Citroen Club Tech Event Feb 2014

Today I managed to make my second Citroen Car Club tech event.    Today was bucketing down with rain, so my intention of regassing my spheres went out the window as I didn’t feel the need to lie down in puddles to remove them and the lift was otherwise occupied with an old caddy.   Nevertheless it was good to get to the event see some of the other cars and club members.

Given the poor weather, I got to ride in two Citroens I had not experienced before – A GS and a DS 23 EFI Automatic.

The GS was quite a surprise for me.   The car that I rode in was a 1976 model with a 1300cc engine and a 5 speed.   Despite carrying 4 large gents, the car 1300cc engine had a lot of pick up (if revved) and the ride was very good for a small car in rutted sydney roads.    Rear leg room was not even so bad for me given that this is quite a small car.   The GS has always had the reputation of being under appreciated and I can see why.   Probably not a car I will ever own but I enjoyed a ride in it!The Second car I rode in was a DS23ie Automatic Pallas.   Globally, the Automatic is not common for the DS, but Australia has quite a few as Citroen had originally planned to sell the in the US market then had to pull out of that market given all their protectionist regulations, so many ended up here.

The automatic is a 3 speed, but gets along quite well with the extra power of the 23 injected engine.   The gear lever is similar to the BVH, but you start the car from the key, not the gear selector.   Handbrake is as BVH, but you can see the blanking for the manual gear lever that the BVH doesn’t have.    On the whole, I am glad I persisted and got the BVH, but despite the negative comments by many DS enthusiasts, the automatic, when coupled with the extra power of the 23ie, still gives that DS experience for those who do not want to change gears.