05x09 & 05x10 - Citroen DS (Part 1 & 2)

[bunniefuu]

Hello and welcome to Wheeler Dealers.

This time we're crossing
the Channel to go and

find classic cars to
save from the crusher.

I'll be stripping down
and restoring the cars

we buy and then we'll
sell them on for a profit.

Now I've always fancied
a Citroen DS, there's

something about their eccentric
styling I just can't get enough of.

I know what you mean but can we buy
and restore one within our £5,000 budget?

Have faith Ed, have faith,
I know the right cars out

there, we've just got to
pull out all the stops to find it.

The DS is the car they
nicknamed the goddess,

a quantumly forwarding
car design with its.

hydropneumatic self-leveling
suspension and power steering.

It brought the space age to the masses.

It was launched in 1955 when most cars
still had running boards and trafficators.

The DS had a streamlined
body by Bertone and

some of the most complex
engineering ever seen on a car.

Almost one and a half million of
them were made and for a generation

of drivers the DS sums up the
lasting appeal of French cars.

Right hand drive versions
of the DS developed

a fearsome reputation
for rust so I'm not

going to bother looking
for a British car, I'm

going to search French
classic car websites.

Right, there's loads here, in
fact there's too many to choose

from so what I'm going to have
to do is narrow my search down.

The first one I'd like to look off is
this, power blue, I think my French isn't

that good but I think
it says family car used

on regular, regular
basis so that's alright.

And then underneath
that there's an even better

one, this is a delta
blue, sonque vitesse,

five speed that would be, so that's a nice
looking motor and that also says bonnetet,

so that's good condition and there's lots,
there's lots to choose from, both from

private individuals and from dealers
so I think the best thing to do is to log

straight back on another webpage
and book myself a cheap flight.

Well, I'm dead excited by this trip because
the filled smell of lavender, I'm going

past old vineyards and
through pretty villages, it's magic.

Now my first port of call is going to
be a specialist dealer that I found on the

web, he's got a few cars
for sale plus he's got some

spare parts so I reckon
that's a good place to start.

I'm making my way to
Dijon in North East France.

Wow, look at this one, guys, gorgeous.

Bonjour!

Hello!

Stefan?

Oui.

Michel!

How are you Michel?

How are you?

Very well, very well.

Wow!

You've got DS's here,
DS's outside, you've got lots?

Yes, yes.

And pour regarde?

And pour regarde, bien sous.

Stefan possibly thought I was interested
in this one, this green baby here.

Just look at the paintwork, it's finished.

The interior's all ripped.

I think it's going to be too
much work to pull it back round.

So far, not so good.

A couple more to look at though.

Next up was a pair of Safaris,
the ultra rare estate car.

The green one had a ropey
interior and no French MOT.

But the red one, now that looks pretty.

This is much more like it.

Look, the dashboard is
beautiful, it's got the leather seats.

Still not convinced by the
estate car version though.

And I found out that Stefan
wants 13,000 Euros for this.

Far too much money.

Nice, but I think I'll
have to look elsewhere.

That means I'm back on the hunt again,

and this time I'm
heading towards a small

village called Champenat,


Bonjour monsieur, this
is what I've come to see.

It's very, very nice.

It's in good condition.

Condition now, yes, it's good.

I think you're saying
it sounds good things.

It's got control technique.

Yes, it's good.

Beautiful, beautiful.

Beautiful.

OK to have a look.

Wow.

Look at this.

Original, no accident.

Wow, look at the inside.

The seat's ripped.

Everything works.

Yes, it's in good condition.

Look at that.

Yes.

Is there a...

Ah, I see, OK.

Good.

OK, yes, beautiful.

Is the engine...
Good, sweet, sweet.

I think he said that the
engine's in good Nick.

New battery?

New battery.

I just need to test drive.

Test drive?

Well, there was no point in
me just wasting time trying

to break down international
barriers with John Luke,

because it's clear I know
very little French and he knows

very little English, but I do
speak the language of cars.

I mean, if you're going
to buy a car, you need to

drive it and you need
to put it in all the gears.

You need to make sure
that everything works.

If there's a button, push it.

If there's a knob, pull it.

That's what I say.

And make sure that it's all there.

And just by sitting in this car for five
minutes, I can already tell it's there.

It's definitely there.

I've never been happier.

Look how characterful it is.

