CITROËN DS23 PALLAS (1974) / A car that makes you laugh out loud
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2022
- If you've never seen one or sat in one, this is a must-watch video for you.
Experience this amazing classic car with me. The Citroen DS23 Pallas was the final and most luxurious version of this French beauty made between 1955 and 1975. Over 1.5 million of them were made but quite rare to see on the roads any more. Especially in this condition. I learned to drive on my father's DS23 "Goddess", and to be honest didn't think much of it back in 1977. But how wrong can a smarty pants teenager be? I admit it. This is a magical car, and I want you all to share it with me, now I've had my revelation. So it's time for me to say sorry dad, it is a true classic. It might be hard to work on, and it might be fussy and not particularly fast, but it's a really important car and delightful to drive.
And more than that, a very significant car in the history of the automobile. So many clever innovations that were decades ahead of their time. A genuine aerodynamic body with an excellent drag co-efficient, self-levelling suspension, the first car with production disc brakes, headlights that turn around corners. Come along with owner and guest presenter Mike and myself and enjoy the superbly comfortable lounge-room on wheels that is the Citroen DS23.
And one more thing. We need your opinion. Has this car got better with age? I think so. Is it beautiful or the ugliest car you've ever seen? Leave a comment!
#citroen #Citroën #deesse #goddess - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
I live in a part of Canada where winters are severe. A buddy of mine bought a DS23 in the early seventies and invited me to go on a back-country pub evening with him. There was a h_ll of a snow storm blowing and I called him up asking if he wanted to cancel. He said, (I quote) 'No way man ... I'm driving a Citroen .. they eat this weather!'. I thought, 'Well, okay .. I guess he knows what he's doing, but to be frank .. I was worried a h_ll.' He pulls up in a DS23. I'd never seen one before .. it looked to me like it came from Mars. I jumped in and we headed to a country pub 30 km away. This storm was near-epic. Couldn't see sh_t. I was really impressed with the Ds's ride, and everything else about it. The thing 'ate' the snow and seemed unstoppable against those tall snowbanks in the centre of the highway. I told my buddy I thought the car was beyond amazing. He looked a me and said, 'Well, buddy it has just one problem in winter'. 'And what is that', I asked? To which he replied, 'For aerodynamics and who knows what else, the underside of this car looks like a snow sled, and that's exactly how the car behaves if you run off the road in winter.'. He ran off the road in a snow storm a week before and slid on the smooth underside so far that needed the cables of three tow trucks combined to reach the car. Regardless, I'd love to own one if I could afford it. PS: I asked a Frenchman (from France, not Canada) why he thought Citroen created the DS. He said, 'To show the world we are not losers. That we are as good as and better than the Germans at automotive innovation. The DS was a statement for France and with her middle finger held high towards Germany.'. AMEN
It's a bit of a long story, but I assure you it's true and I hope you enjoyed it.
Cool story
Great story. I'm curious what's the reason you choose not to type the word hell.? Or at the least not the full word. Is it to do with some superstition of yours that writing the word hell will cause bad things to happen to you? Hell's only a word?
Great French anecdote.
Love your story which illustrates the well known qualities of the DS, however I am not certain it was ever created to compete German cars.
In fact it was created to replace the ageing « Traction » and meant to be a large distribution car. I believe on the other hand that all engineers working on the project wanted to achieve something unique, which they did on several aspects, design, suspension, and so on… for historical reference, the car saved former President De Gaulle from the attack at Petit Clamart.
The very idea that this car -truly a great, really great car, don't get me wrong - would be conceived and built in order to make a point in a competition between nations, to "show the world we are not losers" is, to say the least idiotic. A statement like this could only stem from a nation / a person with a chronic inferiority complex. It also serves to illustrate that sometimes, an inferiority complex is spot on, the result of a correct observation.
It's not only gorgeous, it's automotive engineering genius!
to me the DS Citroen is the most beautiful car in the world ............. LOVED it since I first saw the car in my teens ! Awesome car man
As a child, I knew that my father would come home with een new Citroen every year and e half and I learned to drive in this wonderful, beautiful car.I cherisch my memories about our holidays with this car
After 57 years old and lots of experience in the Auto electrical work I believe it is the most beautiful car ever seen honestly
The DS23 Pallas is THE most epic car ever built.
