Daily archives: May 14, 2010


Objects of Desire- Goddess on the highway

Picture from eclecticcars.co.uk

Picture from eclecticcars.co.uk

I don’t need a car, and most of the time I don’t want a car. As a cyclist I have a low, and justified, opinion of drivers which keeps me from wanting to join their ranks. But there are some cars which, given the opportunity, I’d own just for the warm feeling they’d give me.

The Citroen DS (wikipedia article) is one of those cars. It’s just stunning. Yet it was obviously practical as well, you don’t sell 1.5 million vehicles just because they’re pretty. I could just see myself in one of these, cruising along, looking fast even when standing still. For several years there was a Citroen DS ambulance parked down the side of a house in Fallowfield, gathering patina but still looking beautiful. I don’t know if it’s still there, and I really regret never being able to even enquire about buying it.

Citroen DS Ambulance

The lovely grey example at the top of the post is for sale by a company called Eclectic Cars. If anyone would like to give me £19,000 it could be mine.

There are currently no DSs on eBay, but there is one stunning Traction Avant and a “Big 15” Traction Avant which needs rebuilding. They’re also on my list of cars which would make me glow, and you can get me them for less than the DS.