Comments on: Paris Retro: DS Doctors

By: Carl kirk

Carl kirk — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:12:29 +0000

Citroen was always innovative and both the Ds and 2CV were technoligically advanced when launched. Unfortunately most peoples love for the querkyness and inovativeness of this marque harks back to the past (myself included).I own several Citroens both old and new and my C4 piccasso has gimmics rather than the ground breaking engineering of the past.
My Ds has steerable driving lights,adjustable Hydraulic suspension,a smooth hydraulicly operated gearbox and an appearance unlike any other car at the time. My C4 has a central steering boss that doesnt move, making the fingertip controls, in it's centre,rarely at your fingertips except when you accidentally catch them when steering and loose the radio station you were listening to.A massive windscreen the top 25% of which doesnt get cleaned by the wipers,an electric gearbox which jerks through the gears and has such a slow take up when pulling out of junctions i'm surprised i havent been 'T boned'. Citroen, like most of it's competitors rarely comes up with anything truly innovative as most modern cars are now just white goods - you drive them 100k miles and they get scrapped, re-cycled and forgotten.

By: Tom Feeley

Tom Feeley — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:26:19 +0000

What a greart start to Friday morning, reading about the good old DS!! MAny years ago I worked in a Citroen dealership, looked on wiht envy at the owners of the 'D' models until one day one of our regular customers had problems with his & decided to ugrade to the C.X. & par ex'd his 'D' which once sales had put it right it went on sale. Being in the workshop gave me the first chance & I took it with both hands, driving "Bessie" as we called hergave us some good years motoring until some little cretin broke in & set fire to the interior, which in turn melted the roof!! I also got involved with the 2CV6 when Citroen started up the Rally Cross with them. A couple of us out of the workshops brought a second hand French Post Office van from a dealer donw in Kingston on Thames got it back to Manchester set to work & converted it to right hand drive & inculded all the safety features necessary & then raced it at first of all Blackheath I think it was?? As I've already said Good old days (16 hours to change a clutch!!) Tom Feeley

By: Robert H

Robert H — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:33:00 +0000

Spot on John F, spot on: I don't need gizmos to switch on the wipers when it rains, I can just about manage that myself, let alone all the other 'electrical tomfoolery' as you so succinctly put it.

By: John F

John F — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:09:50 +0000

I think the DS, as a basic concept, could hold its own right now. Bring back the Goddess, Citroen! And don't fill it will electrical tomfoolery!

By: Bruce

Bruce — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:58:01 +0000

I bought a DS because I had admired them for so many reasons for such a long time! Now that I have one, I have sort of recovered from the initial fear and worry of being the owner, and being responsible for the Goddess, despite being an average sort of mechanic, and not being in the position of having much cash to throw at it. Like Mike above, I use the DS as basically an everyday car because it is much more reliable than my 'other car', a relatively modern Peugeot. I love the super braking system, the good steering, the sheer practicality of the car, and yes, the pace of the car in modern traffic, (DS21 EFi), which coupled to the swift semi-auto gearbox makes progress very satisfactory! Regarding cornering, chuck it in as fast as you like, it tends to hang on nicely!

By: John

John — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:54:23 +0000

Ive been driving a DS everyday for the last six years. Its a design classic and I quite agree it is the most comfortable car ive ever owned. Some people dont like the soft ride particularly on corners, but if you reallywant to take them on two wheels get a bike!