Stunningly beautiful and an engineering masterpiece that leaves every other car since in the gutter.
Here in the US, I too, laughed at the DS when I was young. Not anymore, it's a beautiful car.
This is has been my dream car for the last 58 years. After twenty years of production and after another 47 years it still has not been matched or surpassed.
It’s a matter of choice,I love them ,I was a Citroen mechanic in the 70s and have always loved the Citroens from that era ,and loved working on them
And you had to be a mechanic to work on those cars....was no joke
@@jean-yvesmartin6934
Are you suggesting a Baker would not be competent or knowledgable to work on a Citroen ? Of course you had to be a mechanic !
Back in the mid 70's my mate had a DS 22 Pallas, and it was the first car I've driven at 115 mph (185 kph) on the open highway - admittedly it did take awhile to get there, but it felt stable and safe even at that speed. (yes, I was a little nervous then)
In the 70's it was said that this car was 20 years ahead of its time, although I was very sceptical and didn't believe them..... but time has proved them right.
Love from South Africa!!
It's no surprise that creative people, designers, architects, art directors and others usually love DS Citroens, while others find their Avante-Garde design very challenging. Growing up in the seventies, I loved my DS23 Pallas, and later enjoyed many other Citroens, but still regret not buying an SM.
Including the designer of the Sydney Opera House....
So true, never thought of it like that. I fit that group. Bang on!
It is beautiful but the Maserati V6 was not very reliable.
The french highway police used them as fast patrol cars for only a few years. And the famous soccer player Johan Cruyff used to own 1.
IMO the best Citroën has to be the CX turbo2. Just as cool as a DS but actually faster then the SM ever was.
The XM V6 24v is nice and fast as well.
Still looks beautiful,in & out, & way ahead of our times, now ❤
You’re probably further ahead for not having owned an SM.
It's not only gorgeous but rather very attaching. You fall in love with it once you've driven one
I am French, we were living in Sydney, Frenchs Forest, back in 1958. I was eight years old, and on my way to school, one morning, with some friends, I saw a DS for the first time in my life: it just glided by… My friends were astonished : « What was that ? … it is a French car ! ».
Vraiment elle est une belle voiture Francaise
When I was a kid I didn't like the Citroen Ami 6 berline with that idiotic reverse rear window but things change and now I just adore it so much that I went to France 🇫🇷 in 2018 and I bought one 😊
It s like "Roquefort" (french blue cheese) you don't like it until you get older...
There was a reason for that revers rear window!! Habitability of the rear passengers. Famino Bertoni was a genius!
Greatest car ever made.
I owned a DS for 13 years and I can honestly say it would stop traffic and pedestrians in their tracks and bring smiles to the faces of many people of all ages.
Even people who had never seen a DS before would be drawn like a moth to the flame, as its design lines would just suck them in for a closer look. I even had a policeman stop me one for a motoring offence, but as he was lecturing me, I noticed his eye being drawn towards the DS. He stopped talking to me and asked me what it was. I told him. He just carried on looking round it and in the end waved me off without writing a ticket, still stating at it as I viewed him in my rear view mirror..
I don't know any other 4 door family saloon that you could possibly say the same thing about. Beautiful and charismatic.
Great story. I didn't know it was possible to commit an offence in a DS. Mike told me they were impervious to that kind of thing
The DS, a stunningly beautiful car with a ride as smooth as a cashmir cod piece!
What an excellent metaphor
I do believe the Citroen DS is the most beautiful car ever designed. I'm not from the school of thinking that the overly exaggerated muscle cars of Italy being beautiful. Some of the German sports cars come closest but at the end of the day the Goddess is unmatched.
A fantastic video, a fabulous, dream car.
Thank you for an amazing testimony about this space-age vehicle.
Imagine launching such a car in the 50's !! What a difference compared to all the "cubic" cars around!! These engineers had no fear to be different. Iconic design, beautiful car, still today a head turner
I had a 1979 ID-19 that I loved, drove from Portage,Wisconsin to Key West, Fla non-stop with my wife and newborn son! Probably the best car I ever owned, wish I could get another one today!
That really is a long drive! thanks for your comment
That's nice, except they weren't made in 79!
Citroën stopped making these cars in 1975... might be a 1959 or 1969 model...
