These were widely regarded by contemporary journalists as avant garde, even radical, solutions to automotive design. Thus began a decades' long period of unusual brand loyalty, normally seen in the automobile industry only in niche brands, like Porsche and Ferrari. Citroën unveiled the 2CV—signifying two fiscal horsepower, initially only —at the Paris Salon in 1948. The car became a bestseller, achieving the designer's aim of providing rural French people with a motorized alternative to the horse. It was unusually inexpensive to purchase and, with its tiny two cylinder engine, inexpensive to run as well. The 2CV pioneered a very soft, interconnected suspension, but did not have the more complex self-levelling feature. This car remained in production, with only minor changes, until 1990 and was a common sight on French roads until recently; 8.8 Million 2CV variants were produced in the period 1948–1990.  1955 saw the introduction of the DS, the first full usage of Citroën's hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension system, tested on the rear suspension of the Traction in 1954, which was also the first production car with modern disc brakes. A single high-pressure hydraulic system was used to activate the power steering, the suspension and brakes; the brakes were power assisted to multiply the force applied by the driver. On the Citromatic (semi-automatic transmission) version, the system also operated the clutch, through a system of pistons in the gearbox cover to shift the gears in the transmission. From 1968, the DS also introduced directional headlights, that moved with the steering, improving visibility at night. The streamlined car was remarkable for its era and had a remarkable sounding name – in French, "DS" is pronounced , which sounds the same as , which means "Goddess". It placed third in the 1999 Car of the Century competition. This high-pressure hydraulic system would form the basis of over 9 million Citroën cars, including the DS, SM, GS, CX, BX, XM, Xantia, C5, and C6. Self-levelling suspension is the principal user benefit: the car maintains a constant ride height above the road, regardless of passenger and cargo load and despite the very soft suspension. Hydropneumatic suspension is uniquely able to absorb road irregularities without disturbing the occupants and is often compared to riding on a "magic carpet" for this reason. These vehicles shared the distinguishing feature of rising to operating ride height when the engine was turned on, like a "mechanical camel" (per "Car & Driver" magazine).