I mean, inside, it's characterful.

Outside, it's just oozing French charm.

So what needs doing on this car?

Well, the big jobs will be to replace the
interior and convert the car for UK use.

I know Ed's up to those
tasks, but I'm hoping this

complex Citroen isn't
hiding any other problems.

So, am I going to buy this old Citroen DS?

Yes, I'll be a fool not to, won't I?

This is exactly what I'm looking for.

Do you know what?

If you wouldn't take a penny off,
I'm going to buy it for 5,300 Euros.

Simple as that.

I love it.

You know what it's going
to come down to, don't you?

It's going to come down to good old
c*ck charm versus a bit of Gaelic charm.

Wish me luck.

What can I say, Jean-Luc?

The car is fine.

It's fantastic.

How much money was it?



Say that again.



That's 5,300, yes?

It's too high, too high.

You come less, 4,000?

No.

Cut?

No.

Finish.



Samuel.

Little less, less.

Samuel.



Samuel.

Come along, Jean-Luc.

No.

Finish.

No, no, no.

Samuel.

One price.

One price.





Done.

Finish.

OK.

Yes?

Merci, Monsieur.

The DS cost me 3,800 pounds.

Well under my five grand budget.

A similar car in the UK would
easily have been about a grand more.

So, result.

Now for the journey home.


back roads of rural France.

Pop over the channel and
we're back at the workshop.

But before I get too many
kilometres under my belt,

I need to make sure the
DS is fed and watered.

It's not me that's thirsty, but the car is.

That's because I've got several
hundred miles to get going today

and I want to make sure that
our Citroen DS is fit for the journey.

So, a little top up of the radiator.

Never done anybody any
harm on a long journey.

And make sure that you check the oil.

I know that this car has
been well looked after,

but it's worth just
doing these little checks.

Oh, look at that good clean oil.

That's lovely.

She's got oil.

She's got water.

All we need is a full tank of
petrol and I can hit the road.

This car is fantastic.

Now I've bought and sold
hundreds of cars through my life,

but this one is just giving
me the right good feelings.

It's giving me the, she's talking to me.

She's communicating and she's going to
make it all the way back to England for me.

Look at this car, look.

Silky smooth, like magic carpet.

You know like when
you're in a swimming pool,

on holiday, on the
lilo, just popping along.

That's what this feels like.

It's been remarkably easy driving the
old DS all the way back to northern France.

Very comfortable, the car has
not missed a beat all the way.

And somewhere just over
there is the Channel Tunnel

and it's a short hop from
there back to Ed's workshop.

And when I get this car
back, he is going to be

trade content with the
DS that I've bought for us.

In fact, this whole trip
has just been fantastic.

I'm having a wonderful
time wafting along in my DS.

But it's rare for a classic car to be
problem free and even rarer for a complex DS.

So the acid test will be when Ed casts
his critical eye over my sleek Citroen.

Welcome back to the show devoted to
one of my favourite cars, the Citroen DS.

I bought this absolute stunner
in rural France for just £3,800.

Well under our £5,000 budget.

The bodywork and engine seem fine,
but there's still plenty for Ed to do.

Oh yes.

Bonjour monsieur. How about that then?

That is fantastic, well done that man.

This is a lovely, lovely car.

Citroen DS Super.

An actual Citroen DS.

And it is in super condition.

Although, there's a little bit of an issue
here with the trim on the headlight there.

That's just a little bit
of shrinkage on the trim.

And the indicator could
do with being sorted out.

And actually that mirror looks a bit dodgy.

But that's nothing is it?

A mirror, an indicator and a bit of trim.

That is nothing.

The rip seat.

Oh I know, okay.

But you're good with the old
needle and cotton, you'll be alright.

That's nothing else to do.

There was one thing when I was
driving it back up, I stopped overnight.

And when I left in the
car park in the morning, I

always liked to look back
to see what I left behind.

And I did leave two little drips.

And it looks like the rear
suspension might be leaking.

Michael, that is nothing.

No it isn't, it could be huge.

The suspension thing, the whole
hydraulic system is so complicated.

It does the suspension, the brakes,
the power steering, it does everything.

So it could be a really big problem.

You really do sound like a Saturday
afternoon mechanic sometimes.

Let me say it.

Ed, it's a gasket, it's
a screw, it's a bolt.

