The Citroen DS is a unique car – you either love it or you hate it. It ignored all the conventional wisdom about how a car should work and went its own way – a gamble that has never been repeated on a mass produced vehicle since.
The DS was launched in 1955 and such was the impact of the launch that 12,000 orders were taken on the first day. At a time when most cars had big radiator grills and boxy designs, the DS with its streamlined shape looked like it had arrived in a time machine. It was the first mass produced car with disk brakes, it brought with it a revolutionary hydraulic system that provided for an unsurpassed ride, excellent braking system, a manual gearbox without the need for a clutch pedal and the party trick of being able to change tyres without jacking up the car due to the height adjustable suspension. The interior made the first extensive use of plastics in the dashboard and the body panels all bolted to a central frame.
Even after an almost 20 year production run, the car was still ahead of the game in many respects, and along the way had a few face lifts and various engine and hydraulic improvements. Later models (such as mine) even had headlights that could ‘see around the corner’.
Today the DS is somewhat of a cult classic – They are still available for reasonable money and with good parts supply and are practical enough to use as more than just a weekend cruiser.
About my 1970 Citroen DS21 BVH
My Citroen DS is a 1970 DS21 BVH. What does all this mean? The DS range was always fairly complicated. Generally the models can be broken into two groups – the DS which has the full hydraulic system (allowing for the hydraulic gear change), and the ID, which had a simpler system and generally more spartan interior. (Later IDs were known as the D Special and D Super) Over time the differences shrank and IDs were available with some DS features and DSs were available with a manual gearbox, but nevertheless the distinction remained and the hydraulic gear change was only ever available on the DS. In addition, you could have a Berline (Sedan), Break/Safari (Station Wagon), or the rare and expensive cabriolet. The DS was also available with the ‘Pallas’ option, which was a package of luxury features (such as chrome strips, plush carpets, leathers etc). The ‘Pallas’ option was only available for the DS and was commonly chosen by DS buyers. The semi-automatic gearbox (BVH) was a must for me, so that ruled out the ID/D Special/D Super which are more common and easier to find. The photo below is of the car in the original for sale ad.
The DS21 BVH has the 2175cc DX2 engine and the full DS hydraulic system. BVH stands for boîte de vitesses hydraulique, which means the hydraulic semi-automatic gearbox (i.e. a clutchless manual). Unlike many DS21, it does not have the Pallas package, and it is not an IE model (Bosch Fuel Injection). BVH was not popular in Australia, and there are not many cars left on the road so equipped. 1970 was actually the last year it was officially offered in the Australian market as in 1971 new regulations enforced a park position which meant future DS were either manual, or later models with a Borg Warner auto transmission. This makes a 1970 DS21 BVH non Pallas a fairly rare car in Australia. (in an interesting way, not a $$ way). I am not sure if this car was originally sold in Australia, or was imported privately at a later date.
The car was originally delivered with a white exterior. When I purchased it, it was Rio Red, a 1971 colour, with a black targa (plastic) interior. From 1997 to 2012 it was on the Sunshine coast in Queensland, living with a Blue DS21IE BVH and a While D Special, as well as a Traction Avant. It was purchased before that in Ballina from a man called Richard Foley-Jenkins, and before that was in South Australia (I would love to be able to talk to him and find out about his time with the car, but I have no contact details). I have a photo of it in Red with South Australian plates on it, so it must have changed colour before that time. It should have originally had a Jersey Velour interior, but I do not know the colour, although I suspect gold. I purchased the car in September 2012 and drove it back to Sydney from Queensland. The trip back was a lot of fun and the car made it with no problems. This car has character as the next morning after the return trip it would not start – but it made sure it got me home safe!
Over the time I’ve owned the car, I have done a lot of work to it. The car has been repainted in Rouge Massena, a 1972 colour. The previous paint job was done at home, and up close was not great quality. After I crashed the car, I paid extra to have the whole car done in a much nicer shade of red. I’ve also re-done the interior in grey velour.