Love it lol. The only car we had during my childhood. And we still have it lol. My dad never wanted anything else. When he passed away we couldn't sell his DS. So we kept it for occasional fun rides.
I’ve never drove a Citroen in my life, but I (also) think that the DS from the sixties and the seventies is the greatest car ever made.
I hope you get a chance to ride or drive in one
You should try it, it's truly like driving on a cushion of air.....smooth as......
@@010Astroboy if the opportunity comes, I’ll take it 👍
Beautiful in its own way, certainly in its uniqueness; engineering-wise, a masterpiece. I first rode in one in 1969; to this day, still the smoothest ride I've ever experienced.
When I retired for the second time, my wife and I pulled the trigger on a lifelong passion - to own a 1959 Jaguar XK-150. The obsession came from an early childhood toy - a beautiful battery-powered Jaguar. We acquired the car in an unlikely place - a shed on a farm in Minnesota. Its owner loved the roadster, but had fallen on hard times. We owned the XK for 10 years, fixing everything and preserving it as a low-mile everyday driver. We sold it eventually to a gent who was just as enamored with its curves as we were. This video has reignited another desire to experience owning and operating a DS. As an engineer, would I be as enamored with the legendary ride? Time will tell. Let the search begin! Thanks for such a fine discussion of a fine automobile!
You'll love the ride and lots of other things, but after the XK you may not be impressed by the Citroen's engine.
Everyone bangs on about how the suspension goes up and down or you can drive on 3 wheels but the most impressive feature wasn't mentioned at all, despite it appearing at 11:32 - It will stop in a straight line, no hands on the steering wheel, even with a front-tyre blow-out, as demonstrated by that clip from a South African advertisement and demonstration-day. Apart from the hydropneumatics, the suspension geometry is entirely set up for straight-line stability. There is no bump steer or torque steer at all.
My dad had one in the late 60s; my ma in law even earlier when there were no paved roads in Botswana,
I also learnt to drive on a DS (21) in Greece in 1975, my father's car. Most beautiful car ever! I wish I could find one and be able to afford it now.
Back in the late '60s I had a Citroen ID 19, which was an absolute dream machine. It was as quiet as a Rolls, and cruised at 140kph on the German Autobahns. My only mishap was on the Dover ferry going to England, when I was being hurried off the boat, and I took off before the car had reached driving height; so my muffler got torn off on the boat ramp! I'd buy another in a heartbeat, it was by far the best car I've ever owned. I called it The Big Green Pleasure Machine!
I too, did not appreciate this car when I was young and only recently as I approach retirement am I appreciating what a phenomenon these cars were.
I first saw one as a very small boy. It was parked up on the kerb. I stood near it for about half an hour. I kept walking around it looking at all the details as nothing of it resembled any car I had ever seen. I looked inside this amazing beautiful red and white spaceship. It was amazing inside as well, with a steering wheel with one spoke. To my joy I eventually got to ride in a few in France then my view improved even more as they rode like on a cloud being cavernous inside.
Absolutely love the DS, a true motoring icon and probably the most innovative car of all time
The best review of the iconic Citroen DS that I have seen.
You were very sedate floating through the NSW countryside.
Brings back fabulous memories of low flying in my 1972 DS21 EFI Pallas 5 speed with leather at an imperious 150-160 kph in overdrive 5th at 4,250 rpm.
Did you know that the first car to circumnavigate Australia in 1925 was a 1923 Citroen 5CV.
The DS was assembled in Heidelberg in Victoria from 1961 to 1966.
The DS21 carbie had 115 bhp, 23 - 118 bhp the 21 EFI 129 bhp 23 EFI 132 bhp
Rear wheels narrower for aerodynamics plus handling.
I had both a 21 & 23 EFI 5 speed Pallas - the 21 engine was more free revving and flexible.
My first car age 18 was a 1962 Aussie assembled ID19 with 83 bhp and a top speed of 90 mph - better than 1 mph per horsepower.... I went everywhere at top speed. In the first 3 weeks, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Lighting Ridge, Gold Coast.
Once drove a 1966 ID with no body panels and only a driver's seat to the local shops in suburban Sydney. Great in floods on high suspension & exploring fire trails.
Later I got a new 1978 CX Prestige 2400 EFI 5 speed with leather.... a low flying spaceship.
