Delivering an Exceptional Goddess to Texas

By George Dyke….

On August 23, 2025, I listed a 1972 Citroën DS21 on Citroënvie that Dave Burnham Citroën near Albany NY had done a full restoration on back in 2011.  It had come from Colorado and was then sold to a gentleman in New Albany Ohio, who had it for about 10 years and then sold it to another gentleman near Albany, New York with under 3K miles added to the odometer.

The current owner had a number of lovely Citroëns and put less than 1,500 miles on the DS. Ultimately, he decided that he wanted to thin his collection, and asked me to list the car on Citroënvie, as well as handle the sale, as he didn’t want to be bothered talking to a bunch of different people speculating about the car or going through an auction process. He priced it very reasonably for what it was — an excellent example of a US spec DS21.

Within two weeks of listing it on Citroënvie I received a phone call from a fellow who was a classic car appraiser in Dallas who had a client, an elderly gentleman, who spotted the ad and began asking all sorts of questions about the Citroën as he had owned an SM briefly in the 1970s and had an opportunity to ride in a DS when visiting Paris many years ago. Not knowing that much about Citroëns he suggested to his customer that he contact me to answer his queries about the car. That same day the gentleman called me and in speaking with him, he mentioned that his health was failing and that he wanted to have a nice DS to enjoy ASAP.

We concluded the purchase in a week or so, and as part of the purchase, I agreed to arrange shipping to him. Originally, I planned to ship the DS directly to Dallas, but as I was getting quotes for the move, he asked about air conditioning which was not installed in the car. He said that with the heat in Dallas, the car had to have AC and could I arrange for that to be done before delivery?

When it was restored, Dave had put a vented front bumper on the car, the same as on US spec DSs that were originally sold with AC. That helped somewhat but the AC request still presented a challenge as it is no easy task to install into a DS, let alone find a Citroën repair shop anywhere in North America that could take on the project right away. By this time it was near the end of September and he wanted the car right away!

Time Pressure Challenge

I recalled speaking with Gary Kelly of Fun Cars of Georgia two years ago at Rendezvous in Saratoga Springs NY about his experience installing air conditioning in DSs.  Fun Cars of Georgia has been servicing and restoring Citroëns for over 50 years in Covington GA, just east of Atlanta.

The subject came up as Gary and I looked at a DS23 that had traveled to Rendezvous from GA. (Gary had driven there in his SM.)

The DS23 had AC with an electric compressor, which does not require the compressor to be belt driven from the engine. Instead, providing you have an alternator installed that can deliver sufficient electrical power, you can effectively have an AC system that does not put a mechanical strain on engine, therefore not loosing any horsepower power on the road.

One limitation that Gary and I noted looking at the DS23 was that the compressor was quite large and was placed in front of the radiator shroud, making in impossible fit the spare tire in place. (The spare was relegated to the trunk.) Gary had not installed the AC on this DS23 and he mentioned that he was working on a “better” means to fit AC into a DS.

We featured an article by Kevin Royer back in April 2024 where he installed electric AC in his 1967 DS21. Kevin’s solution for mounting the compressor was to fit in the front fender and have hoses coiled and long enough to remove the fender if need be, without having to bleed the system.)

I called Gary and asked how his DS AC project was going. He said that he had now done a few DS with electric AC and that he had managed to find a compressor that could be mounted beside the engine and not obscure the area for the spare tire. Even better — he was just finishing a DS that had AC installed in both the front and the rear!

I asked if I could slip the DS21 by him on the way to Dallas, and could he manage to install AC into it in a few weeks, completing the job so it could be delivered to Dallas prior to Christmas?  He agreed, and I explained that the new owner wanted the best possible air conditioning. So, I instructed him to do both the front and rear on the DS and go full blast on the system both literally and figuratively!

Gary had just heard of a new compressor that was even more compact and efficient than what he was using to date and offered to get it for the project.

To better help the engine cope with the heat, I ordered a 4-core radiator from Paul Anderson at Brad Nauss Automotive and had it shipped to Gary.

At the same time I had been in touch with Hein Gysen, an expert Citroën mechanic in Los Angeles (and a CX owner with 1.3 million kilometers on it) about something altogether different, but mentioned what Gary and I were up to. He was very curious and mentioned that he had equipped a few DSs with AC in LA. In one case, he installed AC into a DS to cope with the heat in Phoenix AZ. His installations had belt-driven compressors, but they used condensers and routing that were quite cleverly installed. Wanting to help ensure our AC turned out well, he sent along a few pics and a description of his work to help us determine the best way to fit AC into the DS in GA.

