Henri Chapron
Henri Chapron (b. in
1886 in
Nouan-le-Fuzelier - d. in
1978 in Levallois) was a prominent French automobile coachbuilder. His
atelier, created in
1919, was located in the
Paris suburb of
Levallois-Perret.
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US-spec 1967 Citroën DS Convertible |
Chapron began his career developing custom body designs for French luxury vehicles, like
Talbot,
Delage, and
Delahaye, in the
1940s.
As France ceased building vehicles of this type in he
1950s, Chapron switched his attention to the recently launched, revolutionary
Citroën DS. At first he purchased these vehicles and customised them as one-off conversions. Many of these became the unique convertible varant of the DS. In
1961, the Citroën dealership network began distributing a standard 'usine' two door factory convertible, built by Chapron. In the years
1961 to
1971, 1,365 of these vehicles were made - they are highly collectible today.
Chapron continued his one-off conversions as well. When the
Citroën SM was introduced in
1970, Chapron created two new variants - the Mylord convertible (7 made) and the Opéra four door sedan (8 made).
In
1968, Chapron made a special extended DS Presidential model for the government of
Charles de Gaulle. Then in
1972, Chapron delivered two SM Presidential models to the government of
Georges Pompidou. These gigantic 4 door convertibles were first used for the visit of
Queen Elizabeth II to
France and continued in use through the inauguration of
Jacques Chirac in
1995.
Henri Chapron died in
1978, and the company itself survived for some time under the direction of his widow, producing some luxury versions of the
Citroën CX. It ceased operations in
1985.
*
Official web site*
Dutch site devoted to Chapron DS