Wow Stephen there's as much information in your comment as in my whole review. Very interesting!
@@inCARnationAustralia All part of my addiction. 17 Citroens over 51 years including 8 DSs, 3 GSs, 1 CX, 1 Xantia, 3 2CVs, 1 C4 Cactus.
Current manifestations are the Cactus & 1990 2CV6 Charleston which is having a Big Bore engine fitted - increase from 602cc to 652cc - plus a 'Power Tube'..... watch out - "Officer, I got carried away with the power - 29hp now sizzling 36 hp"...550,000 2CV kms over 44 years.... More Smiles Per Mile...
my parents had always wanted a DS ever since first having seen them.
it came to be that they owned two ds21 pallas models starting in the 70s and ending in the 90s.
in hindsight i can see how much for granted i took my dad's letting me use the car, if available, for anything i wanted to use it for.
my parents were born and raised in europe, having emigrated to the dreadful north america where these cars were wildly under-appreciated.
having both extensively driven the ds21 pallas as well as passengering in it i would have to say that the car is unto its own category of excellence in every regard.
Like you, my Dad owned two of them consecutively when I was a kid in Singapore. Marvelous cars, so comfortable. I remember him driving through flood waters in Malaysia with the suspension jacked up. The AC used to struggle in the heat and they used to overheat in stationery traffic. I long to own one now..
Hey, I heard in Singapore there is restriction for old car.. is that correct? Is your Citroen still intact? It would be shameful if the particular Citroen DS23 is not allowed on Singapore roads just because of that restriction.
@@notamoonraker Yes I think you probably need some sort of special permit to have an old car. I have been out of Singapore for more than 40 years now. I think Dad's DS23s are now dust unfortunately.
@@notamoonraker I lived in Singapore in the early 2000's, I had a customer who had a 1980's Porsche 911, so I asked him about about how he kept it on the road in Singapore. Basically he has buy a new COE every 10 years, as the government sells COE's at auction they usually cost ~$40k so most people don't bother keeping an 10+ year old car, if your spending that on a piece of paper you may as well get a new car unless the old car is something really special. I asked him what happens to the old cars, most people sell them for scrap, but the scrap metal merchants don't usually crush them, they will sell them to car dealers in surrounding countries (mostly Malaysia and Indonesia) and only crush what they can't sell. So Yen's Dad's DS probably ended up in another country.
As an insolent teenager in the 1980s, the Ferrari 308 was the impossibly beautiful swan, and this car was the ugliest of ugly ducklings. Now I find the 308 has lost a great deal of its appeal, but my I find myself curiously awakened to the charm and mystique of the Citroen DS23. Your dad was right, as dads most always are when dealing with insolent teenagers.
Thanks Ed. One doesn't expect to come across such reflective insights in the comments section of a car review. So .. thanks!
Such a lovely, charming car, amazing to see 2 Aussies appreciating this beautiful creation despite not having a V8… 😂
Thank you, yes Mike and Pauline absolutely love their goddess. But you've got me thinking. Yeah.. let's whack a Holden 308 in it. On second thoughts, let's not.
The DS still looks futuristic and quite beautiful.
I had a friend with one of these. Like a loungeroom inside, and that magic carpet ride with speed bumps being heard rather than seen. It's a shame Citroen themselves have dropped the hydropneumatic system from their newer cars, probably on cost grounds. There's nothing that I'm aware of on the market today that matches it, short of a Rolls Royce.
I was so impressed with the DS23, that during my time in the UK, I bought a BX19 wagon with essentially the same magic carpet ride. Four adults and luggage, or just the driver, the ride was the same.
About the narrower track at the rear, the reason for that is aerodynamics. It lets the car have a smaller wake, and that reduces drag.
Yes, sadly I didn't get to drive this one. Maybe one day.
Some smaller Citroens had a shorter wheelbase at one side, so as to allow one rear torsion bar to be ahead of the other.
@@robertbennett9949 The Renault 16 was also built like this.
@@rosswond ...and the "quatrelle" Renault 4L
The Rolls is garbage compared to a DS 21 Pallas. The Hydropneumatic System was given to Rolls Royce when they introduced the Silver Shadow. The English idiots tried to improve on Citroen's System and Design, to end up with an unreliable abortion !
