Fast Facts

• Best model: DS23 EFi
• Worst model: ID19
• Budget buy: DS19
• OK for unleaded?: Additive needed – offi cially…
• Will it fit in the garage? (mm): L4870 x M1800
• Spares situation: Good
• DIY ease?: Surprisingly so
• Club support: Very good
• Appreciating asset?: Yes, especially convertibles
• Good buy or good-bye?: Good buy

Dashboard is as quirky as the rest of the car and needs familiarising

the engine is decidedly old hat but trusty and easy to maintain; detail touches like indicators stand the test of time

Here’s how complex a DS really is, 55 years on. It’s okay DIY-wise but you really need an expert for some jobs

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No car shouted advancement through engineering quite like this Citroen. As fascinating as it remains infuriating, the DS is not everybody’s ideal classic. But it’s certainly one that grows on you…

Car makers frequently harp on about how their latest model moves the goal posts – how it’s a game changer that’ll go down in history as an all-time great. But of course very few cars are ever really all that memorable – and certainly not many family cars. But occasionally something comes along that really does change the automotive landscape – something that pushes the boundaries. Such a car was the Citroen DS, launched well over half a century ago.

Even now the car looks sensational, is technically advanced and amazingly aerodynamic – yet it debuted in 1955. However, such advanced engineering has also proved to be the DS’s downfall; while there are many who have seen the light, there are some who assume that such complexity must mean poor reliability is inherent, even though the DS is dependable. Indeed, the DS can – and does – double as reliable, safe family transport, fully capable of holding its own in city or motorway traffi c. Almost 60 years on it’s a classic that still astounds but also infuriates at the same time – but what do you expect from a car that was decades ahead of its time?

History

When the DS was unveiled at the 1955 Paris salon, there were gasps of amazement all round – and rightly so. Looking like something that had come from outer space, the DS was revolutionary in every sense; suddenly Citroen’s Traction Avant seemed very old-hat, even though that too had moved the goal posts when it was launched two decades earlier.

But while the new arrival featured jaw dropping styling and was technically advanced in many ways, the three-bearing 1911cc fourcylinder engine was developed from the Light 15 Traction Avant unit, so it wasn’t the last word in technology. The development continued though, and by June 1956 the DS19 was being built at Citroen’s Slough factory while from 1957 there was an ID19 option. This was essentially a DS19 but without the hydraulic steering, brakes or gearbox, while the engine was also detuned and the interior was less luxurious.

From 1958 there was a DS Prestige, with a partition between the front and rear seats. In the same year, an ID Break (estate) was displayed at the Paris motor show along with a coachbuilt cabriolet by Henri Chapron. During the next year, one of the earliest MPVs hit the scene; the sevenseater Safari. In 1961, Chapron’s ID19 and DS19 Cabriolet were added to the Citroen catalogue, while the DS19 got a revised dashboard.

In 1962 all cars received a restyled nose, while the ID19 Cabriolet got the DS19’s engine and power steering became optional on the ID. There was a manual gearbox option for the DS from 1963 while in 1964 the Pallas, a luxury version of the DS19, was introduced. In 1965 a new fi ve-bearing engine was introduced with a choice of two displacements; 1985cc or 2175cc. These were fi tted in the DS19a and ID19 Break, and in the DS21 and ID21 Break respectively. The ID19 continued for one further year with the 1911cc engine.

The range-topping DS21 arrived in 1966, with a 2175cc engine; in the same year, production at Citroen’s Slough factory drew to a close. From the following year the DS got an even more radical nose; the major front-end restyle brought twin headlamps. In 1968 the DS20 superseded the DS19, while the ID20 appeared as a model separate from the ID19 – at the same time, the DS21 and ID21 Break got a power boost to 115bhp.

A 139bhp fuel-injected version of the DS21 arrived in 1969, the DS21 EFi here, and the DS21 IE everywhere else. At the other end of the scale was the Dspecial (an updated ID19) while the Dsuper was also launched, based on the ID20. At this point, all cars were fi tted with a revised fascia.

The model’s development continued apace with a fi ve-speed gearbox becoming optional on the DS21, DS21IE and Dsuper from 1970. Then, in the following year, all cars got the option of headlamps which turned with the front wheels, but only on cars with power-assisted steering, while the DS21 got the option of air-con and automatic transmission. A successor to the DS21 appeared in 1973, in the shape of the DS23, with a 2347cc engine similar to the one that powered the CX on its launch. In rangetopping fuel-injected form, the DS became the DS23 EFi, with 141bhp on tap. The D Super5 was also seen for the fi rst time – this was a D Super but with a fi ve-speed gearbox. Then there was a DSuper5, with 2175cc engine and fi ve-speed gearbox as standard; the standard DSuper featured a 1985cc unit with a four-speed gearbox, although an extra cog was optional. The fi nal DSs were built in 1975, with the arrival of the CX range.