With Gary agreeing to take on the project, I then tried to set a realistic expectation for the DS21 delivery to Dallas. I felt that if all went according to plan, a delivery by Christmas would hopefully suffice. The owner got back to me saying that he wished it could be sooner, but then gave me a list of other things that he wanted that included:

• adding extensive insulation and sound deadening
• Gradulux ‘Venetian’ blinds to be placed in the rear window
• adding a back-up camera and LCD rearview mirror
• installing fresh ‘correct’ Michelin 180 x 15 XAS tires (even though the existing Michelin 180 x 15 XAS tires were just 3 years old)
• a full fluid change; oil, gearbox and LHM
• a new stereo radio (to replace a Panasonic AM only radio) with bluetooth connectivity, USB, stereo speakers front and rear as well as a sub-woofer
• and an additional request to add an equalizer to the sound system.

Pointing out that doing all that would take some additional time enabled me to set delivery expectations more toward Christmas, and so I proceeded with shipping arrangements for the car to go Gary in Covington. I booked enclosed transport with Reliable Carriers who said they could pick-it up within 4 weeks. As it turned out they left it to the end of the 4th week to pick-it up and there was a further delay in delivery as their rig broke down in New Jersey adding a few more days until it could be repaired and the DS delivered to Gary on Halloween!

As for getting the DS from Covington to Dallas, I had also priced that with Reliable, but the owner asked that I go Fun Cars of Georgia, check out their finished work and then drive it 1,100 miles to Dallas to ensure there were no issues. And as I would be flying to Georgia and out of Dallas, I would be making the delivery trip with the car, but would be taking any tools with me. Normally I would not have taken that risk, but I had faith in the integrity of Dave Burnham’s restoration and the upkeep on the car since then.

By the time the DS arrived in Georgia, Gary had ensured that most of the AC components were on hand.

Fitting Modern Air Conditioning

The first order of business after taking off the fenders and removing the seats was to install a more powerful alternator.

We were surprised to see that grease nipples were added to the front hub bearings during the restoration. Most likely the doing of Carter Willey who worked with Dave Burnham at the time.

For the new alternator we chose a PowerMaster 578021, similar to the GM CS130 style alternator that some fit as replacement on DS.

The PowerMaster gives excellent output at idle while providing better cooling with its internal and external fans and it is self-regulating, so there is no need for an external voltage regulator. The ensure a reliable power feed to car a dual pulley was fitted along with 2 belts.

Next was to install the AC system starting with the 3-core condensers placed in the front bumper along with powerful electric fans and top mounted shrouds to ensure all air passing through the bumper vents is directed to the condensers. A third condenser was fitted in front of the radiator. The accumulator was located just behind the 1st stage horn and an L bracket platform fitted behind that on which the compressor would be mounted.

The new AC compressor is impressive, very quiet and as close to vibration-free as one is going to find. It is fed power on a heavy duty (red) cable with an inline 80 amp fuse running from a power terminal post added on the driver’s side behind the battery.

Also fed from that post is power to the front evaporator and power to rear evaporator.

For the front AC dash panel, Gary had created a special mold for installations that enabled him to make a fiberglass piece that mounts under dash leaving just enough room on passenger side to reach the hood release and on the diver’s access to both the parking brake and the hood release levers. The panel is covered in black stitched leather with a thin foam backing. Looking very elegant, 4 dedicated vents deliver AC air, and in the center of the panel are an on switch for the front AC with 3 settings for front fan speed, a temperature control switch and an on switch for the car’s rear AC with 3 settings for fan rear speed. Just behind the panel on the passenger side sits the evaporator for the front AC.

The original heater and air-flow controls were re-installed below the AC panel.

Refrigerant lines going the rear were run along the passenger side on the outside, behind the aluminium under-sill cover.

The rear AC evaporator was mounted just under the the rear parcel self on the passenger side, leaving enough room so it sits below the speaker. A drainage tube goes out to the rear wheel well.

The evaporator feeds 4 air ducts spread across the rear parcel shelf, and what was the original rear speaker was removed so that the grill for that is left in place to act as the rear air return to the AC, and the plenum for the radio sub-woofer mounted in the trunk. As to not over complicate the AC controls, the temperature control for rear unit was set to max and fixed in place behind the rear seat, as the vents themselves allow for airflow regulation.

