ID 19

The DS, at F965 000 was substantially more expensive than the Traction at F647 500 which meant that owners of this latter car bought the F735 000 Peugeot 403.or the Renault Frégate at F761 500 
Before the Traction could be discontinued, a cheaper DS had to be built. 
At the Paris Salon of 1956, the ID19 Luxe was announced, priced at F925 000. The ID19 employed the body and mechanical architecture of the DS19 but gone were the hydraulic clutch and gearchange, power steering (lower geared at 4,1 turns as opposed to the DS's 2,9 turns) and power brakes.  This resulted in a far simpler hydraulic installation, required to operate the suspension only.

The engine was a de-tuned version of the DS unit offering 66 bhp instead of 75 bhp but thanks to the lower load imposed by the simplified hydraulic system, the performance differential was minimal.

The interior trim was simplified with a different, painted metal dashboard with column gearchange and a conventional parking brake, door trims were embossed plastic without armrests, seats were simpler, the steering wheel was enlarged, door handles and window winders were plastic, the floor was covered with a plasticised matting instead of the foam-backed carpets of the DS.

On the outside, the full wheel embellishers gave way to tiny covers for the single wheel nut, the front underpan was painted as were the B and C pillars, the headlamp rims and the door sills.  The rear screen was made out of plexiglass instead of glass.  The roof was pigmented and translucent and the boot was unlined and a metal stay replaced the struts of the DS.  The roof-mounted indicator cornets were painted brown, rear reflectors were round and the windscreen rubber was black instead of grey.

Above the Voiture de Maître with glass partition separating front and rear compartments and front bench seat was introduced in 1957

The ID was still considered expensive by Traction clients so a new model, the ID 19 Normale was launched in October 1957, using the old Traction 11D engine developing 62 bhp.  Priced at F 860 000, it was extremely austere - a bench seat in the front, minimal instrumentation, a steel bonnet instead of aluminium and deletion of the rubber strips that sealed the panel shutlines.  The Normale was not a success, less than 400 examples being sold.

A more luxurious version of the ID was launched in July 1957 - the Confort used DS seats, door trims, heating ducts to the rear compartment and carpets.  Other embellishments included a clock, windscreen washer and additional soundproofing.  A far more attractive vehicle than the Luxe, its sales soon outstripped those of its plain sister.