My naked ambition
D-stripdown reveals all
‘You can replace parts now and be confident – or you can do it later, when you’re stuck on the hard shoulder.’ Barry Annells speaks sense. The Citroën specialist reckons taking a chance on an aged fuel pump or a 40-year-old hose would be daft. But, as you know all too well, dear reader, restorations cost money. So not wishing to be stuck on the hard shoulder anytime soon, this month I fired up the laptop, clicked on a number of sites and sold my 1971 Ami 8, 1997 Honda Legend and, having snuffled through my dusty loft for anything remotely valuable, two Citroën CX bumpers and a couple of rare vinyl LPS I had stashed away for my retirement, circa 2041.
It might cost a little more than your average classic British saloon in parts, but there are certain aspects of restoring of a big Citroën that aren’t as complicated as you might imagine. It certainly helps that all the body panels unbolt in seconds and allow total access. Should you wish to dig deeper and work on the hydraulics, fuel pipes or suspension components, there are smaller hatches you can remove, which reveal the cars inner guts. I should, however, say at this point how lucky I am. This example has no rust to speak of – and I have been waking up each day thanking my lucky stars for that.
The engine – set far back in the chassis almost mid-engined fashion – is a simple unit and robust. It was set so far back, in fact, it allowed space for a spare wheel and allowed Citroën to boast of a large forward crumple zone and exceptional crash safety.
With front wings and bonnet removed, replacing engine parts – from radiator to pumps, hoses and pipes – is a doddle in comparison to many other popular classics.
That said, in this past month there were still a number of quite ‘D Specific’ tasks to do and with a large green puddle causing Barry some concern, I retreated to the relatively simple task of sourcing tyres. Step forward friend of Practical Classics Dougal of Longstone Tyres who, as it turned out, is also quite the artist. Explaining how Citroën and Michelin worked together to produce tyres for the DS, there followed a volley of emails containing hand-drawn diagrams and pictures.
The first asymmetric tyre was the Michelin XAS of 1964, used first by the DS and then soon after the likes of the Bentley S3 and Rolls Royce Silver Shadow to sports cars ranging from the Lotus Cortina, Triumph TR6 and Porsche 911. It claimed to provide grip and stability, using the principle of the human foot, which is also asymmetric.
Camber bands
With a typical gush of excitement, Dougal explained why tyre choice is critical for the big Citroën: ‘The DS has equal length wishbones so that when the car leans under cornering your wheel stays parallel to the side of the car. You need a rounded shoulder to your tyre so it doesn’t climb up onto the shoulder, which is part of the XAS design. The CX had shorter top wishbones that meant under load it gave adverse camber which meant that a flatter, squarer foot print would keep all the tread on the road.’ Mop of hair smothering the paper on which he’s scribbling, he gleefully draws another picture. ‘That’s you with XAS tyres at the bottom!’
‘The DS was also the only car ever fitted with smaller tyres at the back,’ Dougal went on. ‘Also, I believe there is a special rule in the UK MOT that says you can’t have smaller tyres on the rear, except for the DS and later CX.’ What with the DS’S famed ability to run on fewer tyres than most and being the saviour of at least one French president thanks to that clever interconnected self-levelling suspension, Dougal says the spare tyre could be two inches smaller in diameter and it wouldn’t matter. ‘The suspension just deals with it. You could have three standard and one odd tyre and President Degaulle could still make a speedy getaway without being shot.’ With John Griffith’s expert paint job almost complete, my kitchen was full of parts again – some of which I have been refurbishing – while up at Barry’s workshop, the D’s mechanicals were taking shape and the engine was ready to be tuned. By the time you read this, you might have seen the Citroën at the Resto Show. Maybe!