The streamlined Citroën DS and the rustic 2CV are two notable French automobile landmarks, but Flaminio Bertoni, the man who designed them, is little known and rarely acknowledged. Yesterday, however, a rally of classic Citroëns by the side of the Thames marked the opening of an exhibition at the London Design Museum to draw attention to his work.
An Italian, he joined Citroën in 1932 and shaped the body of the Traction Avant, the first front-wheel-drive Citroën, in modelling clay in a single night’s work.
The exhibition includes a pre-war prototype of the 2CV and a DS19, an extraordinarily advanced car when revealed in 1955.
There is a wider exhibition of car design at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, Warwickshire, featuring 16 significant cars — all but one British — and putting each in the social context of its time: fashion, entertainment, art and architecture. They range from a Model T Ford and 1959 Mini to the Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato.
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When Flaminio Drove to France continues at the Design Museum, 28 Shad Thames, London SE1, until October 12. The Driven by Design exhibition at the Heritage Motor Centre runs until Christmas.