Why a DS?
I like the DS because it is the antithesis of the ‘design by committee and offend nobody’ philosophy that seems to dominate current cars. The DS was designed by a group of people with a vision of what they thought the car should be and they executed that vision despite what anyone else is doing.
The styling is still distinctive, with great details such as the rear indicator lights, the C-Pillar patterns and so on. More importantly the DS was so ahead its time from a technology point of view.
In selecting my DS I had a few key requirements. It had to be a BVH car – not everyone will agree, but to me this is part of the whole DS experience. It had to be solid and generally rust free. It had to be in good condition mechanically and I didn’t want a white car. (I don’t like white cars). I also wanted a later car that ran on LHM. While the swoopy dash and a Pallas would have been nice, these are very rare and this car me all my core requirements.
In the end I found this 1970DS21 BVH. I was generally pleased it was a carby model as the Bosch D-Jet fuel injection, while advanced can be expensive to put right.
Major Changes to the DS
Driving a DS
When you approach a DS, it will be sitting down low, like a sleeping cat. You sink into the most comfortable car seats you’ll probably experience and then you can begin the starting procedure (only boring cars just turn the key and go). Inserting the key and turning on the ignition greets you with an array of warning lights including a large “STOP” light in the middle of the dashboard – a master caution switch which looks more in place at a nuclear power plant. The gearstick is between the single spoke steering wheel and the instrument cluster and it is used to start the car (so it cannot be started in gear). Once the car has started, you’ll need to wait for the hydraulic system to build pressure and raise the car to its running height. It will rise at the back first then the front, kind of like riding a camel. Once the car has awakened, you can push the gear leaver forward into first gear and start moving. Changing gears is a simple flick of the wrist, and taking your foot off the throttle for an up shift, or adding a little for a down shift. The DS does not have a brake pedal, there is a button on the floor that is pressed – the amount of pressure determines how quickly the car will stop. At the time, Citroen had done studies on braking reaction times to develop this system.
What is next for this car?
Since I purchased the 1970 DS21 BVH, I have done a lot of the improvements I planned. This included the paint, upholstery and so on. A summary of the work I did in the first four years of ownership can be found here. There are still a few things that need doing – when the water pump exploded it warped something in the clutch, which vibrates when cold. It also needs a rebuilt hydraulic pump as this leaks.
Buying a DS
A DS is a good choice for a classic car because it is practical seating 5, they are reasonably inexpensive, has good parts supply, good club support and it does have that X factor that is needed in a classic. The biggest enemy of the DS is rust, so finding a relatively rust free example is more important than anything else. The easiest DS to start with would be a late model car, like a D Special that gives you the full DS looks and ride and comfort without additional complexity. The main thing is to find a rust free car, and if you want to be particular about the model, year, spec etc, be willing to wait for the right car to come up. I was keen on the semi-automatic gearbox system which is why I ended up with a DS21 BVH.
The early cars are really for more experienced owners. The red fluid must be changed on a regular basis and they don’t take kindly to not being used. The earlier engines are also much less powerful and come into their own on the open road rather than around town.
The instrument cluster of my Citroen DS needed to be removed to fit the new Retrosound Model Two radio I had purchased for the car. While it was out, I had a few things ...
Today I attended my first Citroen club tech Day. The event was at Schenk & Co Panel Beaters in Lidcombe. It was a great event. I got a lot of great advice ...
I've been working on getting the Retrosound Model 2 radio installed in the Citroen DS. As this website points out, the DS does not provide a lot of options to install a decent radio ...
This evening I was able to make good progress on the DS. First, I was able to fix a few of the issues with the instrument cluster, where the illumination wasn't working for the ...
The Radio upgrade on the Citroen DS is almost complete. It's taken over a month (albeit only a few hours a week). Today I properly installed the speakers. The DS front speaker ...
Today I spent more time doing small improvements to the Citroen DS. The car originally had single side mirror on the drivers side that I think was for a later car. This mirror ...
