1956 DS19 No 2793
This is the story of my restoration project, a 1956 DS19 Swedish barn find.
June 24 1956 Citroën DS19 No 2793 was finished at the legendary Quai de javel factory in Paris.
Equipped with Champagne bodywork, Aubergine roof and Royal bleu interior this early DS was destined for Sweden.
Unloading of an unidentified early DS19 after shipping to Sweden (Photo Swedish Citroën Car club)
July 12 1956 The earliest Swedish records of this car is from when the car was delivered to Automobilfirma Eric Johansson in Linköping.
Swedish Citroën official warranty registration document (From the Swedish Citroën car club archives)
April 5 1957 Curiously the car is not registered with the authorities on this reseller until much later .
It is still a mystery what happened during the 10 months before it was registered, perhaps just displayed in the shop or was it perhaps secretly lent to SAABs developers nearby? One can only speculate.
It would take a few months further until the car found its first private owner...
Publicity for Automobilfirma Eric Johansson in Linköping (Photo from the Johansson family)
June 20 1957 the car was registered to its first user, Mr. Arne Nilsson, a farmer and horse breeder at an estate called Borringe, Älvan near Linköping. This is also when the car received its first and only Swedish number plates: E 36046 (E stands for the region Östergötland where Linköping is situated)
Mr. Nilsson kept the DS for four years, I have found contact with his son Bo who was only 8 years old at the time, he remembers the car clearly, his father had a couple of Tractions before the DS and two IDs after, later only SAABs.
Thanks to the wonderful Swedish archives I have been able to track the story of the car based on the name of the first owner...
December 13 1961 the DS was traded in for a brand new ID19 at the dealer Bil-Center in central Linköping.
Archive photo of Bil-center AB, Klostergaran 24 Linköping
March 31 1962 a new owner purchased the car, Mr. Bengt Moberg, also in Linköping.
(I am still looking for relatives and stories from the time with him)
March 5 1963 the car was back at Bil-Center in Linköping again.
April 19 1963 Mr. Harry Edlund in Vikingstad bought the DS.
(I am still looking for relatives and stories from the time with him)
August 1 1964, ones again the DS was back at Bil-Center in Linköping.
May 21 1964 Mr. Franz Neumayer in Sonstorp near Linköping bought the car.
I found contact with son Hans, he was only 7 years old at the time but still remembers long summer vacations across Europe in the DS to visit relatives in Germany and France.
June 16 1966 Mr. Ewert Isacsson in Borensberg near Linköping bought the DS.
September 11 1967 his son Mr. Sören Isacsson took over.
I found contact with his son Magnus, his father had the car in his youth, before Magnus was born, and the only story he remembers is of a hydraulic problem… however Magnus was able to find a few amazing photos of my DS from the Isacsson family album, showing the car in all its 1966/67 glory, confirming some of the interesting details of my car such as the Citroën Badge and double nozzles on the bonnet. A real treasure to find photos like this.
Photos of 2793 from 1966-67 from the Isacsson family album.
July 24 1968 Firma Beg. Bildelar (Used Car parts inc. ) in Motala took over the DS. No one knows how it was used there but...
December 10 1971 (When I was exactly 6 months old) the car was registered as scrapped by the authorities.
Late 1980s this car was found near Linköping by the previous owner Mr. Mårten Ekelin and it had been
resting in his barn ever since while he restored a number of wonderful Citroëns.
August 13 2019 I took over the care of this time capsule.
I have now started a complete archeological restoration, bringing this unique DS back to life ones again.
Restoration in progress.
Being virtually complete there is still a lot of work to do. Some serious rust and old repairs to the rear and lower chassis has to be taken care of first of all… At the same time all other parts will be carefully taken care of. With the help from a great network of enthusiasts, friends and professionals this will be a great journey.
A complete disassembly was a necessary start of the process.
Some of the body panels have seen better days, luckily I have been able to source NOS or really good used original replacement parts of the rare first model thanks to a great networks of passionate enthusiasts.
Preparing for the big chassis restoration I also managed to find a lot of NOS sheet metal parts.
After a long search for the right expert I finally found a true master in Edward at Keystone vintage auto restoration, who is now in progress with restoring the chassis.
At the same time all vital systems and components are overhauled and restored. As with everything else on a 1956 DS19 a lot of details are unique or almost prototype like.
My favorite part is always looking all over the world for all those rare parts and details that one day will find their place on the finalized DS19 No 2793.
