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receiving a standard body shell from
Chausson. The technology and the floor pan of the SM Coupé remained essentially unchanged; the wheelbase was also retained. The B and C pillars were removed, after which Chapron installed extensive reinforcements in the body area. The modified body was transported to Citroën, where the engine, chassis and other technical components were installed. Finally, the car was brought back to Chapron's workshop to do the interior and paint it. Overall, only a few Mylord convertibles were made; the sources vary between seven and eight copies. What is certain is that four vehicles were sold in France; two more went to Spain, one to the United Kingdom.
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Chapron and Citroën teams worked hand in hand in order to strengthen the safety standards on the car and to minimize the cost of production. On the basis of a design by DS designer
Flaminio Bertoni, Chapron developed a two-door convertible body that was sold through the Citroën dealer network. The Series convertible was presented at the 1960 Paris Motor Show.
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Chapron developed a sedan that remained true to the design of the original model and ultimately represented an extended version of the SM Coupé. Starting with an SM body-in-white, Chapron extended the wheelbase considerably. The front doors have been shortened and some modifications have been made in
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convertibles purchased. The factory convertibles used a DS platform supplied by Citroën, which included all of the mechanics, front fenders, windshield and wheels. Chapron used the full chassis, but reinforced various elements in the floor area. The doors of the standard sedan have been lengthened by
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construction. The rear, in turn, corresponded to the design of the coupé. The vehicle was very heavy and had lost some of the maneuverability of the coupé. The Citroën SM Opera was presented to the public at the 1972 Paris Motor Show. In the following two years, Chapron manufactured a total of eight
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body with a small trunk lid, which at the rear end authentically took up the design of the original vehicle - especially the raised license plate. The prototype of the Mylord was presented at the Paris Motor Show in 1971, and sales began a year later. Production was complex, beginning with
Chapron
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At first, Chapron purchased these vehicles and customised them as one-off creations. Many of these became unique convertible variants. His DS convertible caused a sensation at the 1958 Motor Show. Citroën managers came to see him in
Levallois to offer him a production agreement. For two years, the
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Unlike the factory convertibles, Chapron usually used a six centimeter lower windshield for his own models. The side windows - including the rear ones - could be lowered manually or electrically, unlike the factory car. A trained salesman and connoisseur, Henri
Chapron wanted the finest
231:. There were hopes this might lead to a low but steady production of similar conversions, as had happened during with Chapron's lengthened specials based on the Citroën DS. That did not happen, but the company did produce some special luxury versions (including landaulets) of the
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vehicles based on the CX 2400 Prestige, including a wedding car, delivered in 1981 and used for the first time for the wedding of Henri de Passau, Prince of
Bourbon Parma and Grand Heir and Maria Teresa Grand Duchess. It was then used for the wedding of King
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in 1978, and the company itself survived for some time under the direction of his widow. Less than five months after
Chapron's own death the company presented a Landaulet bodied conversion constructed for a rich Dutch customer, based on a lengthened
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the area of the belt line. The rear doors were an in-house design by
Chapron. They took up the lines of the coupé and also had the characteristic kink in front of the C-pillar. Finally, Chapron removed the large tailgate and replaced it with a
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247:, the Crown Prince of Norway, and Archduke Christian of Austria and Princess Marie Astrid, and finally Prince Nicolas of Liechtenstein and Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg for their respective weddings.
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110:. The factory reportedly shipped “the display model” to the studio without hesitation and the car is prominently featured in the film, garnering key publicity for the model.
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with Chirac 5 April 2004, at the start of the queen's three-day state visit to France to mark 100 years of formal friendship between France and
Britain. The
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Opera sedans. At least two of them are still preserved. One vehicle that is in excellent condition is in the
Netherlands, another is in Germany.
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Chapron built this "Décapotable usine" (factory convertible) - 1,365 cars in all. This allowed buyers to benefit from a factory warranty on
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146:. While Citroën bought its leathers from Costil in Pont Audemer, Chapron ordered his from Connolly in England.
