There have been few automobiles in modern history that exploded upon the scene quite like the Citroën DS did upon its debut at the 1955 Paris Motor Show. It, quite frankly, set the automotive world upon its ear with incredibly futuristic streamlined styling by Flamino Bertoni. (Yes, this most iconic of French automobiles was designed by an Italian.) Yet, the breath-taking styling of the DS was the least of its marvels. The steering wheel turned on a single spoke, providing a ready view of the dashboard instruments. The brake pedal was simply a button in the floor. The drivetrain was a remarkable combination of front-wheel-drive, servo-assisted front disc brakes, hydraulically assisted steering, and fully independent hydro-pneumatic suspension with automatic ride control.

Simply put, the DS was a spaceship by the standards of its time. Yet in the first day of its exhibition at Paris alone, the factory had collected 749 orders of the car; by the end of the event, orders numbered well over 12,000; and by the time the ever-evolving DS series ended production 20 years later, 2,786,000 had been built and sold all over the world. Thus, the DS is remembered today as one of the most successful automobiles of all time, alongside such similar legends as the Ford Mustang and Volkswagen Beetle.

The DS 19 offered from the Quattroruote Collection was delivered new in Milano in 1964 to Augusto Boffa, who retained ownership of it for nearly two decades. In 1983, it was acquired for the Collection from Antonio Tentori and has remained on display for over a quarter of a century. It remains extremely cosmetically well preserved for its age, including what is believed to be the original paint finish and interior; the glass and dashboard are in very good condition, and the seats are as comfortable as when they were new. Under the hood is a correct spare, while the majority of the mechanical finishes appear original as well, with the correct original data tags present under the hood.

In a collection that has been dedicated to the preservation of original examples of important models, few are more important than the DS 19. It is a car of which an example belongs in every collection that determines to present the history of the automobile, as few motoring creations have ever been so earth shattering, before or since.