I may be out of my head on this one but I remember seeing a show on the history of horse racing and these cars were used as the camera vehicles to video horse races since they rode so smooth.

They're a nightmare to work on.
Ugh.

quote:

Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
They're a nightmare to work on.
Ugh.

This!

Grew up driving a late 70s Citroën GS. When the exhaust manifold/pipe rusted out, we had to drop the front axle to replace the exhaust.

These Citroens are cool-looking cars to me. I am reminded of one of my favorite 1980s cars, the SAAB 900 Turbo. Car styles like this are polarizing. You either love them or you hate them.

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:
I had one 1972/3. Best riding car I've ever owned. Could bore with anecdotes. If there were parts /trained mechanics available I'd buy one today.

That is what all owner's say: they had a great ride. People loved them.

quote:

They're a nightmare to work on.

what? combining the best of low tech mechanical engineering, staggeringly complex hydraulic plumbing, combine with French Automotive logic and saute with lack of dealer, parts, suppliers, distributors or warehouses? And that was in their hey day....

They would run fine on 3 wheels. I took a fast trip thru the wintertime Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon and was amazed at the fine handling and traction of my first front-drive car.

Coming down the grade into LaGrande the handling did get a little jiggy, but this was on a couple hundred miles of heavy snow pack. Pulling into the gas station, there were a couple odd little tweaks from the steering & a bit of rubber smoke from the Rt front tire. I got out to look....the Michelin was absolutely shredded and smoking....had to have considerable run time flat. Dumb me.

Easy to change, put jack stand in the slot, push the lever, car pulls all its suspension up, tilting the opposite side from jack stand. One center-wheel nut to remove.

Dealer later said the suspension would gently elevate the low air tire & carry the load on the other three. Impressive under the circumstances for sure.

One of my favorite bumper stickers of All Time was a DS 19 I was behind in Salem Oregon: "I think your car looks funny too".........

I was a fan of the DS19, to poor to own one.

Twenty or so years ago I was working in Newark, NJ and had a young Portuguese fellow as an assistant. An older fellow came up to the counter, and Tony says "Hey. your the guy with the Citroen, that drives around Portugal!" Turns out he was, had a S/M since new and spent a couple of months in Europe each year.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
I may be out of my head on this one but I remember seeing a show on the history of horse racing and these cars were used as the camera vehicles to video horse races since they rode so smooth.

All true, especially here in UK.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:

quote:

Its turn signals were short arms, one on each side of the car, that could be raised by a knob inside the car. A mechanical hand signal, in effect.

semaphores is what they were called IIRC,

volkswagens had them too on the early Beetles

Hmmmm. My 1970 DS19 had the rear turn indicators on extensions of the roof line- making it look a bit like Sid the sloth from Ice age cartoons. See around 4:15 in this YT movie -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma0QBRIAh3w

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:

quote:

Its turn signals were short arms, one on each side of the car, that could be raised by a knob inside the car. A mechanical hand signal,in effect.

semaphores is what they were called IIRC,

volkswagens had them too on the early Beetles

Hmmmm. My 1970 DS19 had the rear turn indicators on extensions of the roof line

Yeah, my DS-21 was the same. Mine was a 1972? 1973?

quote:

Originally posted by E26R-40-BSE:

quote:

Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
They're a nightmare to work on.
Ugh.

This!

Grew up driving a late 70s Citroën GS. When the exhaust manifold/pipe rusted out, we had to drop the front axle to replace the exhaust.

That's where the "Ahead of their time" part comes in. They were just like cars of today.

The show CHiPs had an episode where they pulled one over that had only 3 wheels in place. The driver referred to its suspension system.

Season 1, episode 19 - Hustle.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:

quote:

Its turn signals were short arms, one on each side of the car, that could be raised by a knob inside the car. A mechanical hand signal, in effect.

semaphores is what they were called IIRC,

volkswagens had them too on the early Beetles

Hmmmm. My 1970 DS19 had the rear turn indicators on extensions of the roof line- making it look a bit like Sid the sloth from Ice age cartoons. See around 4:15 in this YT movie -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma0QBRIAh3w

like these

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHtpysGEQ6I

When in Europe I asked several cab drivers if they ever considered using a Citroen. To a man they all said no, they are far too unreliable.