While the Citroen DS can be a rather hot car due to the engine being right next to the drivers knee, it is generally not a good idea to let it get even hotter through ...
I spent a lot of time researching the Citroen DS major production changes when I was buying mine. For easy reference I put the details in the table below. Obviously there were many more ...
The bumpers on the Citroen DS were a bit scruffy, so I used the autosol metal polish to shine them up. They were not nearly as bad as the C-pillar trim, but they came ...
But at least it won't get dust in the gear selector. I obviously stuffed up in my repair of the carby fuel inlet as I noticed fuel leaking from there, and in trying to tighten ...
After suffering the humiliation of a ham fisted owner the DS is back on the road thanks to Jason Hantos. It's also all ready for another year of rego, success! Quite a hassle to have ...
Today spend more time working on the paintwork of the DS. I finished wet-sanding the car, and the lower panels have all been polished with both stage 1 and stage 2 of the Auto ...
Ever since I bought the DS I had wanted to have a working temperature gauge. DS Temperature gauges are quite rare - only sold as standard in cold climates and on some high end models ...
While I had completed the Retrosound Model 2 install in the Citroen DS a while ago, the radio was rebooting, at times when it appeared that it was trying to draw a lot of power ...
While I was in Europe, I stopped off at Citro Classique (also known as Citro Toon) in Borculo, about an hour outside Amsterdam. My idea was to make good use of the 60kg of ...
The Retrosound Model 2 is finally working in the Citroen DS, and working well! The issue if you recall was that the unit would reboot any time I turned up the volume, used the bluetooth, ...
The Citroen DS Comfort (non Pallas) has four interior lights. Two on the inside of the B pillar and two on the inside of the C pillar. The DS Pallas has two lights on ...
While I was In Europe in September, I purchased some new interior pieces for the DS. This included a set of seat covers, door cards, headrests and armrests. While there wasn't anything wrong ...
Removing door cards on a Citroen DS is quite simple. The door cards are held on by the window winder and a series of metal clips. The metal clips attach to the back ...
Today I made good progress replacing the seat covers in the DS. In part 1, I had removed the old cover from the bottom of the back seat. Today, I was able to fit ...
In part 2, I was able to get part way through removal of the old Targa seat covers for the upper part of the rear seat. Today I was able to complete the removal ...
Citroen DS door cards are quite simple as the door handle etc is above the actual door card. So all it comprises of is the arm rest and a small hole for the window ...
Regular readers may recall that I started installing the missing rear interior lights for my DS21. These interior lights are only found in the DS Comfort - they do not exist in the Pallas model, nor ...
The Citroen DS is known for its single spoke steering wheel. It is one of the many things that make this car so unique. The steering wheels up to the 1971 model year were thin ...
In part 3, I was halfway through installing the covers on the upper part of the rear seat. Today I was able to complete the job - the rear seat is finished, in the ...
Today I changed the transmission fluid on the DS. I'm glad I did as the colour was a bit more like coffee than a nice clean red. A lot of the members of the ...
A few weeks ago, I wrapped the steering wheel on the DS and used a 3M adhesive. On the whole, this worked well for the main part of the steering wheel, but the ends ...
Now the rear seat is complete, it is time for the front seats. I started with the passengers seat, so I can still drive the car if necessary, as I expect once i've done the ...
The passengers seat is now complete! In part 5, I was able to remove the old targa covers and get the seat down to foam. After a test fit of the covers, I felt they ...
Removing the seats from the car is an easy way of cleaning underneath them, and the trim underneath my seats was rather dirty. A good clean showed the original vinyl trim in good condition, ...
Last year I removed the old targa door card from one of the rear doors and fitted the new velour door card. Today I was up to doing the front door. This is a job ...
The seat covers project is now complete! This evening I finished the back of the drivers seat (started in part 7), and installed it. I also did the hard task of putting the ...
The only warning light in the Citroen DS I wasn't sure worked was the temperature warning. You can test the bulb by pressing the button, but that doesn't testing the sender and the connection. ...
