Seattle Citroën
Photo Sleuths #5
UPDATED
9/2025
Have a vintage photo of a Citroën in the USA or Canada? Send it in and we will see what we can learn about it!
QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC, 1975
Two different people recently provided this photo for sleuthing. But was it even taken in North America? At first glance, I would have thought not.
Google street view
NOW
THEN
The banner above the cars provided the clue to figuring this one out. With some research in newspaper archives it turns out that the photo was indeed taken in North America - Quebec City to be exact. The race was called the Esso Ice Racing Grand Prix. The 1.2 mile track was in a large, historic park in Quebec City called, The Plains of Abraham. This particular race was held in the second week of February, 1975.​​
​
Once the name of the race was identified, I searched through the Canadian National Archives and found a few more photos showing the Citroën, including one where the DS became a bit airborne.
Canadian National Archives
Canadian National Archives
It turned out to be difficult to find current views of the photos. The vegetation, roads, and some buildings have changed in the last 50 years, but I think the current view I included above is reasonably close (the tower from the Charles Baillairgé Pavilion can be seen in the background).
​
The DS has 5-lug wheels and a second generation nose, so it is a 1966 or 1967.
​
UPDATE: We later discovered that Richard Jentner from Pioneer Motors in Edmonton had helped prepare and maintain this car for the owner, Henri Alder, who was driving in the above photos. Richard notes that the car was a Canadian specification DS21 Citromatic with a modified engine that included a hot camshaft, dual downdraft Weber carbs, and other changes. Many thanks to Richard Jetner and Muriel Brideau for filling in the gaps! You can read about the Richard Jentner and Pioneer Motors HERE.
TORONTO, ONTARIO, EARLY 1960's
The location of this photo was easily solved! It is at the intersection of Bloor Street West and Walmer Road in Toronto.
Google street view
chuckmantorontonostalgia.wordpress.com
There are three clues I used to locate this photo. The main clue is that the streetcar has the name BLOOR on its marquis. It turns out that Bloor is a major east-west street in Toronto, Ontario. Two other clues came from the signs on the brick building; Walmer Beauty Salon and Coles.
Searching for the the business names in old Toronto newspapers and/or old phone books quickly led me to the exact location; the intersection of Walmer and Bloor, looking West. The gas station on the right of the photo is long gone, but the brick apartment building is still there.
THE DS LOOKS PRETTY WORN OUT, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS NOT VERY OLD!
The DS (or ID?) looks haggard. The rear bumper looks twisted and the door bottoms appear to be rusted out. The Lucas tail lights indicate that it is a North American model, but I cannot identify the year, although it is clearly a DS19 or ID19, probably from the early '60's. The mudflaps in front of the rear tires indicate that the car cannot be newer than a 1964.
I am guessing that the photo is from the early to mid-1960's. Most of the cars are late '50's, but I do think I see a 1963 Chevy Impala behind the streetcar.
LOS ANGELES, CA, ~1963
My friend Greg sent me this photo to see if I could figure out when and where it was taken.
Ivan Frank, Citrowagon.fr
First things to notice are that the car has Lucas turn signals and there are American cars in the background, indicating that the photo was taken in North America. I tried a reverse image search, which revealed that this photo is published on the Citrowagon.fr website and is credited to Ivan Frank, a Denver-area Citroën enthusiast, but other information about the photo is unknown. Ivan started out working with a Citroën dealer in Denver named, Carl Bartz. Then in about 1964, he struck out on his own and opened his own Citroën dealership in Denver, after Carl Bartz retired.
Was this photo taken at Carl Bartz's or Ivan Frank's dealership in Denver? It appears not. The buildings that they used still exist, but the windows and street details do not match that of our photo. (Carl Bartz operated from 3198 N. Speer Boulevard, and Ivan Frank's building was 621 W. 8th Avenue.)
If Ivan's photo wasn't taken in either of these buildings, where was it taken?
​
With a convertible in the showroom, I figured that whatever dealer it was would be one of the bigger, more consequential dealers, likely on the West Coast. I decided to go through the old dealership lists and check out the larger dealers, comparing surrounding buildings in Google Street View. Bingo, it did not take long. It turns out that Ivan Frank took this photo while standing inside Citroën's flagship showroom at 8423 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.
​
If you look carefully, the doorway of the building across the street is still recognizable, despite some remodeling that has occurred in the last 60 years. Also, the curved arch above the doorway is visible in the old photo as well as in the current day view of this historic building.
THE DOORWAY ACRSOSS THE STREET IS STILL VISIBLE
Google street view
CITROEN'S DEALERSHIP ON WILSHIRE BOULEVARD AS SEEN TODAY -
IVAN FRANK'S PHOTO WAS TAKEN OUT OF THE CIRCLED WINDOW, LOOKING DUE SOUTH ACROSS WILSHIRE
When was the photo taken? It most probably was in early 1963 since the DS in the foreground is a 1962 or earlier (I think I see jewel light top of the front fender) and the convertible is a 1963 or later (second generation nose). So the last of the 1962's were apparently still on sale, along with a new 1963 model.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, 1974
This one should have been easy, but it actually took a bit of work to solve.
