Seattle Citroën
Photo Sleuths #2
UPDATED
6/2024
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!
SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS 1959
We decided to dig into this photo to see what could be learned.
Here is what we found: James C. Byrnes started in the auto business in the 1920’s and within a few years, he had opened his own dealership. He initially sold Oakland and Pontiac cars but later switched to Studebaker. Over the years, he had several locations in Springfield, Massachusetts, but his last address was 34 Sumner Avenue, the address identified on the sign in the photo.
James C. Byrnes decided to take on the Citroen and Panhard marques in December of 1958, but it didn’t last long. He retired in 1960 and then died two years later at the age of 62. His business evaporated when he retired.
I think that the black car is most likely a 1960 DS19. However one curiosity on this car is that the “B” pillar parking light is visible, something normally absent on USA DS19’s by this time. The Citroën in the background is probably a 1960 ID19. Oddly, the ID has small hubcaps, something that would be routine for a European ID19, but not normally seen on USA ID's. So both cars have slightly odd characteristics that I would not have expected - this reinforces Richard Bonfond’s famous quote, “…the only thing that was consistent about Citroën in the USA was that nothing was consistent…”
With the mobile home display in the background, we figured that the photo was probably taken at some sort of an auto show. After some more research, we think it is possible that the photo was taken at the 1960 Springfield Auto Show at the Springfield Exhibition Park in the Industrial Arts Building. The auto show occurred in late 1959.
RIVERSIDE RACEWAY - RIVERSIDE, CA, 1958
This photo has been floating around a while and we finally decided to dig into it. First of all, we noticed that the ID19 is a North American model since it has Lucas front turn signals. But the Eureka moment came when we did a historical search of the phone number on the side of the car (OL3-4745). We got a hit! It turns out that this phone number belonged to Citroën's own dealership at 8423 Wilshire boulevard in Los Angeles.
1958 ID19 RACING AT NASCAR
Once we found that, it was pretty easy to identify other details. It turns out that Citroën Cars Corporation provided two identical 1958 ID19’s to participate in various southern California racing events. This particular race, called the NASCAR Winston Western 500, was held on June 1, 1958 at the Riverside Raceway in Riverside, California. Citroën #100 was driven by a man named Bill Jones and the other car, #101, was driven by Ralph Roberts. The race was 200 laps around a 2 ½ mile track, for a total of 500 miles. The Citroëns were said to have done well.
Richard Bonfond's book, What a Ride - Growing up with Citroën in North America, has a few additional details about these cars. We contacted Richard and to our amazement, he indicated that he and his parents were in the stands watching this very race!
caradisiac.com
1/43 SCALE MODEL OF CAR #101
LA Times, June 1958
The track was retired in 1989 and now is a shopping mall.
66 CHARLES STREET, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 1973
This was an easy one since long-time Citroën enthusiast Michael Cox not only provided the photo, but identified when it was taken and who took it.
Michael indicates that the photo was taken by a Boston Landmarks Commission photographer on January 14, 1973.
We can see that there was a bank in the building behind the SM; the Suffolk Franklin Savings Bank, which allows us to pinpoint the location: 66 Charles Street, Boston. The bank moved in in early 1957 and remained there until the late 1970’s. The building then went through a succession of different businesses including a 7-11 convenience store and a Peet’s Coffee. It is now a business called the Nuts Factory.
The SM looks a bit tired even though it was almost new! Notice the dent on the front fender at the side marker light. Also, the front bumper looks to be a bit bent down in the middle with the glass covering the license plate apparently broken out.
Michael notes that it was illegally parked in such a way that it was susceptible to even more front end damage!
Boston Landmarks Commission
Google Street View, 2023
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, MID-1970's
These photos of a crash between a Buick and an SM have recently been circulating. Can we learn anything about them?
If you look closely, you can see a street sign in the background that eventually allowed us to find where the accident occurred: The intersection of Club Valley Drive NE and Angelo Drive NE in Atlanta, Georgia.
