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.
Citroen DS major production changes
Obviously there were many more changes during the production run, but these were the major changes that make a difference when buying a car. This table is for the DS range, not for the IDs that had other changes and at different times. The DS range is quite complicated and it took me to some time to fully understand it.
My car being a 1970, has the third nose and dashboard, push button door handles, LHM, The DX2 short stroke engine, and a BVH.
The best advice when buying a DS is to purchase the car on condition, not specification. However, if there are specific features that are important to you, you may be restricted to specific years or models. For me, the key feature was having a BVH car running LHM. Generally, as the production run went on, the cars became more usable, but less avant-garde. For example, a late DS23 will keep up with modern traffic and be easier to live with, but not have nearly the charm of an DS19, especially interior and dashboards.
As another example, should you want the earlier dashboard, but with LHM, you’ll be restricted to 1967-1969. Finding one of these cars in Australia is possible, but likely you’re waiting a long time.
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