1972 Citroën DS 20 Pallas

The current owner of this DS has a family connection to the model, with parents owning several during the owner’s youth. It was inevitable then that they were going to own one themselves one day. This particular car is not without its own story however, spending 47 years of its life in South Africa, where the pneumatic suspension would have surely come in handy. It was imported into London in December 2019, where the current owner purchased it, during that time the owner has treated the car to a little refurb replacing parts and fixing issues the car came with, below is a list of things the owner has replaced, fixed and sorted:

New Starter motor,

New Carburettor,

New water pump,

New fuel tank,

321 Ignition upgrade,

New exhaust, tyres and battery,

The underseal has been removed and reapplied,

The roof has been removed and checked, fixed and replaced and there has been a repaint to ‘Delta Bleu’,

An extensive list of fixes then, ensuring this car is ready to be enjoy straight out of the gate, and indeed the only reason the current owner is selling is due to increased time demands from a growing business. It’s also worth noting that all this mechanical work was carried out by ‘DS Workshop’ so it has been done by professional specialists who have skills and knowledge with these cars.

This model also happens to be the ‘Pallas’ variant which was introduced in 1965 as a ‘luxury upgrade’. Continuing the connection to goddesses, the Pallas is named after the Greek goddess Pallas Athena, and included features such as better noise insulation, more luxurious leather upholstery with the driver’s seat being height adjustable and some external trim embellishments.

The new coat of Delta Bleu certainly holds up to any inspection, with the grey roof, which was aluminium but has now been converted to fibreglass, contrasting the bright paintwork well, aided by the chrome trim which is in very good condition also.

The owner has stated there is a slight issue with the boot, whereby it doesn’t fit quite right within the shut lines of the rest of the panels (see photos). They have however, supplied a spare boot which is in good condition that should solve the issue, the only reason it’s not on the car at the moment, is down to time pressures.

With the body having a fresh coat of paint there are no chips or scratches to worry about and the outside is as spectacular as it looks in the gallery below. The wheels are very presentable with chrome hub caps setting off the body colour nicely.

The inside of the DS is immaculate due to it having a retrim and some upgrades. The soft black leather seats now suit the car’s goddess/luxury focus much more than the South African ones which apparently were uncomfortable, not aesthetically pleasing and were without any headrests. The original dashboard was in kilometres but was refurbished and fitted with a MPH speedo, so the mileage is as shown above. The original dash is in the boot for confirmation of the car’s mileage to date. This newly refurbished dash also received an upgrade with better back lighting illumination, the lights behind the instrument clusters are now visible, even in daylight, apparently an issue with this 49-year-old car.

Everything on the inside is reported to be working well and with the current owner spending time and money to bring the car back to its best, the interior really is a huge plus point of this car with the styling giving off a strong 1970’s Parisian feel. It’s not hard to see how people thought Citroën got it so right with the DS, the interior is so luxurious it must have put other models to shame, really setting the benchmark for the level of luxury to filter down into less expensive mass-produced models. One thing to note, is that the drivers door card does catch slightly when opening the door as one of the clips behind has broken. This means that the door cars has dropped very slightly on the tailing edge, but it should be a very simple fix with one or two clips.

The underside of the DS is remarkably clean and straight with the exhaust being new and looking as such. The underside also looks to have been sealed at some point to prevent rust developing, however there is some very minor surface rust on some of the components on the underside. This looks to be mainly suspension components however and does not look structural or damaging in anyway, if you were so inclined, a quick once over with some Hammerite would sort them a treat.

We’d imagine that due to this car spending most of its time in a dry climate such as South Africa, the metal work all round would have stood the test of time much better than one that lived in the UK. That should give any prospective buyers a very reassuring sign to bet on this particular car being structurally sound.

The history that comes with the DS is a little on the light side, however with the restoration work being carried out in the UK, it would not be too hard to track down the timeline of this car becoming the fine example it is today. The original Republic of South Africa motor vehicle licence document is present which is a nice addition to have with the car, the car also comes with the full V5 to ensure peace of mind.

We don’t think this to be a big issue however as the car has not spent much time in the UK and during that time it has been given an entirely new lease of life from people and companies with skills and knowledge of the marque.

The DS underwent 18 years of secret development to succeed the Traction Avant, on the launch day Citroën took 12,000 orders and in the 10 days the car was at the Paris motor show for its introduction Citroën racked up 80,000 deposits which stood as a record for 60 years, toppled only recently by Tesla. Citroën and the DS pushed the motor industry forward in terms of ride, handling, luxury and technology and stood as a beacon of ingenuity to the French nation reconstructing post war. We estimate this will sell for between £23,000 - £35,000.

This car’s loyally devoted fans have very good reason to be in awe of such a ground-breaking technological achievement and having a DS in as good a condition as this one, still driving around being a fantastic way to transport yourself and others is a very enticing prospect. This pride of France could possibly be the pride of your driveway should you be in the market for an example that requires very little to make it better than new. With all that considered and this DS being the fine example it is, there’s only one thing left to say, Faites vos offres.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon. Our offices are open Mon-Fri 9.00am to 5.00pm. To arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions'.