It seems likely that the photos were taken in the mid-1970's based on the cars, the kid's bicycles, and the clothing. The Buick is a 1972 Estate Wagon and the SM was a 1973 US model. The accident doesn't seem to have been covered in the local media, despite a pretty thorough search, so we weren't able to find any information beyond what can be seen in the photos.
THE INTERSECTION WAS UNCONTROLLED WHEN THE PHOTO WAS TAKEN BUT, NOW HAS A STOP SIGN
Google Street View, 2023
There are a few interesting things we noticed. First, the accident seems to have happened just minutes before the photos were taken since the authorities had not yet arrived. Second, if you look at the first photo, we can see that the Buick was parked against the curb since we can see grass and the curb immediately adjacent to the Buick's front right tire. Third, it seems like the SM was almost fully on the wrong side of the road. Lastly, the length of the SM's skid marks caught our interest.
By scaling off of Google Maps Satellite View, we estimated the car locations and the skid mark lengths. The plan view below is what we came up with. The longest skid mark was at least 50 feet long and was probably even longer since the skid marks extend beyond the edge of the photo.
Google Maps, 2023
There is an equation that allows one to estimate the speed of a car based on skid mark length. Using this equation and a coefficient of friction for clean, dry pavement, the SM was traveling at least 35 mph, which is above the 25 mph speed limit on this road - and it was probably traveling faster, noting that only a portion of the skid mark is visible.
It is impossible to be sure what happened, but it looks like the SM was traveling too fast and was on the wrong side of the road. Furthermore, it looks like the Buick was either parked against the curb or perhaps the driver pulled over when they saw the SM coming towards them. Do you agree with what we came up with?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 1959
Citroën enthusiast Tim Broers recently found this photo in the late Don Runnalls' collection. We did a historical search of Mobil Mileage Rally and discovered a relevant newspaper article in a November, 1959 LA Mirror newspaper. It turns out that this car was provided by Citroën Cars Corporation in Los Angeles and was entered in the 1959 rally. According to the article, the rally was a 345 mile course around southern California to measure fuel economy. The Citroën achieved a good showing having an average of 35.35 miles-per-gallon.
Provided by Tim Broers from the Don Runnalls collection
I contacted Richard Bonfond to see if he knew anything about the car and of course, he knew. According to Richard, this photo was taken in the back of Citroën's 960 N. La Brea location in Los Angeles. Notice the stock of unsold and dusty Panhard Dyna Zs in the background.
The Citroën is identified as an ID19 in the newspaper article and the large steering wheel seems to confirm this. The year of the car must be a 1958 or 1959 based on the unique rear reflector on the rear fenders, which you can read about HERE. The rear bumper looks to be stainless steel which suggests it is more likely a 1959 (earlier ID’s in the USA would have had an aluminum bumper).
One question still remains.... What is going on with the color of the DS in the background? Do I see a pink roof and C-pillar trim?
LA Mirror, Nov 1959
What a Ride - Growing up with Citroën in North America - Richard Bonfond
Richard even has another photo of this same car in his book, What a Ride - Growing up with Citroën in North America.
GARDENA, CALIFORNIA, 1982.
This photo was sent to us to see if I could figure it out. And I did!
First of all, since there is a tipped over police car on the left, I figured the scene was probably from a movie or TV show. Since the DS is a US model and the rest of the cars were American, I figured it was filmed in the USA. So I searched the Independent Movie Car Data Base (IMCDB) and after an hour of looking through their website, I found it!
It turns out that the photo is a screen grab from a 1982 movie called the Junkman. The movie is available on YouTube, so I scrolled through until I found the scene (a terrible movie, so don't waste your time). A speeding car hits the car carrier truck from behind and shoves the DS off of the front. I was able to catch a brief glimpse of a street sign and the name of the hotel in the background. A bit of Googling and I found that the scene was filmed at the intersection of W. Gardena Boulevard and S. Ainsworth Street in Gardena, California.
IMCDB
IMCDB
Google Maps, 2023
The DS is a very tired looking 1968 or early 1969 DS21 Pallas (old door handles, no headrests). The color appears to be Rouge Corsaire (AC 403). If so, then the car is a 1968.
