The Citroen Car club had its monthly meeting at the Tesla showroom this month. Tesla were offering short test drives to club members as part of the meeting. The Tesla Model S is one of the few modern cars that interest me, so I jumped at the opportunity. In my view, the Tesla is the first ‘green’ car that is a great...
The Traction Avant is the easiest car I own to do a basic service. There is no oil filter, so the oil is simply drained and topped up. The transmission is right up front, and not obscured by the ducting of the DS, so it can be done while sitting in front of the car. The downside of course is that...
The other day I had removed all the sill trim from the DS. I also re-routed the speaker wires so new trim can be fitted. Next step was to fit the silver trim that faces the outside of the car, but is only visible when the doors are open, and the inner weather strip. The trim is glued on, but needs to be...
I had originally tucked the wiring for the rear speakers in the DS under the marine carpet that was on the inside of the sills. However, I am now replacing that and gluing down the correct vinyl, so wanted a better solution. The DS wiring harness actually goes between the inner and outer sill, along with some hydraulic lines. This is not...
The sill trim on my DS was in poor condition – the rubbers were perished, the outer sill trim was cracking, and the trim on the inside sills had been replaced with Marine carpet. Most of the information I could find on the Internet referred to a DS Pallas, and I wanted to keep my car as a DS Comfort. The photo above...
I had the traction towed home a week ago as I was unable to select a gear despite the clutch being fully depressed. I didn’t think anything was seriously wrong, as I had been driving fine around that time. After doing some research on the Traction Yahoo Group, and looking carefully at the linkages, I was able to determine that they sometimes...
Today the JDCA organized a run up to St Albans, which is just north of Sydney. I hadn’t had a chance to take the E-Type on a long run, so thought it would be a good opportunity. It was one of the biggest car club runs I have been on with nearly 100 sign ups and at least 20 E-Types joining in....
There have been some rather amusing columns written over the last few weeks that the departure of Jeremy Clarkson somehow paves the way for a ‘kinder, gentler’ (read more PC) Top Gear. More reviews on affordable cars; more eco friendly; no off colour comments. What a lot of rubbish. Nobody wants to watch a programme like that. How many teenage boys have a poster...
Today I was planning to change the oil in the engine and gearbox of the Traction. I took it for a drive to heat up the oil so it would drain out nicely. It was a lovely evening and I was enjoying the drive, then all of a sudden, the Traction won’t select a gear. Despite pushing the clutch to the...
Last year I replaced my accumulator sphere on the DS. The main driver for this was that I was getting short ‘cycle’ times. (i.e. the hydraulic pump would kick in very regularly to maintain system pressure, which puts stress on the system). At the time, I did get an improvement in cycle time. Secondarily I was hoping to cure a problem where the power...
This evening I spent some time looking over the traction. One of the things noted in the condition report was that the number plate lamp was inoperative. After eliminating it was not the blown fuse, I took the light apart, and the problem was that it was just dirty. A good clean and the lamp was working again. I also...
Despite my overheating problems last year, I had enjoyed the Citroen Club drive up the Putty road last year, and was keen to have another go in the DS with a new water pump and flushed radiator. This year was the same format, drive up for breakfast at the cafe halfway along the Putty road, Lunch at one of the wineries and...
Today I read a report from the NSW Council of Motor Clubs about their stance on historic registration. (It was published in the Magazine of the Jaguar Drivers Club of Australia). Basically their stance is to support the status quo (with minor amendments for street rods) and so NSW continues to have the worst historic registration system in the country. Obviously the final...
This evening I went over to the garage to look at the Traction in more detail. Overall I am still very happy with the purchase. A couple of things that I noticed: There was a frayed wire in the boot for the number plate light. I used electrical tape to ensure that it does not touch the metal. Not sure if this is...
Today I went and picked up the latest addition to the garage, a 1954 Citroen Light 15. Being a Light 15, this car is a Traction Avant and was built in Slough, UK. I don’t have a lot of history for the car, but it has been registered in NSW since 1984 and recently had $18,000 of mechanical work done by European Autocare...
In my view, Citroen has made two cars that changed the world – the Traction Avant and the DS (some would also include the 2CV in this list). The Traction Avant established Citroen as an innovative car company but at the same time bankrupted the company, leading to their ultimate control by the Michelin family. While Andre Citroen is probably better known for...
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