The DS is my favourite car and I bought one in a French village back in the 80's. My best driving moment was when I was in the centre of London and a beautiful Australian woman pulled up next to me on a powerful motorbike and, "nice car mate" and then sped off! The one that got away! 😂 However I'm not sure I would say it's the most beautiful car in the world and certainly not more beautiful than the E Type Jag. It is though the most futuristic and unusual looking car ever built. As the French philosopher Roland Barthes said, it looks like a space ship that has arrived from another planet! 🛸
Beautiful doesn’t do it justice…it is the most comfortable car in the world…it’s appearance is so far ahead of its time and to this day more than challenges contemporary, high style vehicles…it deserves to be number “1”
I always thought that these were the most beautiful, futuristic cars ever!
Great review. Loved these cars since a family friend drove me in his DS 21 semi auto in the 70s. Amazingly sophisticated, comfortable and smooth riding, and back then the engine seemed to have decent torque not requiring a lot of revs. I even drove an ID19 manual a bit later which felt less luxurious but still quite sophisticated, especially compared to the locally manufactured cars which rode & handled like billy carts with no brakes. Thanks to you Stu, and to the owner for sharing.
Unspeakably beautiful. I only had the chance to be a child in one, but it was fabulous.
Really a Godess (Déesse) and unbelievable: The design was made in 1956! In that time most other cars looked like coaches. This design was extremely in front of the time. And also the comfort was (is!) legendary. If I could afford it, I would buy one at once.
If I ever won the lottery, a DS23 in mint condition would be my first purchase.
"The DS is not the car of the future, nor the car of the past. It is the car of today!"
It is the most beautiful, innovative , one of most iconic and yet very practical cars ever !
I agree the Ferrari 250 Lusso is incredibly beautiful (and is my all-time favourite car), and I do love the timeless lines of the E-type. But I have also had a long-time infatuation with the DS. I will agree it’s looks probably have to grow on you. Sadly, at one point I passed up the opportunity to buy, at a good price, an original black DS23ie Pallas with brown leather interior. The DS Decapotable by Chapron has to be the most beautiful convertible ever!
I was 11 years old when our neighbour gave me a lift in his new D23 Pallas, back in 1972 in what is now Namibia. That magic carpet ride, and the impeccably understated French elegance remains a fond childhood memory.
I've loved this car since I was a kid back in the 60's, and I still think it looks like a cool spaceship!
What a pleasure. Simply stunning example. Thank you guys for sharing your joy.
Our pleasure!
Yes I fully agree. The French language is the most romantic and smooth tongue there is... so this car is the most lovely creation in the world, I love it !!!! xxx
One of the best. Not many 'aerodynamic' cars look this good.
Lovely to see a DS miles away and being appreciated. You can make the rear blinds almost silent with adjustment of the vertical supports 😊
I‘m 60. When I was a boy I would be so excited every time I saw a Citroën DS. I could not get enough of it… I would circle it half a dozen times and look through its windows. The boy car too top it would be the Citroën SM, which was even more far out. Later I would often drive the DS of a friend. It offers a completely unique and idiosyncratic driving experience. Wherever I went people would look and smile or even stop and start a conversation about it. The reactions werte always friendly… no Porsche or Lambo would get that, To this day, these Citroën’s are my favourites… I have seen a few of the Chapron convertibles, which are gorgeous.
In 1974 I bought a 72 DS 21 Spéciale. It was my first car. Short story: best pick-up car ever owned. Perfect for Montreal winters. No dealership. No parts.
I had the honour to own two DS20 in the 70ies. I dearly miss them. They have been great companions on the road.
hi from Argentina - I am a CITROËN ultra fan - I own a C5 AIRCROSS 2021 and my wife C# 2018 AT - i know my future car will be a DS3 if possible during 2023 - and always in LOVE with DS Pallas since I saw it back in the 70 but never own one - thanks for sharing the experience - CITROËN was is and will be ahead of its time
Thanks I’m glad our vids are appreciated in Argentina
Yes, the DS Citroen is a unique beauty with a unique streamline design and advanced innovative engineering systems.
Once and stil one of the best cars in the world, if not the best of all times.
