UPDATE 2/5/12 – Sold for $7,550 with 57 bids!
The Citroen DS shocked the world when it was released in 1955. As you can see, the styling was unlike anything seen before. Things were pretty high tech under the skin too, with its complicated hydropneumatic system. This 1969 Citroen DS 21 has been in storage for about eleven years, but Grandpa is now ready to sell. The car is located in North Manchester, Indiana and the Grandson has listed it here on eBay with no reserve and bidding at $2,500.
The seller has listed this car as a 1970, but it appears to be a late 1969 with the uprated “green fluid” hydraulic system. One of the green spheres is visible in the shot above. The suspension used these oil filled cylinders in place of conventional springs. This allowed the car to be self-leveling and provided a smooth ride. It also made things complicated and hard to work on. Luckily many specialists have worked out all the kinks so this shouldn’t be too much of a problem if you are willing to spend the time and money required to sort it out.
Power is provided to the front wheels by a 2175 cc four cylinder engine attached to an automatic transmission. The seller claims that the car ran when put into storage and that it only had 59k on the odometer. After being parked for all those years, the Grandson thought they could just stick a new battery under the hood and start it up. Well, nothing happened and hopefully they didn’t cause any damage. A better idea would have been to drain the fuel tank and change the oil before trying to crank it over again.
Single spoke steering wheels may not be the most aesthetically pleasing pieces of work, but they sure made the interior of the DS unique. French engineers always wanted to do things a bit different and the succeeded here. We are not sure if their ideas really made for an enjoyable driving experience, but at least you were sure to stand out. Inside things look complete and in decent condition. Just repair the seats and give it a good cleaning.
After cleaning of the dust, this Citroen should look good as new. Supposedly it was resprayed not long before being put into storage. The person who wrote up the listing does not know much about automobiles, so if we were seriously considering this car, we would want to call up Grandpa to get all the details. Here is a buyer’s guide to help you figure out which questions to ask. If bidding doesn’t go north of $6k, this could end up being a bargain. Thanks to R.L. Elliott for sending this in.
One of my favorites..and automatic too..
Please contact if there is a problem with bidding. This is my favorite car, and would be good for here in Alaska.
One spoke steering wheel, the french do it there own way.
Citroenista Kenneth Nelson taught me a few decades ago the purpose of the one spoke steering wheel. It wasn’t a matter of being “French” so much as it was a very effective yet simple safety item. If driving straight (which on the average you are mostly likely to be doing), in the event of a frontal collision, as the torso of the driver is launched forward, the rim of the wheel will “give” in the upper aspect, allowing for some impact absorbing properties not found in more typical steering wheels.
I had a ’69 DS with a rather different dash – chrome knobs and dials, stainless steering wheel ‘spoke’, and push/pull type switches galore. I don’t know a ton about the evolution of the DS line, but the plastic dash, roller switches and steering wheel on this car definitely put it at a different generation than the one I had. Prior to reading the description above, I definitely would have thought this was a ’70 / ’71 car.
Looks like the eBay link was broken before. All fixed now.
One of my dream garage fillers is a DS 23 Pallas. I have only ridden in one Citroen, in high school a friend’s dad had an ID18. Marvelous ride.
My Dad had one of these. He lived in Springfield, MO and would have to trailer the car to KC or StL to get worked on.He eventually sponsored a ‘boat person’ who was a Citroen mechanic in Saigon.I remember well the button brake pedal.
http://oleragtop.blogspot.com/search?q=dsHere's a link to my Dad’s car– photo was taken in 1976. Look at the left driver’s door bottom. Trying to pull the car up on a trailer and something happened. oh well.
Ah jeez, here is an easier link: http://oleragtop.blogspot.com/2010/10/in-my-very-first-post-on-hooniverse.htmlyou'll have to get through some of our other car photos but that’s what it’s all about, ain’t it? Great photos of great cars!
Thanks for sharing, Bus Plunge. Cool old photos.
Weee…!!Current bid 3.000 $ which is ridicules cheap if the condition, seen from the pictures, is the same in real life. D-models drive fantastic and in Europe the prices has been going up and still do. This is one of my dream cars, but for now, I have to seddel with second best, the successor to the D-model, the CX of wich I have two. Regarding the D, beware of rust, especially in the floor boards, panels, trunk floor and the entire rear end, because the roof can leak and water running in and corrode the C pillars.Rear fenders can be removed very easily, because they are bolted on with a screw, as they must be removed in case of changing a wheel.
It’s not an Automatic. It had a 4-speed semiautomatic, which operated via a hydraulic clutch. #-speed full automatic from Borg-Warner was an option from 1972 onwards, but only on the 2300cc engine.
The car is a very rare specimen indeed, as 1969 was the ponly year with the new front, but the old dashboard, which was redesigned in 1970.
Puzzling is also its Pallas Chrome and door trim, but the standard seats from the more humble and less extravagantly equipped DS20/DS21/DSuper models. The Pallas should have red velour cloth seats with white offsettings and seatbacks, to match the door trim?
Never mind, still a very interresting project.
I owned a 1961 ID 19 that serves me well for many years. I love the cars!’
By the way ALL fenders wee removable incliding the front!