You've just got to tighten it up.

It's never that easy.

I'm still confident
that I bought a cr*cker.

But Ed's talk of costly suspension
problems has worried me.

So that's the first thing
he's going to investigate.

Fingers crossed this DS doesn't end up
breaking my heart and my bank balance.

This is such a cool car.

I mean, aesthetically
it's utterly beautiful.

But even from a design point of view,
it's got loads of really cool features.

Probably the most famous
is its hydraulic suspension.

But it also controls the hydraulic power
steering and the hydraulic power brakes.

Now, on normal running,
you can cruise along on

a lovely, smooth ride
because of the hydraulics.

But should you have to
go off-road perhaps, maybe

just off the beaten
track over a speed bump,

you can set the hydraulics
and it will raise up

just a little bit higher,
which is very cool.

But even cooler than that,
if you need to change a

tyre, you can put it onto
its maximum setting, like so.

And then you don't even need a jacket.

Lift the car up, put a
prop in, drop it down

again, then you can
change one of the tyres.

It's utterly brilliant, but of course
therein lies its Achilles heel.

Should any of the
hydraulic systems fail, then

of course you've got a really big problem,
and perhaps a really expensive problem.

Now, I mentioned that if
we had a problem with our

hydraulic system, we'd
have a really big problem.

And I do think we do have
a really big problem because

there seems to be something
slightly amiss with this engine.

Now, that noise you just heard
there, that is the sound of the regulator,

which is a little valve that's
allowing fluid from the hydraulic

pump into an accumulator,
which is essentially a big balloon.

Now, on a normal running
car that's perfectly okay, that

noise should happen every
sort of maybe 15 or 20 seconds.

But if we can, one, two,
three, four, five, six, seven.

See, so basically it's probably
half as good as it should be.

It looks to me as though the regulator
and accumulator will need to be replaced.

Sounds easy, but they
live deep in the engine

bay and it's very
fiddly to get them out.

The regulator is a monitor and
valve which checks that the hydraulic

pressure in the system is correct
and allows extra fluid in if needed.

The fact that it's ticking so
often shows that it feels it needs

to keep topping up the accumulator
to maintain peak pressure.

A bad sign.

If the regulator and accumulator are
faulty, they could be the source of the

pressure leak and the drops of fluid
Mike recently spotted behind the car.

Oh, there we go. Hey! Success at last.
It does look rather leaky, doesn't it?

Now, the accumulator is the bit that stores
all the high-pressure liquid and this

is the regulator which basically controls
the flow from the pump to the accumulator.

Now, either of them could
be faulty and because

it's been a bit of a faff
trying to get them off,

I think what I'm going to
do is throw caution to the

wind and replace this with
some reconditioning units,

which I have sourced
from a Citroen specialist.

Now, they come in two pieces and I'm
going to have to put the seals back in and

it's very important that I use brand new
seals just to ensure I don't get any leaks.

There we go.

So now, I can just pop it back
onto the car. Very simple job,

obviously. And then, hopefully,
I'll have a fixed suspension system.

It does look rather as if I'm going to
have to fit this from underneath the car.

Pretty much the same way it came out.
So, back on the floor.

I'm afraid there's
not much to look at

because even I can't
see what's going on here.

I'm just having to use a touch.

I'm feeling my way through
and I think, hopefully, in an

hour or two, I might have
this thing fitted to the engine.

The new parts cost £135.
Let's hope they've made all the difference.

I've got no fluid leaking
everywhere, so that's good.

Okay, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,


It still hasn't come
on, so I would say that

was well and truly
fixed, which is fantastic.

So, now, hopefully, the
suspension should go up and

down just as before and
everything will be groovy.

Now, I'm happy that the new accumulator
and regulator are all working perfectly.

There are no leaks.
So, basically, all I

have to do now is check
the suspension again.

I'm just going to pop it
up into its top position.

Okay, there we go. We've got some movement,
so that means that's working as well.

So, basically, I now have the
peace of mind I need to know that the

hydraulic system, at least that,
but anyway, is working perfectly.

After my suspension fix,
the engine is running up

to speed, which means
the oil is nice and warm.

Perfect conditions to do
an oil and filter change, and

I'll do a mini service on
the engine while I'm at it.

That oil is going to take a while
longer to drain out completely, but

I will now take off this little
plate here, which houses the filter.