After the first release of these photos, a very similar car carrier mishap photo emerged. I don't know anything about this one but it seems to have occurred in Europe based on the cars in the background.
IMCDB
NuancierDS.fr
MONTREAL QUEBEC, CANADA, EARLY 1960's
The famous cross-shaped Place Ville Marie building in Montreal (in the background) is the giveaway for locating this photo on Rue de la Cathederale. The DS is a first generation nose with Lucas front turn signals, so it must be a Canadian specification DS from 1958-1962. The color appears to be Champagne (AC134) - if so, it would be a 1958 or 1959. The VW Beetle in the foreground and the Chrysler Belvedere in the background are also about the same vintage. Place Ville Marie was finished in 1962 so I am guessing that the photo was snapped in the 1962-1963 time-frame.
Google Maps, 2022
STATE STREET, BOSTON, MA – 1979
Michael Cox came up with more vintage photos of Citroëns in the Boston area. In 1979, he snapped a few photos of a DS convertible that he found parked on a Boston street. The location is near the intersection of State Street and Commercial Street. The area has had extensive redevelopment, but the Google Street View snapshot below is close. The building with the columns behind the DS is called Customs House Tower.
The DS could be a 1968 or 1969 based on the dashboard and lighting, but Michael indicated that it is a 1968 Canadian model, which explains the European lighting (Canadian DS's had European lighting for a few years in this era). I wondered if the car still exists and Michael indicated that it is still in the Boston area! Also, if you look closely, you can see Michael's DS sedan in the background of the first photo.
Michael Cox, 1979
Michael Cox, 1979
EXTENSIVE REDEVLOPMENT PREVENTS PINPOINTING THE EXACT PHOTO LOCATION
Google Maps, 2020
IDLEWIILD AIRPORT, NEW YORK CITY - ABOUT 1959
This photo caused several years of intermittent head scratching to figure out its location. It drove me nuts.
MacDonald Leach, Citroen Cars Corporation
Even though this was a tough one, a few things in the photo stuck out: It was clearly photographed in North America due to the signage and background cars. It also looked like the setting might be some sort of a port (either water or air), although some sort of an industrial complex couldn't be ruled out.
After trying lots of things to locate the photo, I finally noticed the very unusual street lamps in the background. I started googling everything I could think of related to mid-century street lamps and eventually got a hit! The location was Idlewild Airport in New York (renamed JFK in 1963).
IDLEWILD AIRPORT IN THE LATE 1950's
CIRCLED AREA IS WHERE THE CITROENS WERE PARKED
It turns out that the Citroëns were parked in front of the International Arrivals Building (IAB), the arched building shown above. When was the photo taken? The IAB was built in 1957 and I can see a 1958 Chevrolet way in the background. Based on these things and the growth of the vegetation that was planted at the time the building was erected, I am going to guess that the photo was most likely taken in 1959. The IAB was torn down in 2000.
At least three of the DS's appear to be ID19's based on the black windshield gaskets, large steering wheels (manual steering), black pillar trim, etc. The third DS in might be a DS19, but is hard to be sure. The black roofs would have been aluminum, something unique for North American ID19's in this era (you can read more about the metal roofs used on USA ID19's HERE). A Traction Avant and a Panhard Dyna can also be seen in the line-up.
The only remaining question is this; why were the cars there? I have no idea. But it is fun to speculate that perhaps local Citroën personnel from NYC were greeting the arrival of a delegation of Citroën employees coming in from Paris. Richard Bonfond thinks the photo was taken by an employee of Citroën Cars Corporation, named MacDonald Leach so perhaps this lends some credibility to my theory? I googled MacDonald Leach and sure enough, he indeed worked in sales/advertising for Citroën in the 1950's.
VANCOUVER BC, 1978
This photo could be anywhere in North America. But a reverse photo search revealed the lcoation - 4th and Vine in Vancouver BC.
Google Maps, 2023
The reverse image search also revealed the photo date, February, 1978. The DS appears to be a Canadian Specification DS21 Pallas. Based on the European lighting and protruding door handles, it must be a 1968 to an early 1971 model. By mid-1971, Canadian DS's had USA headlights.