Disclaimer: The following is a stunt. Granted a DS was destroyed, but it was rusted out to start with. If you are a DS purist, it will make you cringe. The destruction was staged for maximum visual impact. We only mention it here because as abhorrent as it to see a DS damaged in this way, the video is “out there” and it does affect the public’s opinion of the classic DS.
Frenchman Pascal Dragotto is a professional stunt driver who crash-tests cars in the name of road safety. His day job is working for the Delegation for Road Safety and Traffic (DSCR) in France. Dragotto’s wife Laurence also works in the automotive risk sector and their son Kevin joined the family business of crash testing and stunt performing.
For amusement in his spare time, Pascal stages car crash scenarios, such as this youtube video (in French) where a classic 1968 DS21 is side impacted at 110 km/hr by a 2010 Citroën DS3.
Why the DS? Because it was his son Kevin who fancied that it would be cool to see a 1960s DS smashed to pieces. When Kevin was 10 years old, he witnessed a similar crash at a stunt show he attended with his dad. The vision and appeal have stayed with him since (he’s now 18) and he wanted to experience it first-hand. (We suppose that watching the DS crash in the film The Da Vinci Code wasn’t sufficient to satisfy the craving.)
Pascal and Kevin planned the stunt for a year. They managed to find a rusty DS21 that they bought for €800 and then a Citroën DS3 that was a donation.
The DS3 was modified with an internal roll-bar structure and Recaro racing seats with safety harnesses were fitted. Pascal and Kevin wore full-coverage head gear and racing suits.
Note that there is a safety net behind the windshield of the DS3.
With 19 cameras aimed at the crash, there may have been some desire to showcase how a modern DS fares better in an accident than a Classic one, but for the stunt — the DS21’s suspension was in it’s lowest position (probably the car could not run — it was flat-bedded to the location) so the sills were not at normal height for side impact.
On top of that, the tires were flat, the seats and steering wheel were not in the car and there were tiny ramps placed just before it to make the DS3 go up slightly to clear the floorpan and rocker structure of the DS21 so it would slice through just the doors and roof. (They wanted to save the front of the DS21 to mount as a “trophy” on the wall of their garage).
In the end father and son walk away in much better shape than either DS. Kevin admits to being a bit shaken but is all smiles.
Anyway FWIW, here’s the 1/2 hr video with the preamble, crash and aftermath:
