Citroen Ds. A Little Sideline-My Past!

[Chris Skelton]

Hope you guys will forgive this. I come from a Citroen origin in cars.

Here's why.

I had 3, and this tempts me! though can't afford them.

Puts the cost of a LS into the bargain level though!

[LexIS200Sport]

They are pretty amazing cars :)

[cruisermark]

these cars were around before i started my driving life and ive never seen one in real life and im not into classics either so i cannot relate to them however

after seeing the video i would like to drive one and see what its like compared to the lex.

i like the interior and it appears quite and smooth and i like the way the suspension reacts to the road surface i.e the suspension absorbs the bump and is not felt by the car.

[PEPE]

Wonderful, Chris. Absolutely wonderful! Thank you for sharing this with us.

Pepe

[hihihi]

-

[Chris Skelton]

Eff. Convertibles now fetch £150K!!

As to comparisons with a Lex.

After years away, circa 2006,whilst owning my Mk3 LS, I borrowed a DS23 to do a friend's wedding.

Felt like a truck in comparison! Though the ride comfort was-of course!! - good.

Doors clunked; steering felt heavy; was slow.

Of course!

It was 50s technology.

I guess one would get acclimatised if you owned one, but a Lex is good/great even now at 20 years old!

V8 versus 2.3 4cyl?

But.....I'd love one!

At least I have my memories.

When I started my business (Cafe) not knowing if it'd work, I hoped I might get a good stereo and a DS23 before it folded.

Had both within 3 years (cafe still going 35 years later!)

Can recall vividly going around dark welsh roads with those lights swinging around the bends! And floating.......

[Bluesman]

Our next door neighbour used to have one. I was in my teens but I still remember how smooth and quiet it was. I never liked the outside styling but the inside was very cool. Mike.

[bigjap]

i had a ds estate late 70s,early 80s,called the safari,fantastic car for its day,could get the two kids and 2 old english sheep dogs in it the single spoke steering wheel,and the swivelling headlights i liked, the button on the floor for the brakes took some getting used to ,my wife had 2cv then progressed to gs estate,i had a diesel cx safari after the ds

quite a car when it came out in the fifties

[Colin M]

Great video, Chris, and well worth posting up. Thanks.

Never driven one but travelled as a passenger in one in the late 60s - remember being very impressed by the suspension adjustment being able to raise and lower the car.

Very futuristic when they were introduced. Hard to believe it is a 1950s design when you think what most cars from the 1950s looked like.

[Cotswold Pete]

Had a mate who owned one back in the early 80's smooth ride, and I think they look great.

For a car that came out 30 years before the 400, it is quite a thing of the future.

Who knows, maybe in 2040 there will someone out there with a LS400 that is worth a mint!!!!!

...and how they will laugh at the Satnav and that "ye olde ancient CD player and cassette slot"

[Scribe]

The DS is my all-time favourite car. But I remember being hurt by one when quite small by walking into the overrider on the front bumper - they're sharp and pointy.

[Chris Skelton]

Pointy? And Rubber, so you bounce off another car when parking, rather than dent yourself!

The old Traction Avant (Citroen) had spring-like front bumpers too, I recall.

Not daft these guys!

[Titch LS]

Citroen DS-- absolute classic. Would love to drive one for a day. Magic carpet ride and fantastic looker. Prices are going up and up.

[lsnut]

This is a great video. And a great car too. Check out Jay Leno's other stuff, it's all interesting.

Thing with a DS though, love the idea, don't have enough money (or patience now) to actually run one. I've had three Citroëns iin the past and they were all full of character but devoid of reliability. It would seem that modern models are not dissimilar.

Now, if Toyota were to build a replica. . . That would be a car to own.

[Chris Skelton]

I've said THAT before, Isnut!

The idea of a Lexus engine and build quality combined with a Citroen DS (or CX) body and suspension!

I've had 16+ Citroens! DSs I had no problems with, the CX had electrical contact block hiccups(easily cured when you knew what it was!)

The GSAs were nice.

Agree re later cars. I'd have a C6 but it had problems, I was advised from those who knew.

The DS handbook gave you a choice of two grades of Michelin tyre.

If using the (lesser) tyre 'don't CRUISE at speeds in excess of 100mph'.

Cruise!

I do recall how nice it was at 80+.

I'd love another CX Turbo (I had a Turbo-Auto, a 'hybrid' that Citroen never made -it was put together, from a Turbo 2 with an Auto box bolted on.

Lovely-like a turbine to drive) But it'd need to be completely renovated.

[Gbneil]

as far as I know the deese connection was a lucky coincidence , or a contrived one...ds is also the French term for cd, as in drag co-efficient...I was always under impression that's where its name came from and the goddess nomenclature conveniently fitted. Stephen bayley write what I thought was a dreadful article on them in car magazine last month. usually like him too..

[Chris Skelton]

A lot of history is misperception/mangling of 'truths'!

So whether the streets of Paris were ever ringing with cries of "La D-S/The goddess'' we'll never know.

(And Spinach DOESN'T have lots of iron-someone misplaced a decimal point in a Table-Popeye did the rest!)

And the eternal misconception that the DS suspension set-up was dodgy-it wasn't. I suspect that was a jibe from ignorant or jealous rivals in car business.

Can't watch that video again or I'll start SERIOUSLY thinking about getting another!

But then, I've just been looking at Tesla (Car) videos and thinking "There's a future''!

[Gbneil]

as far as I know the deese connection was a lucky coincidence , or a contrived one...ds is also the French term for cd, as in drag co-efficient...I was always under impression that's where its name came from and the goddess nomenclature conveniently fitted. Stephen bayley write what I thought was a dreadful article on them in car magazine last month. usually like him too..

I am, of course, talking nonsense...it's an age thing...the cx was the citroen named after the acronym in French for aerodynamic coefficient..il get my coat....

[ROYT]

Love it, I had 3 CX's, [not all at once!]........wish I had kept one to restore now.

So futuristic at the time.....

[bigjap]

the cx ,it also had one of the most overly designed ashtrays ever fitted to a car,well mine did,great big chrome ball on the top of dash in middle

[ROYT]

How about that rolling speedo!

[Gbneil]

Yup, series one with rolling speedo and satellite pods was fantastic...I had a 2400 gti when I was young, superb car