Working under the multitalented engineer and ex grand prix driver André Lefebvre (‘le pere de la Traction Avant’) who reputedly only ever drank water and champagne, Bertoni employed all of his artistry to design a car that French philosopher Roland Barthes described as the arch-deity of this neo-mania, a mobile cathedral to the new religion of the twentieth century. Motoring magazine Wheels more prosaically described it as ‘just about unlike a car as anything on wheels can be’.

The DS (pronounced Déesse in French, the French word for Goddess) had height adjustable, independent self leveling hydropneumatic suspension and hydraulic power for its steering, disc brakes and automatic clutch. Its roof was originally translucent glass fiber, which allowed a soft light to fill its airy cabin, its boot and hood were aluminum whilst its doors and wings were steel panels that bolted on to a stressed body in white.

The car was launched at the 1955 Salon de Paris and was a massive sensation. In its first day 12,000 orders were placed, it made the front page headlines of all major French newspapers and gained more publicity than any single news story since the death of Stalin. It was presented in standard form alongside a DS with no wheels, faired-in wheel arches and suspended in the air by at single column as if a space ship from some future world - a startlingly modernist sculptural statement from Bertoni.

Embracing the new proportions, materials and construction methods that the DS employed, Bertoni had created a truly European expression of ‘streamlining’ whilst other European brands looked to their transatlantic counterparts for ‘streamlined’ inspiration. The DS tapered rearwards in elevation and plan, had a covered rear wheel, narrower rear track and rear wheels, a flat and smooth underbody and no conventional front grille which all contributed to the lowest drag coefficient of its time of 0.38. This grille-less face of the car was one of the most explicit signifiers of the car’s advanced design, not until the Ford Sierra of 1982 was this adopted by mainstream cars. But it is the purity of its flowing body, the intriguing detailing, the unworldly plastic IP of the original and the majesty of its form when seen on the road that make this one of the most compelling automotive designs ever.

The Motor described it as ‘one of the biggest advances in production car design in the whole history of motoring’. Posthumously it was voted product of the century by FX Magazine’s International Design Awards at the end of the millennium and claimed as the car of the century by eminent motoring writer LJK Setright. Throughout the late 50s Bertoni continued to produce and exhibit his art, patented a housing construction system, which resulted in 1000 houses built in Saint Louis USA in only 100 days and went on to design his last car, the Citroën Ami launched in 1962, before his death in 1964.

Citroën Ami

Although much honored in his own lifetime for his achievements in art and design within France and Italy, today Bertoni is not much known within the car design world. His contribution during the most creative period of automotive design has had long lasting influence that can be seen to have affected numerous designs since and must have made significant impact on many past, present and future car designers’ sensibilities.

He was clearly a unique character within his own time, but would have stood out even further from today’s more industrialized automotive design industry where few designers practice in other fields such as painting, sculpture and architecture. Bertoni led a life of remarkable creative diversity, maybe this is why he was able to leave us such remarkable car designs.

The Design Museum exhibition 'When Flaminio Drove To France - Flaminio Bertoni's designs for Citroën' continues until the 12th October.

Design Museum website: www.designmuseum.org

Flaminio Bertoni: www.flaminiobertoni.it