Just removing the oil filter. A little
bit different to conventional cars of

nowadays, because it's like a paper
element filter actually inside the sump.

That's the old oil filter,
looking pretty unpleasant.

Just going to get the new one.

Now, this next bit is rather
important. I've got two

arrows on here, one on the
sump and one on the filter.

And it's very important that
they line up, because if they

don't line up, then the
engine will be starved of oil.

The filter is back in place,
so it's time to top up with oil.

The DS is an old girl, so I'm giving
her plenty of good quality semi-synthetic

oil, a quick check of the dipstick,
and all's well with the big Citroen.

With the HT leads
off, I can remove the

Bakerlite... Yes, I did
say Bakerlite plug covers.

The spark plugs themselves are quite
weird, buried deep inside the engine.

I'm using a pair of mole
grips to grab the spark plug

extender. First time I've
ever come across one of them.

Then, a socket connector on a long ratchet
arm to remove the spark plug itself.

Spot the difference. This
is what you'd recognise as a

standard spark plug, and
here is one from a Citroen DS.

Now, it's got this mad extension on
the end, because the spark plug sits

so far inside the engine that the
HT lead wouldn't ordinarily reach.

It needs a bit of ingenuity to screw the
new spark plugs back into the engine.

But eventually, they're
all in place, and I've

got another treat for
the 2.2 litre engine.

I think the HT leads look a bit old and
oily, so I've got a fresh new set to fit.

And they definitely add engine
bay appeal for any potential buyer.

Then, finally, I'm ready
to tackle the air filter.

This air filter is actually
made out of kind

of lots of layers of
almost like a metal gauze.

It's a little bit like a
catalytic converter now.

The idea is it stops all
the particles going into the

engine, literally by just
having loads of little holes.

Nowadays, with modern cars, you
have a paper element filter, and once

that's got dirty, just Chuck it away,
and then replace it with a new one.

With this, especially
as it's in such good

condition, I'm just washing
it through with petrol.

That'll dissolve any of
the dirt that's in there.

Once it's dried out,
I'll put it back in the car,

and it'll be ready for many
more thousands of miles.

All right, my old bugger.

Not too bad, sir.

How you getting on? There was
very little to do to this, wasn't there?

You don't know the half of it. I've
done a full engine service so far,

but also I've saved this from a
potentially fatal hydraulics failure.

You're kidding.
When I bought this car, it was mint.

No, no. The pressure regulator and the
accumulator are both a bit faulty, which means if

you were driving along, the engine was to cut
out, you'd actually start losing pressure,

which means you'd lose both the suspension
and the steering, but worse, the brakes.

If that happened on a test drive,
well, it could have been fatal.

What about the other
stuff that needed fettling?

Well, of course, I've got to
convert the headlights to right-hand

drive spec, but also I need to
do something with the interior.

It's got a little bit of a
hole in it, and kind of,

rather than fix it, I'd
like to just replace it.

Well, I thought you were
good with a needle and cotton.

No, no, no.
How about you just get us a new interior?

What, you want me to go and
get an interior for a 1970s DS?

In blue.

In blue? As rare as hen's teeth?

Bon chance, sir.

We're well within budget with a DS.

We've only spent a few hundred pounds on
parts so far, but it was money well spent.

Vive mon, ma calitien.

I love every curve on this car.
It's gorgeous, but this felt bodywork

would amount to nothing if the
oily bits underneath seized up.

So I'm really pleased that
Ed has managed to sort out

the mechanical gremlins,
but there's still plenty to do.

We're working on one of my
all-time favourites, the Citroen DS.

Stunning aerodynamic
styling and state-of-the-art

engineering wrapped up in
one jaw-dropping package.

Love it or hate it, you simply
can't ignore this big Citroen.

Our challenge was to find a DS,
buy it and restore it for just £5,000.

What better place to start
the search than France?

A quick trip across the
channel and I landed this

immaculate DS Super 5
for a tre magnifique £3,800.

The drive back to Blighty was a breeze,
but when Ed started digging around in

the DS engine bay, he discovered a
potentially disastrous suspension problem.

But he soon had the pass through
place and the Citroen was saved.

Well, it looks like the
old DS is almost set for

the road, but in truth,
there's still plenty to do,

including getting this
French-registered car legal for UK roads.

