The Chapron Cars

La Croisette Cabriolet

In 1958, Chapron turned his attention to the DS, the first fruits of his endeavours being the la Croisette Cabriolet.
This car is noticeable for employing the rear wings of the Berline and for covering the join between the wing and what would be the rear door of the Berline with a hideous vertical chrome strip.
This conversion was undertaken without the approval of Citroën and Chapron was obliged to purchase complete cars rather than chassis and engines.

Public demand was so great that Citroën asked Chapron to build a cabriolet based on Bertoni's design proposals.
The result was the Usine Cabriolet above which was sold via the dealer network.

The 1959 model also used the berline's rear wings but the join was covered by a far more elegant, angled chromed strip than hitherto.

The 1960 version used a new, one piece rear wing which was also used in the Usine cabriolet. In fact its likeness to the Usine car meant that la Croisette was dropped in 1962.