38K MILES in 2004? uh.. have to be a pretty Good story.

ID --> manual shift gearbox with ordinary clutch. ('68 DS Pallas was last I owned) Pity if this is a US-model. Then you get shitty '68 rulez and ugly headlights. If it's EURO: with the acrylic covers, steerable small halogens on hi-beam, etc. Buy It!)

Big Q - how the hydraulics have been maintained == regular (annual or so) change of std. brake fluid reservoir. Again.. if it's EURO: Steal. It. That would mean mineral-based fluid, different seals everywhere, of course -- better lube qualities over {ugh} brake fluid, thus fewer problems.

(Because the brakes were part of the many functions of the hydraulic central circulating system, in anal-US - they had to use the RED seals and build for our rulez. Mineral systems have Green color-coded seals.) But I'd suppose that the miineral-based system would also have the superior lights, unless it was imported and something weird was done to get it passed.

If serious, Google on Citroen Owner's Club - I note there's 20K+ entries. If it hasn't been abused, it'll cruise at 90+, and prolly 26-28 mpg at that speed. Look closely at the cleanliness of fluid on that 2+ gallon fluid reservoir, for a start. Otherwise it's plain vanilla Kettering ign. system = you can FIX the sucker without $20K worth of proprietary diagnostics. (Hell, I'd put a Cap-discharge ignition on; save the points).

I know zippo about current Cit. parts avail. in US, but WTF -- it's worldwide everything now; why I can even find parts for my Cisitalia, Vacheron et Constantine, etc. If it's been Murican-style neglected and abused.. dunno; can't make silk purse, etc. Impractical to replace Every seal, y'know? I think by '68 the ID prolly had the larger rotary hyd. pump and maybe power steering; inboard brakes were superb: big rubber half-orange on floor / no pedal. No need to lift foot, just move off gas and down to brake; saves at least 0.653 sec.

Luck -

moi


PS - Will be in Flagstaff ~ 4/6 then for a couple weeks: Meetcha half-way..
(OK so I don't count very well, either) Bring tools, parts, Boliv. bluefl and I'll hold the flashlight. I did R&R the transaxle on an ID once, took engine to shop class and stuff; got it all back in by myself, using garage beam + come-along.. and it ran on first kick. That was a while back.

- Where's the jack to jack up the car ?, what jack ? - you extend the undercart to full, place this metal prop here at the side of the car between the doors & lower the undercart (car lowers itself & rolls to one side with underside exposed & propped up side's wheels in the air.

Lovely, that.. makes putting on chains, etc. duck soup
Oh: you could also toss one rear wheel in the trunk (saw demonstrated) and drive around -- with suitable allowance for any hard cornering on the umm missing-wheel side, natch. More re: that great body torsional rigidity and narrower rear track -- it thought it was a Morgan 3-wheeler!

- How do I change the rear tyre ? - here's a handle, now use it to remove the rear-side of the car, over the particular wheel, by undoing this bolt here, now use this part of the crank handle to undo the central wheel locking bolt (wheel falls off)

Ditto

- Why are the front wheels wider apart that the rear wheels ? (never did find out why)

Clever French - the tilting-moment of (heavier + wider) front end + the greatest torsional rigidity of any car then produced, meant - the sucker won't roll because of the skewed rear CG. More nimble.

- Why is the gear box in front of the engine ? - because the drive axles emerge from it to drive the front wheels

- Where are the front wheel's disk brakes ? at the inside end of the wheel drive axles close to the gear box

Masterful stroke re sprung/unsprung weight: as basic a sound engrg. principle as exists re cars. A la various GP carz (models escape - prolly the Great White Cars of Auto Union fame; 'Audi' is a mere shadow if its former Self). Bernd Rsoemeyer and his ilk. (Died in a test car on the new Autobahn :(

- what happens when you accidentaly bang the bottom of a coke bottle against the edge of the front door window when door is open (there is no metal frame around the top half of the door, just the glass) - the window explodes into 1,000s of little square fragments

Same as happens on my also-frameless Acura Plutocrat, if I'm dumb enough to not know where my cocaine bottle is, when I close a door... I Like not having that A-pillar further obscuring the view of surroundings: added by steel frame.

- What happens when you fail to secure the bonnet & drive off at speed ? - the bonnet wraps right over the car obscuring your view & reshaping itself

Has a safety catch - of course, you can defeat Anything. Note that the oval rear cutout prolly means you still can see.

- What happens when a service mechanic fails to tighten the bolts holding one of the front axles to one of the front wheels ? - the bolts slowly fall out one at a time (there are 5 in total) until the last one snaps then the axle flails around ripping out the hydralic lines & collapsing the suspension

About same as happens when you leave out or screw-up almost any vital part of anything.

I never had a road breakdown of any kind on 5 specimens - two of those new. Of course, I maintain stuff and I ain't a blithering idiot, most days. Ask the Paris Taxi drivers what *their* experience is/was.

Yeah, my '68 was a DS-21; Pallas - obscenely plush interior. Lusted after CX-n series -- by then, Cit USA was almost toast due to idiot mechanics who would Not keep greasy hands out of hydraulic components; owners who would never change hyd. fluid. (+ due to ordinary general ignorance of US car users/abusers)

Dr. Nelson had a SM, which I lusted after mightily.. Not rich enough to justify this jewel. Finally got to drive one; loved the var.-rate steering and extra power. Could I have found one 2 yrs. ago, in exceptional condition: shoo-in.

But hey - these were Not cars for jerks. Cared for merely intelligently - 200K miles before any significant repairs.. remember the power train was well proven, nothing flashy - on purpose. I imagine the CX- models demo'ed what the chassis could do with more power/weight..

Will check out links anon,

moi