(Find the Majorette Citroën DS21 as part of the 60th Anniversary Edition 5 pack on Ebay)
It’s a great year to be a Majorette fan. The company’s 60th birthday is bringing with it a raft of new castings. I had a broad look at some of the goods on offer a couple of weeks ago and in my last article dived into the intricacies of the Citroën HY. Today we’re sticking with Citroën and taking a look at another new Majorette casting: the DS21.
The Citroën DS is an automotive legend. In production between 1955 and 1975, the DS (a play on the French word “déesse” meaning “goddess”) left a huge impression on the automotive world. It was the first mass produced car to feature disc brakes, hydropneumatic suspension and in later models, directional headlights. The innovative suspension set up gave the DS class leading ride quality and handling, and the styling wasn’t at all bad either; in 2009 Classic & Sports Car magazine polled 20 world renowned car designers including Giorgetto Giugiaro, Ian Callum, and Leonardo Fioravanti and declared it to be the most beautiful car of all time.
The DS21 was introduced in 1965 and featured a 2175cc inline-four producing 106bhp. Bosch fuel injection was added in 1970 making the DS21 one of the first mass produced cars to feature the technology.
Any DS makes a beautiful subject for a diecast car and Majorette have done a fine job here.
The new steel wheels suit this car so well and it’s beautifully proportioned, capturing the gorgeous lines of the real thing.
While the decals are sharp and clear the livery rather overcomplicates things. It does evoke images of advertising cars of the past but it somewhat masks the DS’s looks and I’d prefer to see the casting in a quieter scheme. There are many beautiful colours the DS21 came in and I hope we see this model again in future sporting a factory shade such as Vert Muscinee, Absinthe, Bleu Pacifique or Ambre Doré. That would be cool. But for now I’m glad we’ve got this one.
Majorette fans are probably jumping to point out that this isn’t their first crack at the DS; they’ve done the DS19 before which was let down by terrible wheels and some ungainly side mirrors, and this is also not their first crack at the DS21. Majorette No. 206 was a DS21 Break ambulance made between 1973 and 1980, and before that Rail Route No.13 was an early round headlight DS21 that morphed into this:
Back then the DS was a lot closer to 1/64 (measuring up at 1/63) but a little gawky looking at the front. But it remains one of my favourite diecasts and makes a brilliant “now and then” companion to the new DS.
The DS is a logical and beautiful addition to a growing Majorette range. The company have made 2024 their year and next week I’m off to Germany to their European HQ to see just what goes on behind the scenes. Stay tuned for my report.
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