The Citroën GS is a small family car designed by Robert Opron, launched in 1970 after winning Citroën’s 1967 internal Project G competition. It was built as a fastback four-door saloon and five-door estate until 1979. A revised version, the GSA, was produced from late 1979 until 1986 in five-door hatchback or estate body styles. Combined production reached approximately 2.5 million units. It has a front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout and seating for five passengers. Noted for its aerodynamic body shape with a drag coefficient of 0.318, fully independent hydro-pneumatic brakes and self-levelling suspension, and air-cooled flat-four engine, the GS was styled by Robert Opron, with a low nose, a two-box silhouette, semi-enclosed rear wheels and a sharply vertical Kamm-tail. In 1967, having abandoned the ambitious Projet F begun by Bertoni and taken over by Opron, Citroën initiated a competition for a new mid-range model that pitted Opron and the Bureau d'Études against Giorgetto Giugiaro and Italdesign. Both teams submitted designs for front wheel drive three- and five-door cars powered by flat-four engines. Opron's proposal carried the day, and his Project G eventually became the GS released in 1970. Some have claimed that Opron based the GS' shape on the Pininfarina Austin 1800 Aerodinamica Berline of 1967. Others assert that, while it may have been influenced by the Italo-English concept car, Opron's design was an independent work, and point out that Citroën has never acknowledged any link.
Opron’s Project G won Citroën’s 1967 competition and became the GS—a small family car built as a fastback saloon and estate from 1970.
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How it works
Front-engine, front-wheel drive. Air-cooled flat-four. Cd 0.318. Every major layout choice served low drag and packaging efficiency.
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Aero and ride, solved together
The Kamm-tail and semi-enclosed rear wheels cut drag. Hydro-pneumatic suspension self-levels—no manual adjustment needed.
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From saloon to hatchback
The GSA hatchback replaced the saloon in 1979. Combined GS and GSA production reached ~2.5 million units.
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Influence, unconfirmed
Some claim the GS shape echoes the 1967 Pininfarina Austin 1800 Aerodinamica Berline—but Citroën has never acknowledged any link.
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Worth your time?
Yes. Drive the whole thing.
4.5/ 5
What works
It gets right the integration of drag reduction (Cd 0.318), packaging efficiency (flat-four, FWD), and ride comfort (hydro-pneumatic self-levelling) in one coherent small-family package.
What does not
It does not offer rear-wheel drive.
It does not use water cooling.
It does not have a conventional suspension system.
It does not adopt a three-box silhouette.
Drive it if
It is for drivers who value engineering coherence over familiarity.
It is not for those who require conventional powertrain layouts, water-cooled engines, or traditional suspension feedback.
Skip it if
It is not for those who require conventional powertrain layouts, water-cooled engines, or traditional suspension feedback.
Who should drive it, and who should skipHide who it is for
The written brief1 min read
What the car is and where it came from
The Citroën GS is a small family car designed by Robert Opron, launched in 1970 after winning Citroën’s 1967 internal Project G competition. It was built as a fastback four-door saloon and five-door estate until 1979.
How it works, in terms someone would actually use
It places the driver in a low-slung, two-box fastback saloon or estate with a flat-four engine up front, driving the front wheels. The hydro-pneumatic suspension self-levels and isolates road shocks. The air-cooled engine needs no radiator. The Kamm-tail cuts drag without a long rear overhang.
What it gets right
It gets right the integration of drag reduction (Cd 0.318), packaging efficiency (flat-four, FWD), and ride comfort (hydro-pneumatic self-levelling) in one coherent small-family package.
What it does not
It does not offer rear-wheel drive. It does not use water cooling. It does not have a conventional suspension system. It does not adopt a three-box silhouette.
What it changed
It proved a mass-market French saloon could be aerodynamically optimised from the outset—not as an afterthought—and that air-cooling and hydro-pneumatics belonged in everyday cars.
Who it is for, and who it is not
It is for drivers who value engineering coherence over familiarity. It is not for those who require conventional powertrain layouts, water-cooled engines, or traditional suspension feedback.
Is it worth your time
Yes—if you care how a small family car balances aerodynamic logic, mechanical idiosyncrasy, and Citroën’s refusal to copy convention.
