WELCOME

So what's the story?

Okay. This is the story of a 1968 model year Citroen DS21bvh Pallas. A 'proper' one - left hand drive.

Sold between September 1967 and August 1968, the 1968 cars are the first of the 'cats eyes' cars. Why 'cats eyes'? Well, because the cars have headlights that turn with the steering and so the car can 'see' in the dark. Now - I thought headlights enabled you to do that anyway, but I don't work in the marketing department of a quirky french motor manufacturer - so am probably missing something here.

Second Style DS Dash: 1962 to 1968

Anyway, as well as being the first cars with swivelling lights, the 1968 cars were the last with sweeping 'wave' dashboard in grey ('gris rose') and black - first introduced in 1962 and fitted with large, chunky switches and knobs like toothpaste tube tops. That thing sticking out of the top of the steering wheel? It's the gear lever. Yes - I know: how cool is that!

True, the 1969 cars also had the swept dash, but all in black and altogether more austere. From 1970 onwards and to the end of production in 1975, the DS range was homogenised - particularly in terms of the dashboard.  And so viewed from todays perspective, and that of the last style of Ds, the design notes of the 1968 cars hark back to earlier and simpler times - whilst still offering the refinements and comforts of the later cars in terms of use of LHM fluid in the hydraulics, swivelling lights and the more-refined five bearing engines. I told you that marketing and ads was not my thing.

So what about this particular car?

I'm getting to that. I'd owned a DS before this one - well a black 1969 ID19b Luxe to be exact. I had the DS bug before I even knew it, owning at one time, as I did, a Saab 96. In hindsight my 'poor mans DS'. On holiday in Europe, whenever I saw DS I was thrilled. And if it was parked up, would have to be dragged away from it as I soaked up every curve and detail. Then in 1991 the Design Museum in London held a DS exhibition and I persuaded some friends to go along with me. I was fascinated, but thought that the exhibition would be as close as I would get to a DS.

The Very Copy of that Fateful Mag....

In September 1993 I sold my Saab 96 down in London. With a rusty chassis, no garage or facilities and no skill or confidence even if I had the tools and space, repairs were not viable for me. Having driven it down there, I had to catch the train home. At St. Pancras station my eye was caught by a magazine on the rack at the kiosk: 'Practical Classics' of October 1993. It wasn't the shiny red TR4 on the cover that got my attention, , it was the tantalising coverline next to it : "Buying A Citroen DS"........

With my glossy purchase under my arm, I settled down for the train journey home. Inside, the magazine included a good six page buyers guide, featuring photos (c/o Mick Groombridge - Doctor Chevron) of all the problems (rust traps) to look out for when buying a DS and top tips for how to tell if things like your accumulator sphere are dead. What was an accumulator sphere I wondered? While I'd long coveted the looks of a DS, I'd never previously considered myself as the kind of person who could own a DS. On that train journey back from London, all that began to change as the DS bug bit deeper.......

The following week I took a trip to the Aladdin's cave that was the 'Retromobile' showroom on the Battersea Bridge, and was given a test drive along The Embankment. My first ride in a DS!  I loved what Retromobile were doing, but I couldn't afford those London prices.

Retromobile Brochure

Using the phone number provided in Practical Classics, I phoned Mick Groombridge - aka 'Doctor Chevron'.  'No' he said: he didn't sell cars but, by chance, he'd just received a letter from someone in London asking if he wanted to buy his fathers old DS. He could put me in touch?

The V5 tells me that by 11 October 1993 the car was mine! I was a DS owner! The rainy night I first  drove it back up the A1 from London was one of my most memorable and enjoyable DS experiences. Arriving home very late, I parked the black beauty out on the street a little down the road. Boy! How the neighbours were going to be surprised when they woke up in the morning!

My ID19b

Dashboard Of My 1969 ID19b in 1994

Good advice for the DS novice is to start with something simple. And it didn't get much simpler than my ID19b Luxe. No hydraulic steering, no swivelling and dipping lights. The modest hydraulics - powered by a simple cam-operated pump bolted onto the engine block - controlled the suspension and brakes only.  I loved it, and lost track of time when I drove it. That's right - didn't even have a clock. On the plus side, it was a genuine black DS (ID) and, being a 1969 model, had an interesting dash not found on the later cars. Most importantly, it was rust-free. The car had been bought in Paris in 1969 by a Welsh school teacher who then drove it to Egypt where he worked. That explains the absence of a heater, the lizard skeletons under the carpet and sand in the dashboard but I'm not sure I'd have have chosen black.......

I joined the Citroen Car Club and went to some of the early DS rallies over in Ely, getting to know a few fellow enthusiasts. Generally, I just got on with enjoying the car.

Just Goofing - November 1993

It was at the fourth annual DS rally in 1995 that I first saw the 1968 DS21 I currently own. 