Rust is a big problem for DSs. Our
car looks great, but before we can go

anywhere near an MOT bay, I'm
going to take a look under the car's skin.

Being a Citroen, there's
a quirky way of doing it.

Now, what happens is I just
undo this with this special tool.

I'll be a bit careful not
to damage the paint.

And the idea is, there
are two lugs at the other

end of the wing that
hold this onto the car.

So just pop this off.

It's a nice bit of
chrome as well, so it

kind of matches with
the features of the car.

It doesn't really mess
up those flowing lines.

Now, just grab hold of this.

And there we go, the wing is off
the car already. How mad is that?

Well, you can see how easy it
is to take a real wing off a DS,

and that's something that Mike really
should have done when he bought the car,

because it gives you such great
access to the bottom of the C-pillar.

And you can get a Citroen
DS that looks great on the

outside, but it's completely rotten on the
inside, and this is the best way to tell.

Now, either by luck or good management,
Mike has got us a really solid car.

So that is quite a result.

So, with no signs of
rust on the chassis or

exterior panels, the
bodywork of RDS is A-OK.

But the seat covers look a bit pastered,
and this driver's seat is badly frayed.

But Mike has managed to track
down someone who might help.

Hey Mike.

Hello mate, how are you?

Good to meet you at last.

Right, what's all this about?
It's a bit like being back in France.

When I was down in the region of Dijon,
there was people specialising in DS parts,

but I didn't expect, somewhere just off the
M25, on a farm, to find a place so similar.

Well, that's what it's all about,
keeping DSs on the road.

When we spoke on the phone,
I needed an interior for that car,

which I thought was
going to be a rare thing

to get, but you were
quite optimistic about it.

Not a problem nowadays, we can
get almost everything, here we are.

One in the box, look at that!

Look at this!

Oh yes!

Look at that, that's
fantastic, a brand new interior.

So people are now knocking
out new parts for Citroen DSs?

Exactly, yep, there's almost nothing
you can't get hold of nowadays.

Look at that.

Jamie was a real find, and the new
seat covers he'd sold me cost just £390.

Ed is going to be really
impressed with these.

Now, if I was going to
keep this car, I'd think about

investing in a really
expensive leather interior,

but really, for us, that's
just not economically viable.

Thankfully, despite their rarity, Mike has
managed to saw some brand new seat covers.

Now, if I really wanted
to and tried hard

enough, I could probably
fit them inside the car,

but really, it's going
to be a lot easier if I just

take the seats out and fit
everything on the bench.

It seems removing the seats
is actually quite straightforward,

just got four small bolts
holding them down to the floor.

Let's see if these are out.

Oh, there we go!

Little unconventional
taking it out while sitting in it.

The DS is well known for the
comfort levels it gives passengers,

and pulling out these huge
seats, you can see why.

The back is more like a sofa.

Now, I'm not entirely sure how
these seat covers are attached.

It's just a case of kind of getting
stuck in and seeing what happens.

I'm going to start with
the driver's side, just

because that's the one
with the most damage.

I've already seen there's
this protective cover

here held on with a
couple of screws either side,

so I'll take that off
and see where it leads.

Well, that's the cover off.

And I'm going to do one chair at a time,

because that way I've
always got a pattern of

how it's supposed to go back
together again, just in case I forget.

It's got to be so careful not to
force anything, just be really patient.

The seat slider mechanism
has got to come off

before I can get at
the fixings for the cover.

The blue covers appear to be
a sort of odd thing, all in one.

On the outside is the blue fabric.

On the inner is a liner which sits
straight on the foam body of the seat.

Very simple, and hopefully
very easy to replace.

There we go, so there's
our damaged seat cover.

So we can get rid of that,

and put on the new one.

Maybe not.

Is that right? Maybe.

After a bit of confusion,

all seems okay, and the
base cover slips into place.

I think the trick seems
to be to hook the

front of the cover over
the front of the seat,

get that in the right position,

and I can then try to pull everything
back and get it nice and taut.

With the base fitted, I'm repeating
the process on the foam back panel.

There we go.

And it slips on very snugly.

It's quite easy to see the
difference in quality as well.

The old covers were so
worn, they were very thin,

but this has got a much more
substantial feel to it, which is very nice.

Look at the difference. This interior is
going to look stunning when it's finished,

but it is taking ages, so I'm
going to have to crack on.