They have a unique look. Sometimes I really like them. Sometimes I'm like they're a little bit weird but that's what makes them so unique and give them character. But that suspension is amazing, especially since it was made in the '50s I will say your comment about the way it looks the front track being wider and the rear track being narrower. It's a combination of things. Firstly, it's the front wheel drive. Secondly, it's the aerodynamics and thirdly it's driving stability. It may not be exactly in that order, but those are the three main reasons why the front track was wider than the rear
C'est magnifique la Deesse! Une voiture formidable!
The most unusual car ever made also one of the revolutionary cars and a very good looking car easy on the eye
Beauty is so much more than skin deep. The Gordon Murray's of this world and the other esteemed designers love the DS not just for its looks but the beauty of the engineering design under the skin. Also it proves how little you know when you're young and how long it takes to develop wisdom. A real lesson in life is the DS. ❤❤🇫🇷🇫🇷♥️♥️ Need I say any more than Jeremy Clarkson voted it the 75th best car ever produced. Wtf folks listen to that idiot I do not know.
my dad had three of these over my time growing up. the ds was a great car for innovation. but as far as reliability goes, they wouldn't stay running. there was always something going wrong. and this was in the 70s so they weren't old at the time.
The most beautiful car ever....my dad taking all the family to Spain..in a Morris 1100 .in the mid 60s.....with the DS armada floating on air.. passing us by at high speed....like effing Startrek..
But the Morry 1100 (or the Austin 1800 for that matter) was a comfy ride too, with its hydrolastic suspension and intimate bench seats. Granted not quite as floaty as the Citroen but cooler today than it was back then. Would you like to own that Morris again now?
it give me shivers when you enterd the view point... i was there in 2016 during a 14000km in Australia. this canadian is due to return to Stralia.! thank for that great presentation of a magnificiant car!
I love the confidence of the French, it's a lovely car.
I run away from home as a young teenager, about 42 years ago. When I came to Paris, and I took a taxi and the DS was the taxi. I was hooked, the most beautiful car I've seen, and a dream to go in. Still love it.
I’ve never seen a DS in person. It’s a dream car to me!
Yes the greatest car ever. Let down a little bit by the motor, but once you embrace that smooth, shock free ride no other car can compete. Particularly modern cars with the so called “sports” suspension.
For those who thought they were ugly, my repost was always “ you can’t see it when you’re driving it”.
It's shaped funny, I have to admit. But gosh, with some proper bodywork it gleams and soon enough one can see that it's really beautiful.
The most comfortable, elegant ,attention getting car of its time and beyond. Superb power steering and breaks that combined with the hydraulic suspension in an uncanny manner. My dad owned one of the last produced Citroen Dsupers~1973 same green color as shown in this video
The Citroen DS is the epitome of car development, both in design and technologie.
The Citroen DS is a beautiful car! My parents owned a 1973 DS 20.
The spheres are not "crazy"! They are genius!
Innovative, smart, intelligence obsolute, above limite, comfortable, efficient.. no compromise with luxury and beauty.. so french
I remember not liking the DS as a child, either - but that changed as I was around 16, and quite much so.
The trouble with these cars was that, like the driver in the vid, many Citroën mechanics also had the cavalier attitude to start working and only would consult a maintenance handbook after they had done damage - and wouldn't tell the owner.
My father had a colleague who said his DS went to the garage every month or two and it never cost less than 400 Deutsche Mark to fix it - in today's purchasing power, that would be around 1,000 US$, I guess.
Probably, a "survivor" can do with little maintenance from someone who knows what he/she is doing - but many early customers paid dearly for their DS experience...
Yes same problem here in Australia, especially when they first arrived here. Non-trained, non-French speaking mechanics with no previous experience on the DS.
A very beautiful car and wonderful to drive.
This car is where i started my mechanics life, steep learning curve but what a car!! Love them, very beautiful too.
Dad had a D Super, white, in Nigeria. I learned to drive in it, and it was lovely. First car I experienced with aircon, fast, smooth, easy to drive... Takes me back, so it does.
Good one, Dad!
It sounds we had similar dads, when I have my own DS it will be full of emotion it’s a great car the elegance the techniek the innovations how did they manage to have this all in one car
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When I was in France I had the chance of driving a DS. The hydro-pneumatic suspension was extraordinary.
beautiful
Citröen DS is beautiful, and one of the most innovative cars in carhistory :D The smaller wheelbase in the back may be aerodynamic reasons.
Track. Wheelbase is front to back.
