One of 34 examples ever produced by celebrated coach builder Henri Chapron and one of only three built in 1965.

Beginning in 1919 with the founding of his Atelier in Paris, Henri Chapron’s fine coach-built automobiles of marques including Talbot, Delage, and Delahaye established him as the ‘Car Couturier’ of France.

Like many others, Chapron was captivated by the all-new Citroën DS upon its arrival in 1955. A play on the French word déesse – goddess, it boasted the technology deserving of the name with its advanced use of hydraulics, aerodynamics, disc brakes and other features dedicated to safety and comfort.

He presented his first attempt at realising the potential of a cabriolet variant at the 1958 Paris Motor Show with the coach-built Citroën DS ‘La Croisette’. An instant, if exclusive success, it led to an agreement with Citroën to supply the rolling chassis for Chapron to manufacture the DS cabriolet d’usine (factory cabriolet), also known as Le Décapotable, of which more than 1,300 were built to Citroën’s design between 1960 to 1971. 

Created from his motivation to improve on ‘La Croisette’, Le Caddy marked the culmination of Chapron’s fascination with the Citroën DS. To build it, Chapron was forced to buy complete cars before converting them into his bespoke creations. When new, it cost almost twice as much as the most luxurious factory Citroën DS variant ‘Pallas’, and as a result remained very exclusive with only 34 units built between 1959 and 1968.

Chassis 4350010 was supplied to Chapron’s workshops in Levallois-Perret, Paris, on 21st October 1965 and completed two months later on 21st December with an extensive specification including additional Marchal headlights, Jaeger dashboard, Continental-Edison radio with electric antenna, Robergel wheel covers, front headrests, central armrest, and reversing lights. The car was rediscovered by Italian father-and-son owners in Holland in 2003, who commissioned a total restoration to its original specification of Maroon paint with Tan leather that was completed in 2006. The next Italian owner kept the car from 2007 until 2014, when the most recent keeper purchased and registered Le Caddy in the United Kingdom.

A magnificent example of the special Le Caddy cabriolet, and without doubt one of the finest Chapron-bodied Citroën DS in existence.