962
DS19 TURN SIGNAL SWITCH
USA and Canadian DS19’s received yet another new and unique turn signal switch for 1962. This one had a black (or perhaps dark gray) plastic knob in lieu of the white knob used on earlier cars. This new switch on USA cars looked just like the 1962 Euro version, but the USA version did not incorporate a headlight “passing” flasher that was added to Euro cars for 1962. This new switch for USA cars (P/N DW 522 05b) was used for a number of years on USA DS’s; from 1962 to early 1969, and utilized the external Klaxon flasher. ID19’s would eventually get this same switch in 1965.
Unique turn signal switch for 1962 DS19's in the USA
Chris Dubuque
DOOR GLASS
The thickness of the glass in the doors changed on USA DS19’s, ID19’s, and wagons for 1962. The door glass thickness on USA cars had been 6 mm on both the front and rear doors. But in December of 1961, the thickness changed to 5 mm for both front and rear doors of USA cars. Euro DS’s had a bewildering mix of 4, 5, and 6 mm thick door glass, usually thinner on the rear doors.
USA cars received 5 mm door glass in 1962 for all four doors
Chris Dubuque
REAR REFLECTOR
For 1962, North American DS's and ID's (in both USA and Canada) finally started getting reflectors that looked like the rear reflectors on Euro cars. (Remember that between July 1959 and November 1961, North American DS's and ID's had a really odd hexagonal-shaped rear reflector that not used anywhere else in the world - see it HERE.)
While the new reflector for 1962 looked the same as what was used on Euro cars, the red reflector part was still a unique part number, at least for an another year or two. It seems that the French reflectors did not comply with USA rules?
The parts books get a bit murky, but it looks like sometime around 1963 or 1964, the reflectors finally became the same globally.
Bringatrailer.com
Strange reflector used between July of 1959 and November of 1961 on North American Cars only
Bringatrailer.com
For 1962 and on, North American DS's and ID's received reflectors similar to those used on Euro cars
1963
This is a model of a 1963 DS19. You can read the interesting story behind this model HERE.
We do not have numbers for how many cars Citroën sold in the USA in 1963, but the Montreal Star newspaper reported Citroën sold 600 cars in Canada in 1963.
There are very few unique things Citroën changed on US/Canadian cars for 1963. But we did find a few differences.
IGNITION
Starting in March 1963, the parts books show some minor differences to the distributor, coil, spark plugs, and spark plug extensions on USA cars. Champion 'L10' spark plugs were now specifically called out for USA cars.
ID19 REAR BUMPER
Initially, USA ID19's had all aluminum bumpers, then in mid-1959 USA cars received stainless steel lateral pieces and chrome plated Zamak risers, while Euro ID's kept their aluminum bumpers until the end of 1962.
In 1963, ID19's (globally) received a full stainless steel rear bumper. This change in 1963 made the rear bumpers on DS19's and ID19's the same.
I think Canadian ID's followed this same pattern.
classicjalopy.com