Rare 1966 Citroën DS21 Décapotable By Chapron Is A Gorgeous Piece Of French History

A rare 1966 Citroen DS21 Decapotable by Chapron will be auctioned off by RM Sotheby’s on May 2 in Elkhart, Indiana.

The Citroen DS is one of the French marque’s most iconic models and after its debut, many buyers asked for a cabriolet version to be built. In 1958, coachbuilder Chapron stepped up to the task of making the DS a cabriolet and initially unveiled the model in 1958.

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For a few years, Citroen refused to sell Chapron separate chassis’ to build the cabriolet, forcing the coachbuilder to instead buy complete cars and dismantle them. Citroen eventually relented and allowed Chapron to build factory cabriolet models. In total, there were 1,365 factory cabriolets built and just 483 of them were DS21 models like the example in question.

Customers at the time had 15 exterior paint finishes to choose from, 13 shades of leather upholstery, and three carpet colors.

This model is painted in its original Vert Foret shade and the black leather interior is largely original. It was sold new to a buyer in the South of France and remained there until 1990 when it was sold to a collector in Switzerland who kept it until 2008 before selling it to a buyer in Holland.

This isn’t the first time the car has been sold by RM Sotheby’s. On January 18, 2013, the auction house sold this very Citroen DS21 Decapotable for $170,000. It is being sold this time around as part of the impressive Elkhart Collection that consists of no less than 230 cars, 30 motorcycles, trucks, trailers, and select memorabilia.

Photo credit: Darin Schnabel for RM Sotheby’s