2 De Gaulle Citroëns to be auctioned

Two historically significant Citroëns are being sold this coming weekend as part of the collection of Michel Burkhardt:

• a 1965 Citroën DS21 from the fleet of the French President Charles de Gaulle — with just 30,320 original kms.

• a Citroën GS owned by Mme. de Gaulle.
  

Mr. Michael Burkhardt was bom in 1952 in Golombey les Deux Eglises, in the Haute Mame village of France, where French leader General Charles De Gaulle had his famous residence of “La Boisserie”. From his childhood, Michel was captivated by the regular sightings of the official sedans of the French Republic during diplomatic visits. He never tired of the spectacle of the imposing convoys of escorts of the Gendarmerie and the regular passage of jeeps, trucks, motorcycles and of course — official Citroëns.

It is this post WWII era of France’s military history that Michael, for the most part, set out on a quest to preserve.

Post war, General Charles De Gaulle maintained his main residence in Colombey where he worked to rebuild France and manage the external conflicts in North Africa, including the terrible war in Algeria. His parents ran the local dairy there, and as neighbours of the De Gaulle family, knew and saw each other. They often took back some of the cars that belonged to De Gaulle.

Although a Citroën DS21 of the Elysée in the De Gaulle years of power and the personal GS of Madame Yvonne De Gaulle will be sold, Michel will keep in his collection the last Citroën DS 21 of General De Gaulle.

Besides these two Citroens being auctioned, there is also a 1956 Traction Avant 11B — serial number 440654 (offered at no reserve), and a number of historically remarkable and mostly well preserved military vehicles, including Panhard, some Renault 2087 and Berliet, Hotchkiss and others.

All vehicles are being sold without reserve.

Originally scheduled for May 2021, the auction has now been rescheduled for the first weekend of July 2021 at Route de Briennon, 42300 Mably, France Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

More info here, in english:
https://military-classic-auction.com/en/ventes/france-second-war-burkhardt-collection/

And here is a link to the full online catalog: https://issuu.com/military-classic-auction/docs/25062021catalogue_michel_burckhardt?fr=sOWVlYjM4OTU3MDg