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One year after the Mylord Cabriolet, Chapron developed a sedan version of the production SM, the
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had "telephoned the French automotive company, Citroën, to order a new car for use in the film"
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55:), and began his career developing custom body designs for French luxury vehicles, like
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was pressed into service again in 2004, when Queen Elizabeth II reviewed troops on the
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446:"AFI CATALOG OF FEATURE FILMS THE FIRST 100 YEARS 1893–1993 THAT TOUCH OF MINK (1962)"
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was designed as a two-door full convertible - i.e. without a roll bar. It was given a
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In 1968, Chapron made a special extended DS Presidential model for the government of
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511:"In Aulnay, the convertible of Chirac's victory in 1995 emerges from the past"
157:. These gigantic four-door convertibles were first used for the 1972 visit of
153:. In 1972, Chapron delivered two SM Presidential models to the government of
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542:"Lot 66 1981 Citroën CX 2400 Prestige Landaulet by Chapron Sold 95,360 €"
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421:"Citroen named featured marque at 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance"
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460:"Cary Grant's Beige Summer Jacket and Citroën in That Touch of Mink"
496:"HENRI CHAPRON, THE VANGUARD AMONG THE GREAT FRENCH COACHBUILDERS!"
27:(30 December 1886 - 14 May 1978) was a prominent French automobile
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Chapron continued making his own DS based vehicles, including the
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France ceased building vehicles of this type in the 1950s, due to
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that made luxury vehicles prohibitively expensive in France.
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Chapron switched his attention to the recently launched
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399:Toutes les voitures françaises 1979 (salon 1978)
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165:and continued in use through the inauguration of
86:. Chapron’s first rebodied DS coupe was the 1958
357:Mylord, sold at auction in 2014 for EUR 548,000
98:began in 1961. A news item in the 20 July 1961
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405:. Paris: Histoire & collections: 8. 2006.
118:18 cm; Chapron remade the rear fenders.
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476:. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. 14 June 2018
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525:"Queen Elizabeth II steps into a Citroen"
317:Citroën DS Convertible "usine" (factory)
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281:A Delage D8 rebodied by Chapron in 1948
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238:The Chapron workshops prepared several
35:, created in 1919, was located in the
509:Maxime François (30 September 2019).
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564:Coachbuild.com Encyclopedia: Chapron
235:with lavishly equipped interiors.
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474:"Eye Candy: 1970 Citroen Chapron"
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258:A few of Chapron's custom bodies
252:Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
94:The official collaboration with
269:1931 Delage D8 by Henri Chapron
293:1948 Delahaye 175 S by Chapron
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544:. Artcurial. 9 February 2018.
742:List of French coachbuilders
39:suburb of Levallois-Perret.
716:Société des usines Chausson
419:Ernst, Kurt (4 June 2018).
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462:. BAMF Style. 9 July 2019.
448:. American Film Institute.
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773:People from Loir-et-Cher
778:Coachbuilders of France
606:Coachbuilders of France
691:Letourneur et Marchand
651:Fernandez & Darrin
631:Billeter & Cartier
222:Henri Chapron died in
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726:Weymann Fabric Bodies
721:Carrosserie Vanvooren
423:. Hemmings Motor News
329:1971 Citroën Le Leman
305:1963 Citroën Le Dandy
218:After Chapron's death
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20:A Henri Chapron badge
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706:Carrosserie Pourtout
681:Hibbard & Darrin
341:1972 SM Presidential
47:Chapron was born in
185:Citroën SM specials
78:Citroën DS specials
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636:Chappe et Gessalin
626:Belvallette Frères
245:Harald V of Norway
159:Queen Elizabeth II
108:That Touch of Mink
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375:Sources and notes
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478:. Retrieved
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427:17 September
425:. Retrieved
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768:1978 deaths
763:1886 births
676:Heuliez Bus
480:30 December
229:Peugeot 604
102:noted that
33:carrosserie
757:Categories
646:Facel Vega
621:Autobineau
355:Citroën SM
233:Citroën CX
191:Citroën SM
127:Palm Beach
104:Cary Grant
84:Citroën DS
711:Saoutchik
211:notchback
198:notchback
139:Le Leman.
123:Croisette
88:Le Paris.
363:See also
144:leathers
135:Lorraine
131:Le Dandy
65:Delahaye
686:Jousset
671:Heuliez
369:Heuliez
96:Citroën
53:Sologne
43:History
661:Franay
206:Opera.
194:Mylord
163:France
137:, and
63:, and
61:Delage
57:Talbot
31:. His
616:Antem
353:1975
224:Paris
115:Usine
37:Paris
482:2018
429:2020
189:The
403:84s
161:to
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51:(
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