Google street view 2025
5th AND BRYANT STREET - 2025
5th AND BRYANT STREET - 1974
I was initially confused by the signage. But with a bit googling, I found that the Tower of Power - Back to Oakland sign is not a real road sign. Instead, it is cover-art from a 1974 album from the band, Tower of Power, designed by photographer Bruce Steinberg. The fake sign was superimposed onto a legitimate photo of the Oakland Bay Bridge for the album cover (see album cover below).
​
Since the sign was not real, what's the deal with the photo with the Citroën?
The fact that this area changed during repairs following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake complicated solving this sleuth. But after a few hours, I discovered the solution. The photo with the Citroën was taken at the intersection of 5th and Bryant Streets in San Francisco, a few blocks away from the entrance to the Oakland Bay Bridge.
PHOTO IN QUESTION
But what about the Tower of Power sign? Well, if you look closely in the current view, there is a billboard in the background (circled). I discovered that when the album was released, Warner Brothers commssioned an advertising billboard that showed a facsimile of the album cover's fake sign. So, the sign in the Citroën photo is real, but existed only briefly in the mid-1970’s as a billboard advertisement for the album. The billboard was located a few blocks away from the fictional sign location on the album cover.
​
As for the Citroën, it is a 1972 D-Special in typical North American specification.
ALBUM COVER
Google Earth Pro
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, 1959
Two amazing photos of a white DS rocket ship exist. But when and where were they taken? Nobody seems to know. Let’s see if we can figure it out.
The DS’s are USA models due to the Lucas lighting and the hood badge. The year of the cars has to be 1958-1962, based on the first-generation nose and the Lucas lighting.
The photos are clearly from an auto show of some sort, probably from a bigger US city, since I count four DS’s in the display. So, I decided to start googling for auto show photos in this year range for several large US cities (NYC, Chicago, LA, and San Francisco).
Eventually, I started finding photos of auto shows in San Francisco that looked a lot like our photos (the fluorescent lighting and low ceiling height were particularly identifiable). It turns out that the San Francisco auto shows in this era were held in a gloomy underground venue called, Brooks Hall. If you look closely at one of the photos, we can see some English Fords in the background. Digging through period newspapers, I found floorplans of the auto shows and there was only one year where there was a Citroën display immediately adjacent to the English Ford display at Brooks Hall: 1960.
​
So, it looks like our photos came from the 1960 auto show in San Francisco (the show was held in November of 1959).
​
Another photo exists of a Citroën display at the Brooks Hall, this time from the 1964 auto show, held the last week in November of 1963. Notice the same fluorescent lighting and low ceilings.
BROOKS HALL - 1964 AUTO SHOW
BATH, MAINE, 1978
Michael Cox provided another photo to sleuth.
Michael Cox
THEN
Google Street View
NOW
There are a few clues in the background of the photo, but not enough. I failed on this one. I had to ask Michael for help. He told me that the photo was taken at the intersection of King Street and Washington Street in Bath, Maine.
​
When was the photo taken? Well, it has to be after 1974 since MGB's received rubber bumpers in 1974. The rest of the cars in the background are 1970's vintage, so my guess is that the photo was taken in the mid-to-late 1970's. Michael later told me that the photo was taken 1978 (his D-Special is parked behind the white DS).
The hubcaps and the second generation nose indicate that the year of the DS is a 1966 or 1967 DS21 (or perhaps ID19). It looks pretty haggard.
SYLVAN LAKE, SOUTH DAKOTA, 1970's
I happen to know whose car this is: Forrest Gist's 1966 DS convertible. But when and were was the photo taken?
Forrest Gist was a Citroën enthusiast from Newberg, Oregon. He had a variety of interesting cars over years, and one of them was this 1966 DS convertible that had originally come from the east coast. Having spent its first years on the east coast, rust had taken a severe toll on the it and by the 1980's, it started to sag in the middle. Forrest tried to restore it, but progress stalled and it sat disassembled in his garage in Newberg for many years. Below is a photo of Forrest and his son carrying the rear end during the botched restoration.
FORREST GIST AND HIS SON
PHOTO FROM THE 1980'S
SAME CAR TODAY
Eventually, Dr Paul Joos from Bellevue, Washington bought the car and had Chris Middleton from Seattle restore it. This car was Chris Middleton's Magnum Opus. It was a crazy amount of work, but as you can see, it turned out magnificent. One of the nicest convertibles out there.
​
So where was the photo taken? I zoomed into the rock formations and then did a reverse image search on the internet. It took some time, but eventually I found that the car was parked in front of Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park in South Dakota. I am thinking that the photo must have been taken in the late 1970's. His wife Sally and their two kids are in the car.
​
Forrest passed away in 2015.
NEW YORK CITY, ABOUT 1980
​
The Brooklyn Bridge is instantly recognizable. We are in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood, looking almost due North.
Joe Maloney
Google Street View
Based on other cars in the photo, I am guessing that the photo was taken in the late '70's or early '80's. The DS21 is a Pallas model, either 1970 or 1971 based on the rear end lighting, yellow turn signal lenses, and protruding door handles. The color is a bit of a mystery however. It looks to be dark blue or black, colors not generally offered in these years in the USA.