DS brand to commemorate 60th anniversary with a week long celebration.

DS Week kicked off this week in Paris and will run through to 24 May. The DS brand is organising this major event to celebrate the 60^th birthday of the DS and the world launch of the new French automotive brand. 

The brand is welcoming its global network, VIP guests, members of the press and is also inviting the general public to visit the DS Exhibition in the Tuileries garden on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 May. 

Over nearly 4,000 m², visitors will be immersed in the world of DS and can travel in time between the past,present and future.

Fans, meanwhile, will have a unique experience on Sunday 24 May as more than 700 vintage DS vehicles will parade along the Champs-Élysées. These can be admired on Saturday at the historic Linas-Montlhérytrack (near Paris), at the international gathering for the 60^th anniversary of this legendary car. This will be the largest concentration of DS collectors in the world this year.

Launched in 1955, the DS is still one of the most popular French automotive icons of the 20th Century. 

Made popular by its commercial success, as well as its political career, particularly with General De Gaulle, its cinematic appearances and its sporting success, the DS made its mark on the lives of many people in France and spread French know-how around the world.

Building on this exceptional heritage, the ambition of the DS brand, created on 1 June 2014, is to perpetuate the avant-garde spirit of this legendary car and allow the French vehicle market to reconnect with luxury.

Yves Bonnefont, CEO of the DS brand, said; “We are building the DS brand today by drawing our inspiration from the outstanding heritage of the historic DS. The legendary car upholds the values of innovation, excellence and avant-garde – values that we have made our own. 

Today’s DS models combine remarkable styling and technology, comfort and vitality, premium materials and refinement. We aim to perpetuate the story and ensure that these two letters continue to embody French know-how in luxury automobiles around the world and for a long time to come.”

To celebrate the 60^th birthday of the original DS and the launch of the brand, DS has organised ‘DS Week’, a major event at the Tuileries garden in Paris. As the Tuileries garden is next to the Louvre it is the perfect place for the brand’s announcement today that DS is to sponsor the Louvre Museum. 

The Louvre is a true standard of French culture abroad, and the DS brand shares these same values, combining culture and excellence, and also the balance between history and modernity represented by the famous Louvre Pyramid.

DS Week kicked off today and will continue through to Sunday 24 May 2015. For the first four days the brand is welcoming its global network and selected guests, and on Saturday and Sunday will be inviting the general public to visit the DS Exhibition.

Meanwhile, the largest meeting of the year of original DS vehicles will be held on Saturday 23 May at the Linas-Montlhéry race track, attended by more than 700 cars.

These will make the journey to Paris on Sunday 24 May to form a procession along the banks of the Seine and the Avenue des Champs-Elysées to the Place de la Concorde, where they will remain for much of the day. 

This international gathering was organised by Le Monde de la DS, an association of fans supported by the DS brand, Michelin and Total.

DS EXHIBITION IN THE HEART OF PARIS

In 2015, its launch year, the DS brand is organising a fabulous exhibition in the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 May. 

Designed in the style of a Haussmannian boulevard flanked by six shops and cars, the DS Exhibition will immerse the public in the world of DS for a journey through time from 1955 to the near future. Entry to the DS Exhibition is free and unrestricted.

Special events and meetings will be organised at the event. Children will enjoy a colouring experience unlike anything they have ever experienced before, expressing themselves with digital tablets. 

They will colour in a DS 3, customising it to their taste and displaying it in 3D on a holographic pyramid. For adults, DS experts, including designers and upholsterers from the brand’s Styling Centre, will be on hand to talk about their work.

To prolong and share this fantastic experience, the DS Exhibition will also be connected. On arrival, all visitors will receive a device linked to the ‘MyDSweek’ application, allowing them to save their very own souvenirs by downloading content and photos of the event. They also have the option of sharing this on social networks.

THE DS EXHIBITION, A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME FROM 1955 TO THE NEAR FUTURE

Cinema

DS takes centre stage. From the 1950s to the present day, cinema has been fond of the DS. Whether in the starring role or simply as an extra, the DS has appeared in numerous films and series, in France and abroad. 

Excerpts from the film career of the DS will be projected, including the famous scene of the DS losing altitude in Fantomas se déchaîne (Fantomas Strikes Back) by André Hunebelle and the sale of a frozen DS in Cold Fever by the Icelandic director Friðrik Þór Friðriksson. 

The DS will also be shown featuring alongside Jean Dujardin in the movie The Connection and starring in Back to the Future 2 by Robert Zemeckis. The event will be perfect for film lovers.

Photo Gallery

Star for an evening, star for a day, star forever. Honoured by the most famous photographers as well as admiring and passionate amateurs, the DS conquered the world as soon as it was unveiled to the public in 1955. Unusual, elegant, dynamic and refined, this exceptional automobile has been popular with statesmen celebrities, film-makers and rally drivers. 

The Gallery is presenting a selection of its greatest images, including the DS and General de Gaulle, the DS and Romy Schneider, the DS and Brigitte Bardot, the DS and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, as well as in a number of countries during races and treks. 

There is even a photo of the ‘DS Millipede’, an extraordinary ten-wheeler DS designed by Michelin to carry out truck tyre tests. 

In the Photo Gallery, the public can also pose like the stars in a Studio Harcourt photo booth that has been set up for the occasion. They can take their portrait home with them as a souvenir.

Techno Lab

A range of connectivity options in tune with the digital world, efficient and high-performance engines, smart driving technologies, 3D digital cluster displays, dynamic and safe driving, and spectacular headlights – DS experts work on all these aspects on a daily basis. Drawing on a range of technologies, the Techno Lab will give visitors a first-hand experience of DS.