Up front in the engine bay, two relays function; one to trigger the compressor, the other on the driver’s side, to delay the compressor ignition. This allows the compressor to run before the fans and the AC system to shut down after the ignition is turned off. The diode allows the front and rear to be operated independently of each other.

In all, the AC system fitted into this DS is both practical and comprehensive. I suppose that one could go even further and try to send cool air into the original heat and vent ducts, but I doubt that the effort to do that would realize any great benefits given that cool air flow would have to be regulated by dampers if not also additional fans.

Sound Enhancement

One of the challenges we faced with the sound system was not to have it appear obtrusive or “add-on”. The owner did not want the the dashboard to be radically altered to accommodate the radio, or speakers to be cut into the doors.

We chose to go with a modular radio from RetroSound that includes an AM/FM RDS tuner with 30 presets, a built-in 300-watt amplifier (25-watts RMS/45 peak x 4 channels), and built-in Bluetooth® for hands-free calling and high-quality audio streaming. It also includes a dedicated subwoofer output and is compatible with Apple and Android devices. The small size of the radio panel allowed it to be mounted into the narrow radio opening of the Panasonic radio that was removed. The radio’s electronic guts (they refer to is as the “motor”), is a separate unit with all the output connectors. Gary elected to mount it in the trunk as there was no room in the dashboard for it. A RetroSound subwoofer was mounted in the trunk with the control for it mounted on the dashboard along with the radio’s USB port placed just beside it. An antenna extension cable was run from the dashboard to the radio motor in the trunk.

We opted to increase the output power of the radio to 45-watts by adding RetroSound’s Quadraphonic 4-channel Amplifier. This fed the 2 rear Kicker 6.5” speakers mounted in the rear deck as well as 2 Pioneer TS-X210 5 1/4” 3 way speaker enclosures that are not visually apparent to occupants as they fit ever so snugly under the dashboard.

As there was little room for the 2 radio control knobs to be fitted in the radio slot on the dashboard, Gary removed the ashtray and installed them in a filler plate, so they were positioned just below the radio. And both the radio surround and the controls plates were black leather covered to give a close match to the grain pattern of the top of the dashboard.

Gary managed to fit 2 3.5” speakers into the original speaker spot on top of the dashboard and they were fed from a second amp, an Alpine S-A32F, also mounted in the rear.

4 micro speakers were placed overhead in the padded fabric of the headliner surround between the doors and the roof, one over each door, to be invisible yet enhance the high frequency sound permeating throughout the cabin.

A 4-channel In and 8-channel out digital sound processor (DS18), was fitted in the rear to providing 8-band independent parametric equalization on each output channel controlled via Bluetooth.

Rear Visibility Enhancement

The owner requested that a rear camera be installed as well as a LED rear view mirror and a 3rd brake light that would first flash 3 times when activated. Gary sourced an Auto-Vox V5PRO 1080P 9.35” LCD Rear View mirror and camera that also had a dashcam. The rear camera along with the 3rd brake light were tastefully positioned in the centre of the indent between the rear window and the roof.

To prevent the mirror from coming off the windshield if mounted there, we devised a means to secure it on rigid post that we ran from between the 2 3’5” speakers in the top of the dashboard through one of the holes in the original speaker grill.

Delivery

With all the modifications installed and checked, it was off to Dallas on an 1,100 mile 13 hour journey where the car drove literally like new!

At one point on I20 interstate (when the photo below was taken), I was cruising along a particularly pretty stretch and on the radio was playing Supertramp’s ‘Take the Long Way Home’. That is the song that Citroën used for the prelude video to their 100th anniversary celebration. Listening to that and driving this marvellous DS, — well let’s just say that life doesn’t get much better!

At a rest stop along the way, I took a couple of minutes to photograph the end result:

Arriving in Dallas, I was warmly greeted by the new owner and his family, the fellow who takes care of his automobile collection and the mechanic he relies on to service his cars.

I discovered that his mechanic has extensive experience with European cars, though not Citroën DS, but after a bit of orientation with him about servicing a DS and mentioning that Rob Courter who owns Javel in Dallas has good knowledge of DSs and can supply parts locally, I left for Toronto — delivery mission accomplished!