After an afternoon of pulling,
stretching, and cajoling,

the seats are all coming together.

Thankfully, the rear seat banquette
was much simpler than the front seats.

These new covers have
taken an absolute age to fit,

and I think it's probably about
time I put the interior back in the car.

Now here is the finishing touch to
our rather excellent looking new interior.

It does look fantastic, even
though it did take a day to achieve.

But look at the little clock here.

It would seem that I've only
taken five minutes to do that,

but that's because the clock isn't working,
and I do happen to have a replacement,

and this really will be
just a five minute job to do.

I bore this clock off
the web for 20 pounds.

I switched the connectors over at the back,

and for the first time, the car's
running on Greenwich Mean Time.

Yeah, I reckon that
makes it about tea time.

Cheers.

The DS is looking good,
but it still has to pass a full

British MOT before it can
legally drive on UK roads.

How will it fare at a
local testing station?

Welcome back.

We're turning a French left hand drive
DS into a well-heeled British resident.

We've only got about 500
pounds left of our five grand budget,

and there's still more to spend.

A pretty important
job I've got to do before

we can sell this car is
get it through an MOT,

and for that, I need to change these
French spec left hand drive headlights

for English spec right
hand drive headlights.

The only trouble is, to get it then,

I have to take the entire wing off.

I've got a couple of bolts to undo.

I think one here is the other side of the
front wing here, but before I can do that,

there's also some mechanisms
I've got to disconnect,

like this one that tilts the
headlight up and down,

and also the one which connects
the beams to the steering.

Really cool mechanisms,
but they're going to have

to be disconnected
before I can take this off.

This is such a cool car.

I've even got a little cutout here
between the bumper and the wing

so I can get my socket onto
the bolt which holds the wing on.

I love it.

This car just gets better and better.

I've got to disconnect
the wiring to the wing,

but it's all wired in
all the way up to here,

and there's some nicely
colour-coded connectors.

Makes it so simple.

The wing is now freed off,
but it's far too heavy to lift alone,

so my mechanic chum Paul is here to help.

I think that sounded vaguely expensive.

Oh, we do.

Where's the hose?

OK, that's the air hose off.

You've got the extra wires there.

There's always extra wires.

So that's for the horn?

Yeah.

Cool, OK. Well done.

Right, now, I'll go to the bench with this.

Wow.

Naked car.

With the wing on the
bench, I can strip it down

and get proper access
to replace the headlights.

Because good right-hand-drive
sealed beam units are hard to find,

most people just put
tape on the lenses of

their left-hand-drive
versions to pass the MOT.

But I found some second-hand
headlights from a specialist dealer.

Trouble was, they cost £190 for the pair,

pushing our budget to the brink.

There we have it.

One old-fashioned Continental light beam.

There we go.

So that's back into its swinging mode.

That's it. It's round the right way up.

Which it is. OK.

I'm ready to put the wing back
on, so Paul, if you'll give us a hand.

This job seems like a lot of
work, but actually, it's simple stuff.

Just don't damage the bodywork
when you're manhandling

the wing or you'll
run up a big repair bill.

Back to me a little bit, I think.

With the wing bolted back on,

it's just a case of reconnecting the wiring
loom and we're ready for the big turn-on.

OK, here we go. Let's put the ignition on.

Yep, that's the side light.

Dip beam, main beam.

Cool, and just try the indicators,
wherever they are. There we go.

Nice.

A full set.

The DS is pretty much ready
for its MOT, but you know me,

I like to make sure
every last detail is perfect.

And there's something that's been
bugging me about this car for days now.

One of the first things I
noticed when Mike presented

me this car was this
rust on the wing mirror.

I know it's a small detail, but
really, it does still let the car down

because it's one of those
things that's just so obvious.

And it's a simple fix.

All I have to do is undo this screw here

and then replace it with a nice new one.

And a nice simple job.

We're here at our usual MOT station.

Dave's going to be doing the MOT today.

He's just going to do a few cursory checks

just to make sure that this car is
actually going to be OK for an MOT

and I haven't missed
anything really obvious.

Dave is checking for obvious rust holes,

making sure we've got windscreen wipers.

Basic stuff like that, but essential.

An MOT costs around £40,

so no point starting if
the car is an obvious fail.

Well, we've made it onto the ramp,

which means that everything
so far is looking pretty good.