They will get to find out more about:

• DS LED Vision technology used for the light signatures of DS 3 and New DS 5, featuring lamps combining LED and Xenon technologies with new sequential indicators
• A 3D instrument cluster demonstrator, a replica of the one on the Divine DS concept car
• Two engines that will notably be fitted on New DS 5: BlueHDi 180 and the THP 210
• DS Connect, the DS service offer bringing motorists a connected and seamless automotive experience before, during and after driving

Design

It is difficult to talk about the DS without evoking its avant-garde design. Whether an original DS or one of the models in the current range, a DS is unlike anything else. From 1955, the DS stood out both for its new technologies and its revolutionary and elegant design. Sixty years on, the history of the DS continues.

To illustrate this, some 180 style drawings depicting numerous models, including the 1949 ‘Hippopotamus’ measuring over one metre and weighing in at 23kg, will be exhibited. 

Key names in the DS story will be in the limelight, including Bertoni, Opron, Armand and Dargent, along with current designers at the DS Styling  Centre. The design team will be present throughout the weekend, giving presentations with the aid of digital tablets.

Workshop

In the Workshop, visitors will notice that the DS brand pays the closest attention to the refinement and detailing of its cars. They will discover the sources of inspiration for DS, drawing on excellence in the fields of fine jewellery, saddlery, haute couture and world famous French expertise. 

Embroidery, metalwork, semi-aniline leather and encrusted jewellery all play a part. Strong attention to detail, the choice of premium materials and the personalisation options available combine to lend the brand singular styling cues.

Here visitors will be able to meet with upholsterers from the DS Styling Centre and witness their dexterity in working leather and creating unique upholstery trims. Visitors will also get the chance to configure their own DS and even buy it.

DS Boutique

Whether you are a fan of the DS or simply have an eye for design, in this shop you will find all the lifestyle products designed and created by the brand to extend the DS experience into daily life. 

The DS Boutique will propose a broad range of objects informed by the strong cues of the DS line: heritage, refinement and boldness. Visitors will be able to choose from, among other products, a DS weekend bag, the Spirit watch for men or women, and miniatures of New DS 5 and the Divine DS concept car. 

Also available will be a series of objects created especially for the 60^th birthday of the DS, including a box set with a historic DS and New DS 5 and the ‘DS toujours avant-garde’ book, created by the DS brand and launched to coincide with DS Week. Go to the e-boutique 

https://lifestyle.driveds.com

DS in the street

Throughout the exhibition, the public will get to discover or rediscover the original DS through a selection of vintage models on show, as well as today’s DS models. The streets of Paris will be graced by the DS 19 Cabriolet, DS 21 Prestige and the DS driven by Simon Baker in ‘The Mentalist’. The line-up will feature a 1968 DS 21 Pallas dedicated specially to visitors, who will be able to climb aboard and take home a photo souvenir.

Today’s DS models will also be in the spotlight, with the DS 3, DS 3 Cabrio, DS 4 and New DS 5. 

Visitors will also get an exclusive look at the new ‘1955’ limited editions, with Ink Blue paint (and a black roof on the DS 3 and DS 4), full-grain leather seats, alloy wheels with matt gold centre caps, a gold DS logo on the bonnet, laser engraved DS wing mirrors and a number of personalisation components bearing the words ‘60 years DS 1955’.

The futuristic-looking Numéro 9 concept car will be another star of the show. Unveiled in Beijing in 2012, the Numéro 9 concept car perfectly illustrates the DNA of DS with its forthright focus on creation, unique and instantly recognisable styling, strong emotional content, and outstanding refinement and finish. 

The charismatic body shape reinterprets the shooting brake concept while introducing a new front-end design. It was this front end that served as inspiration for that on New DS 5.

TWO OUTSTANDING DS MODELS AT DS WORLD PARIS

After taking in the DS Exhibition in the Tuileries garden, visitors will be able to continue their immersion in the brand just a few blocks away at 33 rue François 1er, home to the DS World Paris. 

The boutique there will be exhibiting two exceptional original DS models: a 1969 DS Pallas, Charles de Gaulle’s last privately owned car, and a 1960 DS 19 having been owned by Fernand Raynaud, the illustrious French comedian of the 1950s and 1960s.

700 DS AT THE DS 60TH ANNIVERSARY INTERNATIONAL GATHERING

Saturday 23 May 2015 at the Linas-Montlhéry race track

This historic track outside Paris will host the largest annual and international meeting of vintage DS models. Organised by Le Monde de la DS (www.lemondedelads.com - an association created by the collectors' clubs DS Club Révolution 55, Idéale DS France and DS ID Club de France), the gathering has been organised especially to celebrate the 60^th birthday of the legendary car. 

The event is also backed by the ‘Amicale’ federation of Citroën Clubs in France and the federation of international clubs, as well as by the DS brand, Michelin and Total.

700 cars are expected, bringing 1,500 fans from more than 10 countries. The meeting will also be open to the public from 10am to 6pm. Entry for over 12 year olds costs €15. 

The programme includes a concours d'elegance competition and demonstrations on the track.

Sunday 24 May, a procession of 700 DS through Paris

At 7.45am, 700 DS from Linas-Montlhéry will emerge from the Parc de Saint-Cloud and head for the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The procession will pass along the edge of the Seine by the Quai de Javel where this legendary car was born, before heading towards the Grand Palais where, on 6 October 1955, the DS was unveiled to the public at the Salon de Paris.

The highlight of the parade will no doubt be driving down one of the most beautiful avenues in the world, the Champs-Élysées. 

The procession will come to a halt at Place de la Concorde and take up residence there for part of the day. Parisians and tourists alike will be able to admire the famous models at their leisure. In May 2015, the DS brand will proclaim its Parisian roots louder than ever.