The vinegar flush I tried yesterday removed a lot of silt from the DS radiator. Each of the bottles I captured the old coolant in had a fairly decent layer of sediment in the bottom ...
Today I managed to make my second Citroen Car Club tech event. Today was bucketing down with rain, so my intention of regassing my spheres went out the window as I didn't feel the need ...
A few months ago I had started polishing the DS using Auto-glym paint pro and the cheap Chinese polishing machine I bought on eBay. I achieved good results on the roof, but overall there was ...
This evening the Citroen Club organized a night drive to La Perouse. It was a lovely warm evening, perfect for taking the DS out for a drive. The meeting point was Harry's Cafe de ...
The Putty road is one of the better driving roads close to Sydney - so much so that it is the favorite haunt of many Motorcycle clubs. (the ones that actually ride bikes, not the ones ...
The DS from what I can gather had been run on rainwater by the last owner - not sure about prior to that, but I do know it was in South Australia for a while, ...
Even on winter days, the DS had been getting a bit hot under the collar. Granted, D’s have never been the coolest running cars, and the heat of the Australian summer can tax them ...
The fourth and final door card for the DS is now installed. The reason for the long delay was that the rear drivers side door would not lock. If the door was unlocked, the ...
The DS door contact switch that controls the interior lights based on the doors being open or shut had disintegrated, which meant that the interior lights were always on. Not the most helpful feature ...
It was time again for another service for the DS. Last time, the gear oil in the transmission was quite dirty so even though it didn’t need to be done again, I thought it ...
I have tried a few times to get the rear trim that sits between the C pillars to not fall down on to the parcel shelf. My first attempt was to use the correct clips, ...
Central to the Citroen DS hydraulic system is a set of ‘spheres’ that hold hydraulic pressure. The spheres have an internal diaphragm so they can contain gas on one side and hydraulic fluid on the ...
Previously, I had removed all my suspension spheres to check their pressure. Their pressure was checked at the Citroen Club tech day, and found to be acceptable. Given I had the system ...
When I got it, the DS had threadbare blue carpets. The previous owner also had a blue DS, so I suspect at some point he upgraded the carpets in that car and the blue ...
The Citroen DS has a rubber hose that connects the air cleaner assembly with the top of the carburettor. This DS air cleaner hose had become so hard and perished that it tore when I ...
Last year I installed a Retrosound Model 2 radio in my Citroen DS. Overall, I was happy with the result, but there were one or two small things that were not working as I ...
Previously I had started re-looking at the faceplate of the Retrosound Model 2 I have installed in the DS. The biggest issue is fitment of the secondary knobs. In my first attempt, I ...
I came to start the DS the other day, and it started fine, but would not idle properly. Once the revs dropped below 1200 or so the engine died. The car had been running ...
Previously, I had been working on a nicer faceplate solution for the Retrosound Model 2 radio in the Citroen DS. I am happy to say that this is now almost complete and back in the ...
Last year I replaced my accumulator sphere on the DS. The main driver for this was that I was getting short 'cycle' times. (i.e. the hydraulic pump would kick in very regularly to maintain system ...
The sill trim on my DS was in poor condition - the rubbers were perished, the outer sill trim was cracking, and the trim on the inside sills had been replaced with Marine carpet. ...
I had originally tucked the wiring for the rear speakers in the DS under the marine carpet that was on the inside of the sills. However, I am now replacing that and gluing down ...
The other day I had removed all the sill trim from the DS. I also re-routed the speaker wires so new trim can be fitted. Next step was to fit the silver trim that ...
The DS has large box sections that run down both sides. On the DS comfort, there are various bits of vinyl trim that cover these sections. In part 1, I had replaced the outer ...
The installation of the new sill trim in the DS progresses. Today I was able to glue down the passengers side of the car after doing some final trimming to size (mostly done in ...
The project to replace the sill trim progresses well. The glue had done a good job with the passengers side trim in part 3, so I proceeded to glue down the drivers side as ...