Whilst it is almost impossible for me to pick a favourite movie, book, graphic novel or song, my favourite car is far ahead than most others. Citroen almost truly communed with the gods with this creation.
Communed with the gods... In French these two letters, DS, are pronounced like "déesse", which is the French word for "goddess".
I used to drive my 72 Dspecial to the beach on the island where I lived in the colder months. The gravel roads would get very washboard. I remember a truck tail-gaiting me, probably trying to intimidate the weird foreign car, and when we hit the washboard at speed, I floated, and everything in his pickup turned the cab into a snowglobe. He slowed down right fast after that....
No, the DS23 doesn't make me "laugh out loud". It brings a smile ... of pleasure and admiration. The most beautiful ever, and holds up. "DS" in French means "goddess", for a good reason.
Yes, Citroën DS, is the most beautiful car in the World, the most inventive, like an
OVNI. This car is unique. ❤🎉
Its the most stunning piece of automotive engineering clothed in the most super aerodynamic shape.
It still looks futeristic and in 1955 it must have been beyond belief.
I have always liked these, born mid 1950's there were plenty of all species of these Citroens on the road. As a kid I bought every 1/50th to 1/43rd scale model toy makers made at almost 67 yr old I still have every one of them, AND on my desk to this minute sits the most difficult to find Ambulance version complete with a half dead occupant on a stretcher in the back !! My mum was the car person and by 1971 she had bought her second big mk10, the final '71 version that had weirdly been renamed a 420G. Another of my school mates mum was unlucky as while we were in class someone had nicked her really nice Valiant AP6 Safari wagon from the school playground so Julie's mum was now using her dad's Citroen DS 23 Pallas in a nice metallic coffee color as he was frequently away. The Pallas was a fantastic car, I loved watching it go thru its startup regimen the noises it made with its pumps and diaphragms until it was ready to go, If you were being driven home at night I loved watching the effect of the moving headlights to me always a "wow" car forget Ferraris etc , giver me something different every time thank you. Like my mum I have now owned a few Jaguars the triple HD8 carby cars have a fantastic micro fuel injector to make them start when engine cold no matter what the ambient temperature is. So sometimes it clicks on for a nano second & then shuts down on other occasions when really cold weather it can run for ages with its wonderful screaming hissing sound but it makes the car instantly drivable Another of my schoolmates Joseph's dad was a Sydney city Gov't bus driver. Mr Goya had saved & ordered a 302 ci 5 litre V8 Ford falcon Futura. He had picked & chosen what he wanted on it, It was metallic purple with white plastic seats, it had a wind open sunroof, had a front console with "t-bar" automatic shifter lever (very kool at the time) and to save cash a full set of drum brakes with ZERO power boost. So you needed to push like buggery and stand on the pedal to stop it in a hurry. It was x-mas school holiday break time in early 1971, we had just moved to Roseville from Mosman, Joeseph still lived in Mosman and Julie's family had moved to Balgowlah over The-Spit bridge after dad being sent to Canberra for a while. We were all supposed to be going to the pictures at Cremorne Orphuem. Mr Goya & Joe had come up to grab me first & he had been pushing hard through Forestville, then thru the Wakehurst Park Way which is dense Aussie bush right in the middle Northern Beaches area, we needed to turn off at the water tank when the bush stops, to go & get Julie. Mr Goya hammered pretty quickly through the back streets. We collected Julie I sat in the front as I am now & was then really tall. Coming down a steep incline we had the right of way but "granny" in a phase2 mid '50's Standard Vanguard station wagon drove straight through a HALT sign (different to a stop sign HALT meant a total stop AND you have no rights you must wait till NO other cars) The Vanguard "ate" the Falcon ripping the door skins clean off the right side, tearing the right front guard to shreds, sending us into several housing commission houses front yards as they had little 10 inch tall 2x3 front micro fences, then we drove right into the centre of a fibro asbestos cement housing commission house. I always wondered what you would get if you lived in one. However, I hadn't reckoned on a drive thru viewing from a 1970 Ford Futura. The HOPELESS push like buggery non power assist 4 wheel drum brakes just would not stop it and Mr Goya was a small slim Italian immigrant, as a 15-year-old I would have had more of a physical possibility of stopping it. He had spent money on expensive mag wheels & wind open sunroof etc and not on brakes. The granny's big old Vanguard had some purple paint on its chrome "face" the 2 over-riders on the front bumper were not quite straight anymore when you looked carefully. But the massive armor-guard curved front bumper was like new. When the cops came they wanted to know where the second car was when they looked carefully, they to saw micro deposits of purple paint. It started & drove away after the cops fined her. My mates dad's Falcon was deemed a write off. I was soon to learn this was a known trouble spot intersection at the base of a hill. Some weeks later a similar thing happened in the Citroen Mrs Mac' touched the floor mushroom & the Citi' stopped like it had punched metal spikes in the ground, AND just days later in my mums Jag a young goose in a VW Beetle drove straight through the HALT sign, Mum gave him a spray of the Jags Fog horns, he took avoiding action, drove through a fence and with locked up brakes dug two deep trench marks in the homes front lawn. Mum got out told him off then slapped his face told him to behave after he gave some "lip" ---- how times have changed, & then he started to cry when he saw all the damage to his car as all of its wheels seemed to be bent at wild angles & it was bashed at the front from the fence. What a winner !!
