Hi CarTalkers,
I would like to find any Citroen DS in the Chicago area, to beg, borrow, trade or rent a ride for my ex’s 50th Bday.
She has loved the entire DS family for as long as she’s known of them. And since one only gets one 50th, I figured this was something I could do to make it fun.
So if you know of or have access to any Citroen DS in Chicago, running, around mid April, would you contact me? I’d be very grateful, and I expect she’ll faint.
Thanks!
Ben
Finding a Citroen in the US is not easy.
Finding one that is actually running is…rare indeed.
I wish you much luck in this quest!
You may want to try asking around in Quebec. The French connection leads way more Citroen cars in Quebec City and Montreal than anywhere else in North America.
Good luck!
Citroen is not sold in the USA or Canada. How can Citroens be widely available in a country that doesn’t import them?
Do as all celebrities and parade organizers do, and rent one from a car museum or vintage rentral agency for the day. This car was such a unique design that most vintage car salons have one and many will provide rentals with drivers. I’m sure if you wanted one of Jay Leno’s cars for a day he would be pleased to rent out out to you.
Also wedding organizers often have a list of unique cars you can get married in. Last time I was in Paris, France a couple got married in a vintage 60s Mustang; a VERY RARE car in France.
As correctly pointed out, Citroens have not been sold in Canada since the sixties. The last time I actually saw one running in North America was in 1979. It was owned by a guy who had bought it in Montreal and had grown attached to it.
Good luck!
They were sold in the US for a few years in the early 1970’s. I used to see a few driving around back then in Ohio and they were easy to spot because they were so odd looking (my family called them ‘Jetson’s cars’). I actually got to ride in one once when I was in high school (circa 1979) and it was very unusual compared to Detroit iron.
I did see them all over Europe on a family trip there in 1978, along with some different (also unusual) Citroen models. To this day, if I see even a few seconds of the Jetsons TV show I always think of the Citroen DS.
They haven’t been sold in the U.S. since the early '70s, and they were never sold here in high volume. Any you find in operable condition is likely to be unobatinable without a large bag of money. It’s likely to be part of a collection.
Sincere best of luck.
There are Citroen clubs polka-dotting the US, you might do well to try to find one.
As a matter of fact, Jalopnik had a '69 DS Wagon in Alameda, CA featured in their Down on the Street series today.