Seattle Citroën
Photo Sleuths #3
UPDATED
11/2024
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!
MONUMENT VALLEY, ARIZONA, 1985
Michael Cox provided another old photo from his archive. While on a 1985 trip to Monument Valley, he spotted a DS wagon. It turns out that the owner of the wagon was driven by an artist named Peter W. Blos and his wife, May. Hard to be sure, but it looks like the wagon is a 1966/1967.
Michael Cox
THEN
livingwiththewolf.co.uk
NOW
The car is a USA model based on the Lucas front turn signals and if a 1966/1967, it would be one of the two whites used in this era, Blanc Paros (AC102) or Blanc Carrare (AC144).
MONTREAL, 1966
Here is an interesting one. It is very hard to read the lettering on the billboard, but after straining my eyes for a while, I decided that I saw: 4584 Papineau. A little research found this address to be a Citroën Canada dealership on Papineau Street in Montreal, which operated for a few years in the mid-1960's.
City of Montreal Archives
Based on the clipboard seen on the right side of the photo, it seems that the photo was taken in on December 9, 1966. But where in Montreal was the billboard? A stroke of good luck happened when I discovered that this is a cropped version of a photo that shows up in the City of Montreal's on-line archive. The un-cropped photo lists the address as 3564 Rue Ontario Est. Below is the un-cropped version and the same building today.
City of Montreal Archives
Google Street View, 2022
WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA, 1969
A reverse-image search revealed a bit of information about the photo below.
The Handy Pantry in the background was part of a chain of convenience stores in the USA. This Handy Pantry store opened in 1961 at 1703 Robinhood Road in Winston-Salem, NC. The building is currently a restaurant/catering business called 1703, which opened in 2000.
Forsyth County Public Library
From the photo, we can see that the DS is a US model with shoulder harnesses on the front seats, no headrests, no side marker lights, old door handles, standard hubcaps, and no side trim. These traits mean it must be a 1968 or early 1969 non-Pallas DS21 or perhaps ID19. The tires look to be XAS's, which would narrow down the year to 1968, since in 1969 USA DS's were equipped with Michelin XH tires. The color is probably Blanc Cararre (AC144). Since the roof is a different color, the Danchotron suggests that the car is probably a DS21 (non-Pallas) with a black roof (AC200). The car looks quite new, so I am guessing that the photo is probably from 1969 or 1970. One Internet source says the photo is from 1969.
The nearest dealership in the area at the time was called Continental Motors in Greensboro, NC, about 30 minutes away from this location.
Forsyth County Public Library
Google Street View, 2023
1703 ROBINHOOD ROAD, THEN AND NOW
MONTREAL CANADA, ABOUT 1960
It didnt take too long to figure out that the monument in the photo is Nelson’s Column in Montreal. The monument commemorates Admiral Horatio Nelson and was erected in Montreal in 1806.
Google Street View, 2023
The Citroën in the lower left corner of the photo must be a very early ID19, based on the smooth, black B and C-pillar trim panels. The year of the ID must be a 1958 or 1959 since by 1960, I think it would have had silver ribbed side trim panels instead of the smooth black panels. We can see round Lucas tail lights and turn signals, so it is clearly a North American model. The car's color combination (white with a black aluminum roof) was common on North American ID's of the era, but was not offered on European ID's. You can read more about early ID roofs on North American cars HERE.
I was unable to positively nail down when the photo was taken, but the newest car I can see is a 1960 Ford Starliner, to the right of the ID. Based on the various cars, I suspect that the photo was taken in the very early 1960's, probably 1960 or 1961.
The Citroën almost surely came from Auto-France, the first Citroën dealership in Montreal, who first opened their doors in May of 1958. You can read more about the interesting history of Auto-France HERE.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ~1960
A fantastic old photo turned up showing a sports car dealership's used car lot. An MGA, an Austin Healey, a Corvette, a Triumph TR3, and a Buick Century can be seen, in addition to the Citroën. If you look closely, you can see that the car lot is called, Tom Ackles Sports Car Centre.
CLOSE-UP OF THE DS
Knowing the name of the business made it relatively easy to track down where the photo was taken. Tom Ackles Sports Car Centre first appeared in the early 1950’s from a different location, but by about 1960, they had moved to this location at 501 N. LeBrea Avenue in Los Angeles. The business seems to have disappeared by about 1965. One internet source indicates that the photo was taken in 1960, which seems believable.