A four speed bvh ('boîte voiture hydraulique' - hydraulically operated gearbox) car, with the  'Pallas' level of trim, comfort and refinement. To cap it all, of the dozen cars at that rally (yes - that many back then!), it was the only one with a pre-1970 dash and I loved everything about it. It was worlds away from my humble little ID19b and my head was turned. At that time the car was owned by Dominic Raffo. As it drove away into the distance I told Mick Groombridge how I coveted it - only to be told that Dominic was selling it!

Anyway, Mick put me in touch with Dominic and after an agonising couple of weeks wait, Dominic agreed to sell the car to me and a test drive was arranged at Barry Lowdell's garage in Welwyn Garden City. Or was it Hatfield? Having only driven a column change ID19 with standard clutch and brake pedals, I was warned that the quirky hydraulic clutch and gearchange of a bvh car and fearsomely sharp brake 'mushroom' took some getting used to. "Drive one for less than 15 mins" Barry said, "and you'll never drive one again". "Drive one for more than 15 minutes, and you won't want to drive anything else". He wasn't wrong. The deal was sealed and £1474.25 changed hands.

We haggled over the 25 pence.....

For a few short weeks I owned two Ds! Both street parked. Boy! The neighbours were going to be really surprised when they woke up in the morning!

An Ordinary suburban Street Scene - August 1995

The black ID19b had to go. It had always been the plan. I couldn't afford the upkeep and depreciation on two street-parked cars. I'd already put my name down for a Council garage but they were in short supply and it was going to be a long wait. I advertised the ID19 nationally and it sold to someone the other side of town to me - barely three miles away!

The sale of the ID left me to enjoy my one true love which, if I'm honest, was a bit tatty. But that didn't matter - as this was a 'keeper'. A long term project. Although originally painted 'Gris Palladium" - a metallic grey colour reserved for 'Pallas' spec cars and with either a black or 'gris argent' roof (more on that later), it was now badly sprayed in metallic silver. Possibly a Citroen BX colour. The respray generously included many of the rubber seals and fringes around the wings and doors.

Typical DS Rot.......

The car had been a South of France car but, despite this, was showing it's age: the wheel arches of the front wings were bubbly and crunchy. Worst of all, the boot was full of water and the rear wheel inner arches had great big holes. Opening the boot, I could see the wheels!..... Sound familiar?

As is common with a DS, the source of the problem was poor maintenance. Just like a house, Ds suffer from blocked gutters. Leaves and debris get caught in the narrow gaps in and around the boot hinges and  the channels at the sides of the boot. These channels then rot out - often unseen under a closed boot lid. 

'Pallas' cars also have a sponge seal around the boot lid. These soak up water and - when the boot is closed - squeeze all their moisture out and into the boot where it soaks under the carpet and behind the torsion suspension bar closing panel. Not a pretty sight.

Complete replacement rear inner wings were sourced from Andyspares, a Citroen specialist down in Reading, and the car was despatched to Geoff Rothon (owner of this car before Dominic) over in South Wales for the transplant. 

Inner Rear Wings and Boot Floor Removed - 1995

Planning ahead - or so I thought I was - I also got Geoff to paint the roof in an off-white colour in anticipation of having the other body panels resprayed the correct colour at some time.

When the car was ready, Geoff generously offered to drive it across country from Newport.  Getting a lift there from a friend of mine, we rendezvoused at a service station on the A1 just outside London. Setting off for home I followed my friend back up the A1 in convoy, driving my beloved DS21 once again. Suddenly I began to feel a strong 'bumping' sensation from the front wheels. was it a rut in the road? The sensation got stronger and I started to lift my foot off the accelerator. As I did so, there was a terrific bang and a silver flash out of the corner of my eye. The car lurched but kept a straight line as I reduced the speed and crawled over to the hard shoulder. I'd had a 'De Gaulle" moment! the car had suffered a high speed front tyre blow out at about 60 mph, possibly more. A quick inspection revealed that one of the ancient tyres had cracked and broken up, before completely disintegrating. The wheel rim had been flat-spotted, there was minor damage to the Pallas rubbing strip and there was a suspicion stain on the drivers seat. After a quick tyre change and retrieval of the Pallas hub cap from the verge( the 'silver flash'), I carried merrily on my way.

Minor adventure over, I got on with the pleasure of driving my DS21. Thoughts of a body respray  were never far away, but I secretly knew that I'd need to repair or replace the panels before a respray could happen - and money simply didn't allow.  Although I'd have liked it to be pristine, the fact it was tatty was also kind of cool. "Shabby chic" is the phrase I think. I could afford to be carefree and not worry about leaving it in the street.

12th "Club IdealeDS" rally - Normandy, July 1996

I've now owned this gorgeous car for 19 years. However, as it turned out,  I only had the pleasure of driving it for three. During that time it was my daily drive - and I loved every second of it. I also took it to France a couple of times - including a 'IdealeDS' rally in 1996. However for 16 years of my ownership it was laid-up and, for long spells, simply forgotten-about.

Then in 2014 - late August to be exact - the DS bug bit me again.....

This is the story of my ongoing efforts to get my car back on the road after it's long, long sleep.