Bombinette
3543fewBombinette.jpg
For the President’s Official Vehicle, they could have had a Mercedes (as President Hinckley did, de mon vivant). But our Francophile Pappy chose, true to form, this Citroën DS-21, the top of the domestic line. Until corrected, I’m guessing that they took delivery of La Bombinette here in Limoges. Not at all clear how come Pappy snapped so many of his photos in the street in front of the police station.

No question about it: this was a luxury car. Mammy used to comment that when she first set foot on its thick, springy carpet, she wondered whether she was stepping in or on something she shouldn’t. No Mercedes could have boasted such a smooth ride: Bombinette’s pneumatic suspension sopped up all the bumps, as long as you kept the little lever by your left knee at an intermediate position. It controlled the height of the chassis: up high, you had a lot of clearance from the road; down low, all was smooth until you hit a bad bump.
1President Brossard had left to President Hinckley a black Citroën which he said was the only duplicate of an official car of President Charles de Gaulle. Maybe I’ll find a place to confess an unusual driving episode that I put this vehicle through in 1963.
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