1969 Citroën DS21 Serie M

This is a DS21 in truly exceptional condition – a beautiful, highly original, genuine car. It has its original leather seats which are still in very good condition, and its original carpets.

The bodywork looks to be completely rust free, and we’re told the car has never seen a welder’s torch in its life, nor has it had any replacement panels fitted.

When the current enthusiast owner bough the car in 1995 the metallic paint was wearing thin so he had the car resprayed to a very high standard by a UK based classic car specialist.

The paintwork on this car is lovely. In fact we’d venture to suggest that it might even be better than it was when it left the Citroën factory back in 1969. It’s hard to find any faults at all with it, and we don’t remember seeing a Citroën of this vintage with such a sheen.

The owner tells us the car has not been restored mechanically and that none of its bodywork has ever needed restoration. But when he bought the car the original paint was looking a bit thin in places, so he had it fully resprayed to the highest standard by Bristol Classic Car Restoration, at vast expense.

The colours are the original ones, and match the numbers on the car’s plaque. At the same time a few minor repairs were carried out, and all five wheels were repainted and fitted with new tyres. New chrome strips were also fitted.

The DS’s cabin is highly original. Even the original Continental Edison radio still sits proudly in the highly distinctive dashboard, although its complimented with a Modern Bluetooth-enabled stereo.

The leather seats are original, and haven’t been retrimmed, and even the carpets are the ones the car was built with. The only part of the interior that’s been renewed is the roof lining, but the rest of the interior is as the original car.

The owner says that the speedometer needle sometimes vibrates, and that he wanted to have this fixed, but was told that if he did the odometer would have to be reset to zero – ‘I certainly didn’t want this to happen.’

Quite right. It may be a cliché, but they are only original once, and this car is a time-warp machine. Okay, some of the binding on the steering wheel is coming away, but just look at that single spoke wheel – this car is like a rolling art installation.

Nothing has been changed or added to the car that makes it non-standard apart from a fuel pump, says the owner. And of course, the original engine and gearbox are happily in place.

Those unfamiliar with Citroën’s superb hydro-pneumatic self-levelling suspension system can worry about it, but this is simply because they don’t understand how it works. It’s actually extremely reliable – so much so that Rolls Royce used parts of it on the Silver Shadow.

This car’s suspension performs exactly as it should, with problems at all. The engine sounds smooth and responsive, and the owner reports no faults with the car. It leaks no oil at all.

This Citroën comes with a stack of historic paperwork, which upon closer inspection would appear to be 125,617 kms. Also included is an invoice from Bristol Classic Car Restoration covering the respray and mechanical repair work, which comes in just shy of an eye-watering £30,000.

This DS 21 was first registered in France on 08/10/69. The current owner bought it in Provence on 24/04/95, and imported it to the UK in September of that year. He’s selling it now to raise money for a property purchase. He says:

‘I bought the DS because I had always wanted a classic French car. I was working in The Netherlands and decided that my family and I would spend time in Provence when my contract ended. I asked my nephew, who lived in Aix-en-Provence, to keep a look out for a DS, one that was good enough to keep for a long time and one that would be our family car in France.
‘He went to a classic car garage in Tretts, about a 30 minute drive from Aix-en-Provence, and he suggested two possibilities. The choice was between my car and a 1974 fuel-injection Pallas. I chose mine because it was a genuine car with low mileage.

‘When my family and I arrived at my sister’s house the DS was parked in front looking fabulous in the sunshine, the blue paint synonymous with the blue sky. I took it for a drive. It was a fabulous day. I fell in love with the car straight away.
‘After only two weeks in Aix-en-Provence my wife received an email from a friend who was holidaying near Bordeaux. The next day our two children (aged only three and one), my wife and I with a small suitcase and lots of child paraphernalia set off in the DS. We drove over the Massif Central and arrived late the same day. Although already 26 years old the DS behaved impeccably all the way to Bordeaux and back.

‘After two months of being in Aix-en-Provence I had to move near Lyon for work. Luckily for us we knew a friend who had an old farmhouse in St Vallier-sur-Rhône. Each morning my wife drove me to and from the local train station. It was always such a treat to return home in the DS. Everyone, everywhere loved seeing the car.
‘While I was away in The Netherlands the local police were scouting the area for any unusual activity. Noticing a registration plate with the number 13 from the Marseille department of Bouches-du-Rhone, my wife had a difficult job explaining that there was nothing untoward, that I was really in Holland for work and that our DS was not connected to anyone in Marseille.

‘Two months later our time in France was cut short because my next contract was based at Uxbridge, near London. We packed all our belongings up into a van and the children into the DS, and we drove back to Bristol. Once again, the DS was perfect.
‘Since being in Bristol, the car has spent its time in our garage, only going out for occasional local trips. It is truly a beautiful car, and one that has not been messed about with. The expensive materials used in the full respray means that the car will retain its fabulous looks for a very long time.’

A once in a lifetime chance to acquire a much-loved, iconic DS in stunning, original condition, that has genuinely wanted for absolutely nothing during its charmed life.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £18,000 - £24,000.

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