This 1970 Citroën DS is a real barn discover, having been rediscovered in a rundown wood barn on a property within the Catskill Mountains in New York State.
The Citroën DS is a automotive that’s immediately considered one of the lovely of its time, and definitely one of many best-looking four-door sedans ever constructed. When it was launched in 1955 it was one of the technologically refined passenger vehicles on the earth.
Quick Details – The Citroën DS
- The Citroën DS was launched with a lot fanfare on the 1955 Paris Motor Present. The automotive obtained a wildly optimistic reception with show-goers, who positioned 80,000 deposits for the automotive throughout the first 10 days. This can be a file that stood till it was crushed by the Tesla Mannequin 3 in 2016.
- By the requirements of the mid-Fifties the DS was revolutionary, it used a singular hydropneumatic unbiased suspension system, it had disc brakes, a semi-automatic transmission, energy steering, and stunningly lovely styling.
- The DS would additionally see a lot success in motorsport, successful a slew of rallies together with the 1959 and 1966 Monte Carlo Rallies, the 1969 Rallye du Maroc, and the 1974 1974 London-Sahara-Munich World Cup Rally.
- The automotive you see here’s a 1970 Citroën DS that has been sitting in a barn in upstate New York for nearly 30 years. The automotive is essentially full, nevertheless it’s going to require a full restoration.
The French Automobile That Modified All the pieces
The revolutionary nature of the Citroën DS has been written about advert infinitum over the previous 67 years. Its design was so superior on the time of its launch within the Fifties that it might nonetheless look fashionable 20 years later when it was being bought within the Seventies.
Right here you possibly can see the Citroën tucked away at the back of this barn, it’s been sitting there undisturbed for 27 years and counting.
The DS was designed and engineered by a two man staff made up of Italian sculptor and industrial designer Flaminio Bertoni, and French aeronautical engineer André Lefèbvre. Their design was each lovely and aerodynamic, a lot in order that it’s nonetheless studied by automotive design college students immediately, virtually 70 years later.
Contained in the DS you’ll discover snug seating for 5 adults, ample trunk area, and loads of headroom. The trip high quality of the automotive was higher than the rest on the highway in 1955 due to the usage of a hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension system developed internally at Citroën by French engineer Paul Magès.
This hydropneumatic system allowed the trip peak to be modified and gave the passengers such a easy journey it was likened to flying on a magic carpet. The truth that the automotive could possibly be elevated to be used on tough roads got here in very useful in rural France, and on the earth of cross-country rally.
When it was first unveiled on the 1955 Paris Motor Present the response from the general public was overwhelmingly optimistic. The corporate is alleged to have taken 743 orders within the first 10 minutes, 12,000 orders by the top of the primary day, and 80,000 orders by the point the present accomplished after 10 days. A file that stood till the discharge of the Tesla Mannequin 3 in 2016.
Above Video: This clip by Richard Hammond from the outdated Prime Gear takes a glance again on the DS, and why it’s such an essential automotive.
Over the course of the 1955 to 1975 manufacturing run virtually 1.5 million examples of the Citroën DS had been constructed throughout factories in six international locations. At this time they’re amongst essentially the most collectible traditional sedans on the highway, with many house owners nonetheless utilizing them frequently.
The Citroën DS – Specs
The specs of the Citroën DS modified considerably over the course of its 10 12 months manufacturing run nevertheless some components remained all through, together with the hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension system, the entrance wheel drive structure, the usage of disc brakes, and the elemental proportions of the automotive.
When it was first launched it was powered by an OHV four-cylinder engine sourced from the sooner Traction Avant mannequin, producing 75 bhp at 4,500 rpm. Unusually the gearbox was mounted in entrance of the engine with the differential within the center, this positioned the engine behind the entrance axle line that means the DS is technically a front-mid-engined car.
The inside of the DS isn’t any much less uncommon that the outside, the single-spoke steering wheel has turn out to be well-known in its personal proper.
An uprated 1985cc engine was launched in 1965, adopted by the 109 bhp 2175cc engine, In 1970 Bosch digital gasoline injection was launched, this additional elevated energy and reliability, and in 1973 the 2347cc engine was launched – in gasoline injected kind it produced 141 bhp making it essentially the most highly effective engine ever supplied within the DS.
The DS was initially fitted with a Hydraulique four-speed semi-automatic transmission, this was a hydraulic gearbox with no handbook clutch. The driving force would shift to the specified gear and ease again on the accelerator pedal, the shifting would then full routinely.
Later variations of the automotive obtained a completely automated transmission, and a extra conventional three-pedal handbook gearbox.
Quite a lot of totally different physique kinds had been supplied over time together with the unique sedan/fastback which was adopted by an non-obligatory wagon/property model and a way more uncommon convertible mannequin.
This automotive is a 1970 Citroën DS21, this implies it’s fitted with the extra highly effective 2175cc inline-four cylinder engine, in comparison with the two.0 liter unit within the DS20.
The 1970 Citroën DS Proven Right here
The Citroën DS you see right here has been sitting untouched in a barn for nearly 30 years, it’s situated within the Catskill Mountains of New York State and the itemizing notes that the automotive is essentially full.
The vendor explains that the engine isn’t turning over by hand, which is maybe not too shocking, and so they can’t bodily get in to see below the automotive to look at the situation.
It’s clearly a mission automotive that’ll require a full restoration, and it might make a rewarding mission for the fitting individual (or the fitting staff).
It’s at present being supplied on eBay with a Purchase It Now value of $5,900 USD. If you happen to’d wish to learn extra about it or make the vendor a proposal you possibly can go to the itemizing right here.
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