Having spent some time enjoying the thrill of running an BMW e30 M3 and a Dax Cobra I had built complete with a Jaguar V12 engine and manual gearbox, in 1995 I needed a change of direction in my motoring (families
) which is where Citroën came to the rescue as I can't stand dull boring car's and to find something "higher up the scale" from those two car's would be very expensive indeed. I'd had a brief experience with a GS many years ago and my father had just bought a new Xantia 1.8 16V SX which I found to be somewhat different from anything else on offer at the time so I sold the BMW and Cobra and bought a brand new Xantia 1.9TD SX. Whilst I wanted air conditioning, as an option costing £1,200 extra I couldn't justify it at the price but when it became standard a year later temptation got the better of me and I part-exchanged the SX for a 1,500 mile gold VSX with air conditioning.
This car has been cherished from that day forward, rarely going out on a wet day and always being kept in a garage so as you imagine its very clean and tidy and has mainly been used for long journeys to visit my parents who live 90 miles away so its present mileage of 33,000 have been very relaxed. A couple of years ago I treated "Goldie" to the personal registration of XAN71A.
Since buying Goldie I've had numerous Xantia's from a 94 VSX TD to a 98 CT turbo estate, a 97 2.0 16V VSX to the red Activa now owned by "Citrojim" which is a rather special Activa as its fitted with every factory option. I went through that car with a fine tooth comb and replaced everything that showed any signs of wear including both balancing rams, all of the sphere's and countless other items of which the cost added up well into a four figure sum just on parts alone
.In between those Xantia's I bought two new Berlingo Multispace's which were great cars but as I also write the Xantia column for the Citroen Car Club monthly magazine I really needed to drive a Xantia on a more regular basis so I last year sold the Berlingo and bought a Xantia estate Exclusive HDi from fellow forum member "Bernie". This car is still my daily form of transport and as it continues to exceed 50 MPG in great comfort its likely to retain that role for some time.
Another Xantia I have is a V6 which to be honest is my favorite version as the performance is so effortless, its the perfect "Q" car, best of all its surprisingly frugal on fuel as well, rarely does consumption drop below 25 MPH which for a 194 BHP V6 is very good indeed. This car came my way after an elderly gentleman had to give up driving and contacted me via the CCC as he wanted it to go to a good home, after viewing the car I couldn't refuse it and added it to my fleet. My other half Dawn ran the V6 for a year or so as a trial to acclimatise herself with an automatic transmission after running a Picasso HDi for five years, however she's been hankering after a convertible for some time and bought a BMW earlier this year. I'd planned to sell the V6 but dawn still wants to keep it as she finds it so much nicer to drive than the BMW
I've been hankering after a DS for many years now and had almost given up hope of ever owning one as I wouldn't be prepared to take on a rust bucket so the cost of buying a decent one looked as if it would exceed my budget until I spotted a semi-auto 21 EFi Pallas for sale in France which I then bought a month ago. She's a real beauty in silver (Gris Nacre') and suits me down to the ground in that the body and chassis is as solid as a rock but there are a number of small niggles mechanically. Firstly the ignition timing and points dwell gap were out by a mile, various dashboard warning lights weren't working, the exhaust was knackered, headlights out of adjustment, steering lock knackered, new front spheres required, clutch re-engagement tool leaking, the chrome on the interior door handles was peeling off etc etc. The perfect car for me, loads of 'little' job's which in themselves aren't that serious but when added up together make a considerable difference to the overall enjoyment of her.
Today I employed my skill of sewing (yes really) as the radiator blind zip was split, to buy a new blind would have cost me £70 whereas £2 for a new zip and an hour or so
of my time did the job well. This week I bought two new Michelin XVS tyres for her @ £200 each plus tubes and fitting, this was after quite a palaver in finding a good paint colour match for the spare wheel which needed re-painting. I'd bought three different pots of two pack paint in trying to match the colour of the other four wheels but eventually gave up and mixed my own.The steering wheel on my DS is of the later "foam" variety which suffers badly from the sun over time and as I much prefer the older style of wheel I managed to find a relatively good one from Brodies Engineering which just needed light restoration to make it 100%. The steering wheel on a DS comes complete with the column all the way down to the steering rack so its quite a lump, I tried to fit the new wheel yesterday but ran into problems when I came up against a small slot headed bolt which secures a collar/spring on the column so I'm investigating finding a special socket to fit the slot.
One thing about working on a DS is that space is always tight and just to add a little bit of spice to life is that the nuts and bolts on them have a different tread pitch, so should you drop one into the very crowded engine bay simply reaching out to pick up a replacement from your supply won't work
On Friday I drove the DS to work as I'd been having so many demands from colleagues to see her, well to say that DS is special is a complete understatement as people just stared in amazement at her as I passed them at bus stops, fellow motorists on the A40 slowed down alongside me then when I got to work I spent the whole day (literally) explaining what, why, how she works, so much so that I didn't have time to do any work at all
At present my DS is still French registered, I had intended to get her MOT'd this weekend then UK registered this week but that plan went out of the window when I discovered that the metal brake pipe linking both sides of the O/S/F caliper was chafing against the radiator drain tap, so that's another job on my list.
Being a bit of a computer duffer I haven't got round to working out how to post pictures on the forum (opening up an account with whoever etc) but should you wish to take a look at my DS, the previous owner has a website dedicated specifically to her http://www.mygoddess.co.uk/exterior.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
A DS really is a wonderful car not only the individual looks but the very different way in which they drive nothing else comes close, yes they are now an "old" car but bear in mind how advanced they were when they were released they feel far more modern than anything else from the era, the experience is truly special, I enjoy every minute of owning her, a dream come true
Like you, Im far happier with the oily bits than the painted bits.
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