The DS is back together and sporting pretty much a whole new interior. The new sill trim is complete and the seats have been refitted and carpets re-installed. I'm really happy with the ...
I don't normally post about routine things such as oil changes, but in this case, there is an aspect to the oil change that is not obvious and is worth mentioning. In general, the DS ...
The indicator lenses on my DS were all cracked, and the backing was in poor condition. I purchased a replacement set online, which look a whole lot better. I went to do the swap ...
Every classic car community has an issue that polarizes opinion and spawns countless threads on Internet discussion boards. For the Citroen DS, that issue is what is the right tyre for the DS? Michelin ...
The front indicator lenses on the DS were badly cracked and discoloured, so it seemed like a good idea to replace them. They are available aftermarket and are quite easy to change over. I ...
When I purchased my Citroen DS21, what attracted me to it was that it was the model I wanted and virtually rust free. It provided a solid foundation, but needed a bit of attention on ...
Today I went to the Citroen Car Club meeting to get the historic rego signed for my Traction Avant. I am not often able to attend these meetings so it was good to catch ...
After my unfortunate DS crash I was able to locate a new old stock bonnet for my DS. The bonnet for the DS is aluminium which makes repairing the current bonnet rather difficult. I ...
A few months ago I managed to damage the front of the DS while parking it. Insurance will cover the repair to the front of the car, but instead of having the insurance repair ...
All these years I have owned the DS I assumed the boot lid was fibreglass. Fibreglass reproductions are available in Europe for those who want a cheap way of replacing rusted or damaged body panels ...
The next step to prepare the DS for paint was to remove the bumper bar. This also allows the number plate panel to be removed which needs to be repainted as well. In ...
Back in September last year, I unfortunately crashed my DS. Since then, I was able to track down a NOS bonnet, some good used bumpers and other parts and strip the rear of the ...
The repairs to the DS continue to progress well. The crash damage is now repaired and the new parts I was able to get for the car have all been fitted and seem to ...
The doors have now been removed from the DS to prepare them for paint. The DS makes this easier than most other cars as the panels are all unstressed and fairly easy to remove. ...
The DS is almost ready for paint. Most of the work has been on the doors and rear wings. Both rear wings are pretty much ready and the doors are not far behind ...
The DS is now repaired and is in the process of preparation for paint. Not only did work need to be done to fix the damage from the crash, but previous repairs had to ...
Despite having no luck with the normal European suppliers, I was able to source much better C Pillar trims for the DS locally through the Aussie Frogs Forum. The DS C Pillar trims are ...
The new DS paint is almost complete and it looks amazing! The car is completely transformed with a professional paint job and a nice colour. In addition, the wheels are sporting their correct ...
The DS should be ready to be collected next week. All the panels are back on including the NOS bonnet. The front of the car looks pretty much as it should now. Just ...
The paintwork on the DS is now complete and the car is ready to be re-assembled. I have the car back in my warehouse. To re-assemble I need to: Re-fit the four door ...
The Citroen DS has easily removable front wings. They can be removed in a matter of minutes for various maintenance jobs. Instead of one big plug like you would find on other cars (e.g. a ...
The windows in a Citroen DS are frame-less. This means they need careful adjustment so they seal properly and wind up and down to the correct height. When my car was painted, the panels were ...
One of the first and easiest jobs after the repaint was to fit the Citroen DS Mirrors. Before the repaint I was continually having the mirrors adjust themselves at speeds above 80km/h. That is, they ...
My efforts in getting the wiring right at the front of the DS continue to disappoint. This time, I made a harness to test multiple wires at the same time. This helped somewhat, but I ...
Before the boot lid can be attached to the car, the Citroen DS badges need to be mounted. This is something I have unsuccessfully been trying to do for a few weeks. I found a ...
The Citroen DS boot lid is almost ready to be mounted on the car. Before Xmas I was able to finally fit the badges properly. The next task was mounting all the other hardware and ...
