1974 Citroen

The Citroën DS is a four-door, front-engine, front-wheel-drive manufactured and marketed from 1955 to 1975. Production toward the end was pretty low with only 40,039 made in 1974. Italian sculptor and industrial designer Flaminio Bertoni and the French aeronautical engineer Andre Lefebvre styled and engineered the car. Paul Magès developed the hydropneumatic self-leveling suspension. Noted for its aerodynamic, futuristic body design and innovative technology, the DS set new standards in ride, quality, handling and braking. The DS came third in the 1999 Car of the Century poll recognizing the world's most influential auto designs and was named the most beautiful car of all time by Classic and Sports car magazine. In 1965 a luxury upgrade, the DS Pallas (after Greek goddess Pallas), was introduced. This included comfort features such as better noise insulation, a more luxurious upholstery and external trim embellishments. From 1966 the Pallas model received a driver's seat with height adjustment. In late 1967, for the 1968 model year, the DS and ID were again restyled, by Robert Opron, who also styled the 1970 SM and 1974 CX. This version had a more streamlined headlamp design, giving the car a notably shark-like appearance. This design had four headlights under a smooth glass canopy, and the inner set swiveled with the steering wheel. This allowed the driver to see "around" turns, especially valuable on twisting roads driven at high speed at night. The inboard high-beam headlamp swivels by up to 80° as the driver steers, throwing the beam along the driver's intended path rather than uselessly across the curved road. The outboard low-beam headlamps are self-leveling in response to pitching caused by acceleration and braking. This car has the "hydraulique" four-speed semi-automatic (bvh—"boîte de vitesses hydraulique") gearbox. It is a four-speed gearbox and clutch, operated by a hydraulic controller. To change gears, the driver flicked a gear lever behind the steering wheel to the next position and eased-up on the accelerator pedal. The hydraulic controller disengaged the clutch engaged the nominated gear, and re-engaged the clutch. The speed of engagement of the clutch was controlled by a centrifugal regulator sensing engine rpm and driven off the camshaft by a belt, the position of the butterfly valve in the carburetor (i.e., the position of the accelerator), and the brake circuit. When the brake was pressed, the engine idle speed dropped to an rpm below the clutch engagement speed, thus preventing friction while stopped in gear at traffic lights. When the brake was released, the idle speed increased to the clutch dragging speed. The car would then creep forward much like automatic transmission cars. Power is from a 2 litre 4-cylinder engine rated at 107 horsepower and coupled to the 4-speed semi-automatic gearbox. Performance numbers quoted by the factory and various magazines was 105 mph top speed, 0-60 mph in 13.2 seconds and fuel mileage of almost 24mpg. The example we have here is a very nice and overall very original car that shows obvious pride of ownership. It has probably been re-painted at some time but interior wise it appears original. Finished in what we believe is Beige Antilope with Marble White Roof and Tan Interior.