When the Citroën DS19 rolled onto the old Spa-Francorchamps road circuit in 1964, it represented something genuinely unusual in endurance racing. Far from being a purpose-built racing machine, the DS brought a 1,911 cc overhead-valve inline-four and — crucially — the hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension that made it a serious proposition on a circuit demanding both speed and mechanical sympathy. Spark Model has documented car No. 201, entered by Guy Verrier and Alain Bertaut, in resin at 1:43 scale.
The Citroën DS19: Engineering Ahead of Its Time
Revealed at the 1955 Paris Motor Show, the Citroën DS instantly redefined what a production car could be. The DS19 variant used a 1,911 cc engine producing around 83 hp in standard tune, but its real advantage lay in the hydropneumatic suspension: a system that maintained constant ride height regardless of load or road surface. With a body length of 4,740 mm and front-wheel drive, the DS was aerodynamically slippery and remarkably stable at speed — qualities that would matter on a long-distance circuit.
Car No. 201 at the 1964 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
The 1964 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps was run on the original road circuit through the Ardennes, one of the most demanding venues in European motorsport. The entry list mixed GT machinery with touring cars, and the DS19 of Guy Verrier and Alain Bertaut — carrying race number 201 — represented the kind of technically adventurous entry that defined the era. The hydropneumatic suspension gave the DS genuine handling consistency over the changing surfaces and conditions of a 24-hour Belgian summer race.
The Spark Model: Resin Craftsmanship at 1:43
Spark Model is the specialist French resin producer whose 1:43 range covers racing subjects that no mainstream diecast manufacturer would tackle. This DS19 replica reproduces the race livery of car No. 201 with the livery detail and panel accuracy that characterise Spark's endurance racing series. The model sits within Spark's Spa-Francorchamps documentation series, catalogued as one of the earliest entries in that range. For collectors of French motorsport history, it fills a gap that no other maker has addressed.
In the Display Cabinet
This model pairs naturally with other Spark 1:43 entries from the 1960s Belgian endurance scene — Alfa Romeo Giulia TI or Ford Cortina Lotus replicas from the same era make coherent companions. It also belongs alongside any collection focused on Citroën competition history or French touring car racers of the 1960s. For a DS-themed shelf, the contrast between this race-prepared saloon and any road-specification DS in a complementary scale tells the full story of a car that was equally at home on public roads and racing circuits.