Driving

Driving a fully-specifi ed DS is something to savour, because it’s quite unlike anything else. Those high-tech hydraulics create a driving experience that needs some acclimatisation to get the best from this hyper sensitive car. For example, the brake pedal is more a button and so needs just a touch to bring the car to a halt. Indeed, with hydraulic gear selection, a foot-operated parking brake, single-spoke steering wheel and indicators that don’t cancel themselves, get behind the wheel of a DS and it’s like learning to drive all over again. It’s worth preserving with it though, because the ride is amazingly smooth, the handling is excellent and the controls are all wonderfully light – it’s only after driving a DS that you realise just how conservative all other car makers have been for the past six decades.

As you’d expect it’s a cruiser more than anything else and the way this Citroen – especially the later fi ve-speed models – lops along still impresses. If the car has one major downer then it’s the ancient four cylinder engine taken from the earlier Avant; in this sophisticated saloon it feels coarse and unrefi ned and only adequately powerful (a 1968 road test had a DS21 clock 60 in a leisurely 16.2 seconds).

“What a remarkable car” is how Motor kicked off its 1968 road test of the DS21 Pallas although it added: “One wonders how many customers must have been frightened away to more prosaic machinery after a brief test drive”. It further advised that the typical driver would need a hundred miles of driving to acclimatise but warned, “Some may be converted – or put off – for life”.

It’s a practical car, the DS. That novel and still radical fl uid suspension can be raised or lowered at a whim while the estate models are massive and massively versatile but in contrast the car is still a design that would frighten many DIYers away. “There is no jack: you simply set the suspension to high, put the stand under the body sill and let the suspension down again, leaving two wheels dangling in the air. Only Citroen would have thought of that” concluded one road test.

Prices

You can buy a running but scruffy, reliable ID or DS for as little as £1000. The best range-toppers will be more than £20,000 but a genuine Henri Chapron Cabriolet, needing extensive restoration, is likely to cost £50,000 or more – an immaculate, fully restored car will fetch well over £100,000. A really good Safari costs less than an equivalent condition saloon but they are getting very rare, and prices have started to rise over the last few years. Most cars are in the £5000 to £10,000 range, but an example with an awful chassis can look immaculate with a good set of panels and a decent interior – and it may be sold for £10,000 when it’s worth less than half that, so beware. With an army of specialists around repairing and restoring a DS is not a big problem although it’s still a complex machine that needs an expert touch and know-how.

Improvements

While brake and suspension upgrades are par for the course with the DS’s more mainstream rivals, they’re unnecessary here. Indeed, upgrades of any kind are generally unnecessary – and in many cases undesirable because there are so many DS purists out there. The most worthwhile improvement is the fi tment of an electronic ignition system, the 123 set-up being the most popular. The fi tment of a fi t-and-forget stainless steel exhaust is also worthwhile, but the most usefulthing you can do to improve a DS is to fi t modern Continental tyres in place of the Michelin units still fi tted to many. Grip is improved and so is handling – some purists don’t like it, but they make the DS safer. So too do H4 bulbs, but you’ll need to replace the housing while you’re at it. However, this more modern housing looks noticeably different from the original, which is why many owners just put up with rubbish headlights!

Three Of A Kind

NSU Ro80

Finding anything quirkier than a DS is a tall order, but the Ro80 is a true oddball quite unlike anything else. Amazingly aerodynamic for its time – even if it looks more staid than the Citroen – the NSU also features a great semi-auto gearbox, excellent handling and a sublime ride. But its rotary engine is fragile which is why you’ll struggle to fi nd a good one still to original specifi cation.

Renault 16

If you really must have a quirky French car in your life but the DS is just too common, you could try to fi nd an ultra-rare Renault 16. The fi rst mainstream family hatchback, the front-wheel drive 16 was a true landmark car that’s just as usable now, nearly 50 years after its introduction. Later cars are surprisingly well equipped, but fi nding a 16 of any vintage will prove a challenge.

Rover P6

The fi rst ever Car of the Year, Rover’s P6 was far more advanced than many realise, with a construction much the same as the DS’s, the panels are hung onto a stressed monocoque. Inboard rear brakes help the dynamics but make maintenance more of an issue; this is a classic that’s safe, strong, great to drive and comfortable – and criminally cheap into the bargain.