For several decades Citro\u00ebn has jealously guarded the secrets of its style centre, always focusing on the surprise effect of the launch of each of its cars and never collaborating with outside designers, at least until 1972, when the Camargue, a dream car created by Italian designer Nuccio Bertone on the basis of the Citro\u00ebn GS, which at the time had only been on the market for two years, was unveiled. The GS was the result of the working group of Robert Opron, hired by Citro\u00ebn in the early 1960s as assistant to Flaminio Bertoni, who directed the Style Centre from the late 1920s until his death in 1964. Opron also oversaw other projects, such as the restyling of the AMI6, the Maserati SM power coup\u00e9 and the Citro\u00ebn saloon of the 1970s and 1980s: the CX.<\/p>\n<\/div>
![](\"http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/2020081202_Citroen_Camargue.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/div>The GS Camargue was the result of a challenge: to derive a two-seater sports sedan from the GS, with the not too hidden intention of showing the French manufacturer what the group of designers led by Nuccio Bertone was capable of. The designer who materially took care of the project was Marcello Gandini, who started working on the project between the end of 1970 and the beginning of 1971 and presented his project in 1972. The GS Camargue, a fully functional car, was presented in 1972 at the Paris and London motor shows. In the GS Camargue, the design team had succeeded in developing a compact coup\u00e9, making the most of the modern style and aerodynamic lines of the GS.<\/p>\n<\/div>