The world's slowest Citroen DS reassembly continues. Today's job was to reassemble the bumper in readiness to put it back on the car. I had taken the opportunity to polish the bumper while it was ...
The DS is finally looking more like a car, now I have mounted the boot lid. A couple of weeks ago I prepared the boot lid for mounting. This involved adding the seal, ...
Today's job was to work on the DS door trim. Most importantly, re-mounting the door cards. The door cards were new in 2014 and still in great shape. The grey velour goes very well with ...
When I completed the boot lid last week, I forgot an important part. The boot lid struts! I was going through my parts box last night to mount the window cranks and noticed them. The ...
Before I can get the DS back on the road, I need to sort out the front end wiring. This controls the headlights, indicators, horns etc. There is obviously something wrong here as I ...
The rear bumper bar has been ready for fitting since February. I had not yet mounted it was one of my tail light housings was not working and I figured its easier to replace this ...
The restoration of my DS is almost complete. The DS rear bumper is now back on the car and from the outside the car looks complete. I'm really happy with how it looks. The bumper ...
You would think that mounting the DS window cranks would not be worthy of a full post, but there was more to it than I thought! My car had the wrong window cranks installed prior ...
As part of my DS restoration I had already replaced one of the DS rear indicator housings. I wasn't particularly impressed with the quality of the reproduction part. It had been suggested to me that ...
Today I attended to a few more minor adjustments to the DS. I plan to take the car to the French car show in mid-July which is a good deadline to complete the most outstanding ...
After all my hassles with the DS wiring, I wanted a better solution. Not only were the existing bullet connectors old and brittle, but their colours had largely faded. Instead of replacing the bullet connectors ...
As my DS has a NOS bonnet, I did not want the hot engine to damage the paint. The Citroen DS under bonnet insulation not only protects the paint, but also reduces noise. I was ...
A couple of months ago my DS had one of the front suspension boots replaced to cure a bad LHM leak. When this was done, it was apparent the bushings in the steering rack ...
The Retrosound Model 2 radio in my Citroen DS has been playing up. It would randomly adjust the volume on its own, mostly down. The practical effect of this was not being able to listen ...
After my Citroen DS was painted, there were a couple of cosmetic things wrong with the car that were far more noticeable. One of them was the DS window rubbers and felts. The previous ...
The Citroen DS cooling system is somewhat unique in that it relies almost exclusively on pulling air through ducting to cool the radiator. Most cars have a grille where the faster the car moves, the ...
Today I attended a Citroen Car club tech day. Since most Citroens are equipped with hydropneumatic suspension, the club has equipment to pressure test spheres. It has been five years since I tested my spheres, ...
Recently during a night drive I discovered my Citroen DS instrument cluster lighting had failed. In Sydney, where I live, this is a huge problem as the city is bristling with speed cameras. ...
Earlier in the week I had identified the lack of instrument cluster lighting was due to a crack in the instrument cluster circuit board. The crack was causing an intermittent broken circuit. I wasn't able ...
I've known the battery was going out on my Citroen DS for a while. I had to start it on the jump pack after only a few weeks of inactivity, and my Ctek charger started ...
The Citroen DS hydraulic pump is integral to many key systems on the car. Suspension, brakes, steering, gearchange to name a few. All of these system rely on hydraulic pressure to do their job. Other ...
A couple of weeks ago, while a friend of mine was over helping me install a rebuilt hydraulic pump, we noticed the rattle from my engine was coming from the air cleaner. On further inspection, ...
The Citroen DS is known for the quality of its ride. The books use epithets such as 'Magic carpet ride'. There is a bit of puffery in that statement, but the sentiment is right ...
Earlier this year, I had the suspension spheres on my 1970 Citroen DS checked for pressure. The ride had become pretty terrible, so it was obvious there was a problem. We were able to successfully ...
I've noticed the oil pressure light would come on at odd times in my Citroen DS. Mostly when I would rev the engine, for example going up a hill. It would go out if I ...
