British boat builders. Rubbish!

[Ubergeekian]

I think I am right in saying that Citroen lost money on every D model they built. But made up on the small stuff. 2CV etc.

As far as I know, the DS was a consistent money-maker. Minis supposedly lost BMC a tenner each.

I also lost pressure on a D 20 special. First the steering got tough, then the brakes went and the suspension lowered to the bump stops (50kph max) We managed to figure out which hose had failed (return from left front suspension) and found a tractor mech. who was open. He had the fluid and a light, so we could fix the leak. Odd result was that it was several days before the brakes cleared the air. A touch resulted in a crash stop, ouch!

Unlike the suspension, which simply needs cycled three times, DS brakes do need bled. Luckily it's quick and easy to do: attach pipes from nipples to reservoir, crack open nipples, start engine, apply brakes for thirty seconds. Snatching as you describe is normally air in the brake valve which, as I am sure you know, is an extremely complicated device.

BTW, the foot/parking brake acted on the front discs, and was extremely effective.

One local MOT place tried to fail my DS on "completely non-functioning parking brake". I asked them which wheels they had on the rollers at the times and they had the grace to look very embarrassed. Pass!

Um, boating relevance, erm ... I have the towbar ready to fit, so I can use it to pull the Hunter 490 around next year. How's that?

 

[Twister_Ken]

Never made it to a DS. Had a GS. If only the fine tolerances of the suspenders had been matched by those of the pistons and cylinders. On a cold morning, that car could do a great imitation of a WW2 destroyer whose captain had just been ordered to "Make Smoke". Still loved it though. And the brakes! Just the merest caress, otherwise your eyeballs would ricochet off the windscreen.

 

[RobF]

Methinks we may need to change the title of this thread. I joined the Citroen party much much later. Had a CX followed by a couple of BXs.

 

[ianc1200]

Had a 1968 DS21 semi automatic (my best car ever), 1973 DS23 EFI manual, 3No. 2CV's, GS, ZX, etc. If I didn't have boats would love to have a semi auto late 60's DS again. Did lose all the fluid once, a seal went, and lost brakes/steering/suspension. Starter motor kept failing as well, so often handing standing it. The DS 23 clutch cable was always snapping until a modification was made to a bracket.

The semi auto DS 21 had a small gear change over the steering wheel which activated the starter, and you could flick into gear. Where you'd normally have the clutch was the "parking brake" and the normal brake, like all DS's, was a button, very powerful. The dashboard was something like a American 50's car, all chrome and sliding tachometer, the DS 23 was updated but more like a Cortina.

Also always hankered after a French (rather than Slough) built Light 15.

 

[Avocet]

Didn't they have an advertising slogan for the DS along the lines of "in the year 2000, this car will still look futuristic"? They almost got away with it too, had it not been for the flat side windows and upright windscreen!

I had 2 DS, 2CX and (briefly) a BX and a Xantia. Always wanted an SM....

I think the DS probably holds the record for the greatest number of innovations in one car.

 

[Kurrawong_Kid]

This thread seems to have had the widest "course over the ground" as opposed to the "course to steer" of any post I've read. How did we get from boats to Citroens!?

 

[Ubergeekian]

Didn't they have an advertising slogan for the DS along the lines of "in the year 2000, this car will still look futuristic"? They almost got away with it too, had it not been for the flat side windows and upright windscreen!

When it was designed the DS windscreen was the largest piece of curved glass ever put into production. They couldn't make the shape reliably at first, which is why it's held on by clamps at the bottom - they could accommodate 5mm variations in profile.

I think the DS probably holds the record for the greatest number of innovations in one car.

The only disappointment, really, is the engine. The later 5 bearing ones were a bit better, but still rather agricultural. A friend's Daimler Dart lives next to my DS - if he ever totals it I am going to salvage that gorgeous V8 and, by hook of by crook, squeeze it into the Citroën.

That said, mine (DS23 manual) is an utter joy to drive, and I confess I like the head turning looks. One day I'm going to get a sticker for the rear windscreen saying "No one's looking at your Porsche". The only downside is that it drinks petrol, though I had an LPG conversion done, which softens the blow...

Ah, roll on spring. All I have to do is refit the driver's seat and all the lights ... she had a respray last summer and I still haven't got round to sticking her together again. Dark blue, she is now, with a white roof.

 

[sailorman]

When it was designed the DS windscreen was the largest piece of curved glass ever put into production. They couldn't make the shape reliably at first, which is why it's held on by clamps at the bottom - they could accommodate 5mm variations in profile.



The only disappointment, really, is the engine. The later 5 bearing ones were a bit better, but still rather agricultural. A friend's Daimler Dart lives next to my DS - if he ever totals it I am going to salvage that gorgeous V8 and, by hook of by crook, squeeze it into the Citroën.

That said, mine (DS23 manual) is an utter joy to drive, and I confess I like the head turning looks. One day I'm going to get a sticker for the rear windscreen saying "No one's looking at your Porsche". The only downside is that it drinks petrol, though I had an LPG conversion done, which softens the blow...

Ah, roll on spring. All I have to do is refit the driver's seat and all the lights ... she had a respray last summer and I still haven't got round to sticking her together again. Dark blue, she is now, with a white roof.

I used to see a DS Pallas ( i think ) & that was a head turner

 

[DownWest]

My pressure loss experience was boaty. We were on the way back from surveying a Tegus sailing barge. 80ft long with the same length grown mast and just the one sail, in cotton. Price was very cheap, but the bow shape was unsuitable for sea work, so we nixed it for the buyer. (they came with two types of bow, this was the flat one)
The hose fix we did ourselves. The tractor mech had never worked on a Citroen, but had a suitable mineral fluid, and didn't mind staying open at 8 p.m. This was in the middle of the Alentejo, so we were lucky.

If the boat had been suitable, the second half of the job was to sail it round from Lisbon to the Spanish boarder at Ayamonte. I always wonder what that trip would have been like...


Talking of Porsche, didn't Ferdie have a hand in the design of the D's systems?

 

[Ubergeekian]

Talking of Porsche, didn't Ferdie have a hand in the design of the D's systems?

Not as far as I know - I think it was all in-house Citroën. They had a practice with a run of Traction Avants, the 15H, with self-levellinh hydraulic rear suspension and used that experience to design the DS system. 15Hs are much sought-after, but an absolute pain to keep on the road as the hydraulic system is quite different from the DS, with few if any interchangeable parts.

 

[Marsupial]

If you look, you will find good and bad in all makes but my most vivid memory is of an vehicle engine that failed to start at the end of final assemby, it had a metal tag on it that identified it and showed it had be hot tested on the dyno the night before and had produced 115hp, but the starter spun it over too quickly, when it was stripped there were no pistons or con rods inside . . .