COBI Citroen DS 21 Pallas 1968 Set 24348

COBI's Citroën DS 21 Pallas is a 1:12 model built from 2,265 blocks under original licence from Citroën, 40 cm long. Doors and boot open, the steering turns the front wheels, and a brick-built engine sits under the bonnet. New brick shapes were designed for this set, including the windscreen.

Headlights that followed the road

Look at the front of the model: four lamps behind glass covers, in two housings. That arrangement arrived with the 1967 facelift and it was not styling.

The inner pair were long-range lamps mounted on a swivel, linked to the steering. Turn the wheel and they turned with it, lighting the inside of the corner instead of the hedge on the far side. The outer pair were self-levelling, connected to the hydropneumatic suspension so that a loaded boot did not point the beams at the treetops. This was 1967, on a road car anyone could walk into a showroom and buy.

Pallas was the top trim: extra chrome, better sound insulation, leather, its own badge. The DS 21 carried a 2.2-litre four of about 109 hp, with power steering, disc brakes and a hydraulic gearchange.

American buyers did not get the swivelling lamps. US regulations of the period banned covered headlights, so cars exported there were fitted with exposed sealed-beam units and lost the feature entirely.

In the COBI range

One of four DS models at 1:12, with the DS 19 of 1956 (24347), the presidential Executive Edition (24350) and the Chapron convertible (24346).

Specifications

Pieces: 2,265 · Scale: 1:12 · Licensed by Citroën
Model dimensions: 40 × 16.5 × 13 cm (15.8 × 6.5 × 5.1 in)