Anyone here run an old Citroen DS ?
- Thread starter goddardo
- Start date
Sponsored Links
- Joined
- 30 Oct 2006
- Messages
- 6,749
- Reaction score
- 374
- Country
i'd have the one on the front of PPC magazine this month. 
the DS has the dubious honour of being an advanced motor with many fancy devices on that were supposedly invented by citroen. alledgedly almost all of them including the swivelly headlights were nicked from panhard.
the DS has the dubious honour of being an advanced motor with many fancy devices on that were supposedly invented by citroen. alledgedly almost all of them including the swivelly headlights were nicked from panhard.
Not so fond of the DS, but I'd definitely have an SM. Keeping the things on the road is a labour of love and a huge pile of money, but just look at it!
The inside is just as crazy.
The inside is just as crazy.
That's the one thing that holds me back from getting a DS.
We don't have a garage so it would have to be kept outside, also I'm not mechanically minded. I hear they need quite a lot of TLC to keep them in good order. There's a guy near us who's a Citroen specialist who's restoring a DS right now, but he's quite pricey.
Experts, correct me if I'm wrong but DS's are not cheap everyday runners.
Maybe one day
We don't have a garage so it would have to be kept outside, also I'm not mechanically minded. I hear they need quite a lot of TLC to keep them in good order. There's a guy near us who's a Citroen specialist who's restoring a DS right now, but he's quite pricey.
Experts, correct me if I'm wrong but DS's are not cheap everyday runners.
Maybe one day
Sponsored Links
then if you want an abnormal car, you must expect to spend a lot of money, or buy a tarpaulin to keep it under when it breaks down.
I had several, many years ago. A lot depends on what you get. There were 2 basic shapes - the early ones had round headlights and the later ones had the faired-in swivelling headlights. Of the earlier ones, there was an ID 19 which was actually quite a simple car - conventional steering and brakes, but still the whacky suspension. Not too bad to work on - other than the rust.
The later ones were more complex - especially the last of the line with electronic fuel injection and Citroen's own semi-automatic gearbox.
I'd go for something middle-of-the-road like a D Super 5. You get a relatively simple engine with a carburettor and 5 speed manual box, but you still get all the weird Citroen hydraulics.
Be aware that the early round-headlight cars used some sort of stinky fish (or vegetable - not sure!) oil as a hydraulic fluid because they used natural rubber seals. It was known as "red fluid" and it absorbed water. Consequently, their hydraulic systems gave a lot more trouble. They were, however, the most softly sprung ones so they give the floatiest ride for which the marque was famous. The later cars used green LHM mineral fluid which you can still buy easily today, and neoprene seals.
I wouldn't be too bothered about mechanical complexity (they're actually fairly simple by today's microprocessor-controlled standards), but some of the jobs take a very long time (especially a timing chain or clutch)!
Lastly, they all rust like mad. They were one of the first mass-produced pressed-steel monocoques and they were full of water traps and not very well protected in the first place. The very bottom of the boot floor and the rear trailing arm attachment points were famous for it and extremely difficult to repair properly. Sills go too - especially on the ones with "Pallas" trim - which was stainless, and attacked the mild steel to which the trim pieces were attached. Lastly door bottoms all rot out because of poor drainage.
Good luck! A fantastic car for it's day with probably more innovations than any other car launched before or since!
The later ones were more complex - especially the last of the line with electronic fuel injection and Citroen's own semi-automatic gearbox.
I'd go for something middle-of-the-road like a D Super 5. You get a relatively simple engine with a carburettor and 5 speed manual box, but you still get all the weird Citroen hydraulics.
Be aware that the early round-headlight cars used some sort of stinky fish (or vegetable - not sure!) oil as a hydraulic fluid because they used natural rubber seals. It was known as "red fluid" and it absorbed water. Consequently, their hydraulic systems gave a lot more trouble. They were, however, the most softly sprung ones so they give the floatiest ride for which the marque was famous. The later cars used green LHM mineral fluid which you can still buy easily today, and neoprene seals.
I wouldn't be too bothered about mechanical complexity (they're actually fairly simple by today's microprocessor-controlled standards), but some of the jobs take a very long time (especially a timing chain or clutch)!
Lastly, they all rust like mad. They were one of the first mass-produced pressed-steel monocoques and they were full of water traps and not very well protected in the first place. The very bottom of the boot floor and the rear trailing arm attachment points were famous for it and extremely difficult to repair properly. Sills go too - especially on the ones with "Pallas" trim - which was stainless, and attacked the mild steel to which the trim pieces were attached. Lastly door bottoms all rot out because of poor drainage.
Good luck! A fantastic car for it's day with probably more innovations than any other car launched before or since!
I think the "no garage" issue will be a very big problem. They really knew how to rust and there are some parts of the car that are extremely hard to repair properly once they've gone. In particular, the sills are triple-skinned so it's very difficult to get to the centre panel from the outside. I believe there are inflatable garages ("Carcoon" is a name that springs to mind - don't know if they're still trading) that could be had, but if I was going to try and keep a DS, I'd be wanting to keep it in a very dry garage.
I haven't had anything to do with "Ds" for a good 20 years but I believe the best examples are now left hand drive cars from sunny, dry climates.
I agree that the Super 5 would be a good compromise. You get all the hydraulic quirkines EXCEPT their own semi-automatic transmission and the complex electronic fuel injection.
If it cheers you up any, they were incredibly robust, mechanically. Fixing things takes a bit of time but I think you'll be surprised how little of that you'll have to do. Change the hydraulic fluid regularly and clean the filter - the hydraulics had already been in production for nearly 20 years when they did the Super 5, so they'd got most of the bugs out. A clutch or timing chain will reduce you to tears though. You'll need a fair bit of space and about 3 days!
I haven't had anything to do with "Ds" for a good 20 years but I believe the best examples are now left hand drive cars from sunny, dry climates.
I agree that the Super 5 would be a good compromise. You get all the hydraulic quirkines EXCEPT their own semi-automatic transmission and the complex electronic fuel injection.
If it cheers you up any, they were incredibly robust, mechanically. Fixing things takes a bit of time but I think you'll be surprised how little of that you'll have to do. Change the hydraulic fluid regularly and clean the filter - the hydraulics had already been in production for nearly 20 years when they did the Super 5, so they'd got most of the bugs out. A clutch or timing chain will reduce you to tears though. You'll need a fair bit of space and about 3 days!
Very sound advice Avocet. Thankyou.
I think I'll wait until I'm better equipped to keep one, garage, expense etc.
There's a good Citroen Guy called Ray Calvert at C&C motors near to us.
He's doing up a D Super 5 at the moment.
I think I'll wait until I'm better equipped to keep one, garage, expense etc.
There's a good Citroen Guy called Ray Calvert at C&C motors near to us.
He's doing up a D Super 5 at the moment.
Sponsored Links