The Citroën must be a 1956 or 1957 DS19 since it has European-style front and rear turn signals (by 1958, USA DS's had the round Lucas turn signals). Most likely, the car is a 1957 since very few 1956's were sold in the USA. If you look closely at the windshield, the car is being offered for $1475, about half of its original purchase cost.
Google Street View, 2019
CHOLAME, CALIFORNIA, 1980
This photo turned up recently. What can we find out about it?
First of all, the car is a North American model due to the Lucas turn signals. The car has a second generation nose, which means it is a 1963 or later. The hubcaps indicate it is a 1965 or earlier, so the car must be a 1963-1965 DS19 or perhaps ID19.
I googled, Automobile Club de L'ile de France (painted down the sides of the car) and it was apparently a real club. The name Gerard Maillard is written on the front fender of the car, along with a Paris address. The name Gerard Maillard shows up as an automotive personality, mainly from the 1980's (he was involved in a French company that modified Renault R4's into a sort of convertible sport utility configuration called a JP4). Same Gerard Maillard? Not sure, but probably.
With the American hot rod on the left, I had a feeling that this might have been from a movie so I went back to the amazing Independent Movie Car Data Base (IMCDB). Sure enough, I got a hit. The photo in question is a screen grab from a 1982 movie, The Junkman, a movie that we have already spent some time with. I scrolled through the movie and found a very brief shot where we can see not only the above Citroën, but a second DS sedan, a DS wagon, and several trailers, all painted in the same scheme. A few SM's show up elsewhere in the movie.
SCREENGRAB FROM THE MOVIE 'THE JUNKMAN'
- NOTICE THE DS WAGON AND A SECOND SEDAN
Google Street View, 2024
Digging a bit deeper reveals that the movie was filmed during a big car show that occurred in August of 1980 to commemorate the famous actor James Dean, who died in a car accident in his Porsche in 1955, just a few hundred feet from where the above photos were taken. Much to my amazement, I was able to track exactly where this scene was filmed. It is at a small restaurant in the middle of nowhere, at a place called Cholame, California. There is a James Dean memorial in this restaurant's parking lot.
NEW YORK CITY, LATE 1960's
This photo was an easy one to figure out. In the background, one can see a sign on a building that reads, Best & Co. Googling this reveals that this was a department store in New York City. So it was easy to figure out that the photo was taken at 50th and Fifth Avenue, looking North.
Google Street View, 2024
The DS appears to be a 1966-1967 DS or ID in typical North American configuration (Lucas turn signals, etc.). Since the department store was torn down in 1970, the photo must have been snapped in the late 1960's.
BOSTON, MID-1970's
A little Googling suggested that this photo was taken in Boston. Knowing this, finding a gold-domed building in Boston was easy....it is the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill.
Google Street View, 2020
It turns out that this is Chestnut Street in Boston, looking east. The gold dome of the State House is not visible in the current view, but it is of course still there. Lots of the buildings on the sides of the road have changed, but the red brick building at the end of the street with the black shutters is clearly visible. The date of the vintage photo is not known, but from the other cars on the road, it is likely from the mid-1970’s.
As for the DS, we can see a roof rack, so it is a wagon. Also, the nose of the car is from 1968-1972, but I think I can narrow down the year a bit more. I am pretty sure that I see Generation 2 or 3 headrests, suggesting it is a 1970-1972. Since the color appears to be Bordeaux (AC421), this further narrows down the year to a 1970 or 1971 since Bordeaux was not offered in 1972.
VANCOUVER, BC, 1974
This photo came with a hint - It was supposedly taken in Vancouver BC, but where? After a year or two of on-and-off searching, I finally figured it out with a few clues that are buried in the photo; the address number on the old house is "809" and I can see a sign that says "Typewriters" on the right. After looking through old phone books and old newspapers, I finally discovered that the house was located at 809 Helmcken Street in Vancouver.
City of Vancouver Archives
Google Street View, 2024
After finding the address, I searched through the Vancouver City Archives using the address and found that this photo is from the city's archives. The archive indicates that the photo was from May of 1974. There is very little from the vintage photo that remains in the current view, but the large concrete building in the background is still visible.
As for the DS, we can see that it has 5-lug wheels and the older exterior door handles, so it is a 1966-1971. I think I see that the cargo area windows gaskets are black (as opposed to gray). If so, the car is most likely a 1966-1969 since the parts books shows that these gaskets changed to gray for 1970 models.