The introduction of the DS took place at the October 1955 Paris motor show. The orders taken at the show (12.000) were well above the amount Citroën could build within the first production year. Enormous crowds gathered at the Citroën display and at the occasional DS on the streets.
People believed it came from another planet, due to the hydraulic suspension and looks of the bodywork and dashboard. A stripped version of the DS called ID (no power steering, no power braking, and no semi-automatic hydraulic gearbox) was introduced at the October 1956 motor show.
In October 1958 the Break (Station wagon) was introduced. It supplies room for around 7 people. The chassis was extended to create more room.
During the first years a lot of effort was put in making the hydraulics reliable. Citroën had developed the car fast and with lots of new techniques. This meant that the cars were troublesome in the first years. After 1961, hydraulics turned out to be very reliable and effort was mainly put into developing a stronger engine and a more luxurious interior.
Engine power was raised over these 20 years from 75 SAE HP to 141 SAE (130 DIN) HP. In 1963 also the front of the car was changed slightly. A major change to the looks of the ID/DS was done for production year 1968. The DS got its so called 'new' or 3th front