When the cops came, it was in an Ford F150 bum wagon, and they already had a "fare" in the back as he started verbally kicking off as it was hot in the back of the police van. As back then they had patent leather "skins" that went over a steel & wire frame, there was a pair of small vents near the cabin that has belts & buckles to keep the 6 inch square vents open, at the back on the door there was a 1foot square similar vent that was held back with a belt, and a spinning ventilator in the middle of the roof. The High-point here was the 2 elderly Crown sergeants both had beautiful crispy dry Aussie senses of humor. At the young idiot's expense the cops were having some fun, one retorted to the other that the kids license wasn't from a corn flakes packet, that it was one of those Kool groovy new Yanky McDonalds ones from a Big-Mac, as just TWO weeks prior the very first McDonalds burger bar in the WHOLE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE opened at the Old Fairlight tram stop/terminus this was just maybe 3 miles away at the top of the hill above the Manly Beach Court house & Police station. The two cops probably in their early 60's were highly amusing and entertaining they wound this young smart Alec up like a clock's spring, they were priceless, and you just do not see police like this anymore, pristine in their dress, sharp as a tack, with instant rapid fire humor, not grumpy and clearly enjoying their job, their banter was like the result of maybe 40 years of workday companionship.
So, for 50 years after the attack on the home by the big ugly boxy XY Falcon , I have always seen those Falcons as useless junk. Yet people pay stupid high prices for them, amazing, as those same people would never dream of paying similar money, or less, for a genuinely competent car like the classy Citroen DS or the big Jaguar mk10
Wow Greg. What an essay. I could relate to a lot of that, and the locations too. I reckon I can make 6 x inCARnation episodes out of those stories. My mum loved her Mk II Jag and I nearly bought a 420G at auction recently but was outbid. Thanks for the essay. Plenty of modern cops have sharp dry humour too. I speak from experience. Not so much the HP guys though.
Magnificent classic. Beautiful ride.
I want one now. As a kid I knew they were special, but not how special.
Not only is it beautiful but it’s an amazing machine!!! ❤
Best thing about driving one of these is that you can’t see what it looks like from the outside.
Citroen DS is one of the nostalgic car, one of the legend…
Nothing comes close.......not just about beauty: it’s pure genius in so many ways. Look at how non invasive the strut holding up the roof is for example.
The DS23 with semi-automatic and turning headlights would definitly be a car I would add to my non existant car collection!
A school buddy had one of these and I can remember him comming a little bit late to school because he had a minor accident. In one of our breaks we went to the car and he repaired the damage: in a white suit holding a cigarillo in one hand he dismantled the rear side panel by removing the single screw with the other hand and straightend the panel's bent rod with his foot. 🤣After graduation we planned to make a trip together. Sadly the DS23 decided the night before departure to spill hydraulic oil on the garage's floor. No hydraulic, no breaks, no suspension, no shifting gears...😟
The perfect car
Thankyou Citroen.
I would love to see the new All Electric or Hybrid version.
Only because that bodyshape deserves to live forever.
DS is the most beautiful.... SM, CX, and C6 as well
My first car was a DS23, 4 years old in 1978. It's still my favourite.
The DS is beautiful, as much for its engineering as its shape.