COBI Citroen DS 19 Décapotable 1962 - Executive Edition Set 24346

COBI's Citroën DS 19 Décapotable Executive Edition is a 1:12 model built from 2,275 blocks, 39.5 cm long, in the red bodywork of the Executive line. Doors and boot open, the steering turns the front wheels, and a brick-built engine sits under the bonnet. A display stand with a nameplate is included, and new brick shapes were made for this set, including the windscreen.

Citroën did not build it

The DS was never offered as a convertible from the factory. The cabriolet exists because Henri Chapron, a Paris coachbuilder, bought DS saloons, cut the roof off and rebuilt them properly — reinforcing the floor to replace the stiffness the roof had provided, and reshaping the rear.

He did it without Citroën's blessing at first, and when the results proved better than anything the company had planned, Citroën changed its mind and sold Chapron's conversion through its own dealers as the Décapotable Usine. Fewer than 1,400 were built across the whole production run, against nearly a million and a half DS saloons.

The suspension

Every DS rode on hydropneumatic suspension: nitrogen spheres and hydraulic fluid instead of steel springs, self-levelling regardless of load, and with ride height the driver could raise or lower. The same high-pressure system also worked the brakes, the steering and the gear change. On a roofless car it mattered more than usual, because a body with no roof flexes — and suspension that levels itself hides a great deal.

In the COBI range

COBI makes four DS models at 1:12: this one, the DS 19 of 1956 (24347), the DS 21 Pallas of 1968 (24348), and the black presidential DS 19 Executive Edition (24350).

Specifications

Pieces: 2,275 · Scale: 1:12 · Licensed by Citroën
Model dimensions: 39.5 × 13 × 15 cm (15.6 × 5.1 × 5.9 in)