Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that complements the motor car. Citroëns have a quirky distinct style and there are many iconic models.

Amongst the iconic cars are the Traction Avant, the 2CV and the DS.

“DS” is pronounced in French as “Déesse” which means goddess. When introduced in 1955, the car was revolutionary, the DS was the first car fully using Citroën’s now legendary hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension system that was tested on the rear suspension of the last of the Tractions. The DS was also the first European production car with disc brakes.

When I am in a shop looking at diecasts and the assistant asks me “გისმენთ?” (gisment), which literally means “I am listening” but is usually “Can I help you?”, I often ask if they have any Citroëns, they rarely do. Citroëns are not common in Georgia (the country not the state), most of the cars on the roads are Japanese, German, Korean or old Russian models. I love the lines of the classic Citroën SM, my favourite find last year was a Corgi Citroën SM from the seventies at Dry Bridge Market.

A limousine version of Citroën SM was produced exclusively for the French President. Norev made a 1:43 scale model of this Citroën SM Presidentielle.

Hot Wheels rarely has a Citroën in their line up but they did make a C4 Rally recently, I picked up a couple of variants.

Three Citroëns missing from top picture: Citroën 2CV (Welly 1:60 and 1:32) and Citroën DS (Norev 1:58). I have 16 Citroëns in my collection.