1958, Paris Motor Show: the coachbuilder Henri Chapron presented a saloon car design converted into a cabriolet named “Cabriolet DS19'. It drew Citroën's attention leading to an agreement: the factory would supply special chassis for Chapron to customise or assemble into unique models. In return, Chapron would produce an official limited series of convertibles for Citroën, based on the company’s own designs.
The DS Décapotable (as it was officially called) came to light at the Pré Catelan pavilion in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris on Wednesday 31 August 1960.
The two Décapotables marking the debut were coral red (Rouge Corail) with ebony leather and dark grey pearlescent (Gris Imperial) with light leather interiors. Costing nearly twice as much as the saloon, the Décapotable was produced until 1971 and about 1,300 were built up, out of more than 1.5 million DS models produced between saloons and estate cars.