Dave is now going to look
into the real depth of the vehicle,

checking things like
the steering, the brakes,

all that kind of little bits
and pieces like the bodywork.

So, here we go, let's see what happens.

Up on the ramp, he's giving
the car a real checkover.

Dave's looking for structural
damage, rust, poor welding.

If he finds it, the car is
probably a straight fail.

OK, rock the steering, please.

Now, I wasn't worried about bodywork
or anything because I know it's all sound.

What I was worried about is the headlights.

We've just changed those units

and they cost, they have to
be working for English spec,

otherwise this is not
going to work for an MOT.

Hopefully, we're going to be OK.

Next up is the dreaded brake test.

Dave lines the car up on the rolling ramps

and then puts the foot and hand
brakes through a series of tests.

I haven't worked on the brakes,
so I'm hoping they'll be fine.

Dave has got a real poker face

and when he starts doing the
emissions test, I'm a little worried.

After all my hard work, is
my French car about to fail?

That's the test over.

OK.

If you've got the driver down, I'll
produce the paperwork for you.

OK, thank you, sir. Thank you very much.

Well, fingers crossed.

Well, here is the paperwork.

We have an MOT for our Citroen.

Fantastic.
I'll drive it back to the workshop.

With the MOT certificate safely
tucked away in the glove box,

the DS is finished and one word sums it up.

Superb.

I knew that France was the place to find
my dream DS and when I test drove this car,

I got that old Wheeler-dealer
feeling straight away.


and I wafted back to the UK.

But it was a shock when Ed
discovered a major suspension problem.

Luckily, he spotted it early

and replaced a regulator and
accumulator to save my blushes.

The engine responded well to a mini service
and now the car goes as good as it shows.

Inside, the car was let
down by a ripped driver's seat

so we replaced the whole
interior with new deep blue covers.

This car is all about the details
so Ed made sure the clock worked

and he replaced the door
mirror with a shiny new part.

Changing the front headlamps
took longer than expected

but in the end the big Citroen
was ready for its UK MOT.

and she sailed through.

Did the DS go over budget?

Well, I paid 3,800 pounds for the car.

Travel to France was 400,

the suspension parts cost me 135,

the engine service parts were 80,

the interior was 390,

exterior trim and lights come to


With a total of 5,185 pounds,

we're just over budget.

Wow, Ed!

Oh, look at it, our Citroen DS.

You know, this was already
one of my favourite all-time cars

but now you've turned it
into a must-have motor.

Oh, mais oui, j'aime, c'est voiture.

I'm just saying that I
actually love the car too.

Right, OK, well I love the car too, Ed.

It looks like you've put your
heart and soul into this one.

I really have, I'm so
proud of this vehicle.

It's got that fantastic new interior

and I've got it ready for
English roads with those

new headlights and of
course given it an MOT,

so now it is utterly ready for the road.

Is it ready to go, Ed?

Absolutely.

Well, you'll be pleased to know
they've got such a cult following

and people have found
out that we're doing this.

I've already had a load
of interested inquiries.

That's very good news.

But before we get it sold, you know what?

Me and you should hit La Route.

It just feels great, Ed.

I'm almost convinced it's
the same car that just rolled

off the production line back
in France in 1973 or whatnot

and it feels like somebody's
just pulled the cellophane off it.

It's totally original, it's totally sellable
and I think you've done a cracking job.

Oh, thank you very much.

I only think that this car is
actually nearly as old as I am.

It looks like it's in better
condition, that's all I can say.

Well, I wouldn't say
that, but yeah, I agree.

Well, up here, Ed, it's an absolute
pleasure to drive these seats.

They're so comfortable.

What's it like in the back?

Well, this is a particularly
comfortable sofa of a rear seat

but I'm so glad that we went to the
trouble of doing these new covers

because they feel very, very
plush and they just look fantastic.

One really good thing about this motor, Ed,

we've got no more money to spend.

Really?

Yeah, because I'm not even
going to bother advertising it.

Okay.

It's such a word of mouth, Carl.

We need to come up with
a good price though, Ed.

Well, I mean, we have spent
a few quid on this vehicle.

I think if we can get over seven
grand, I'd be happy with that.

Why don't we sell it for a little
bit more than seven grand?

I'm not going to be greedy.

What do you think of 7,250?

Well, I think you'll be
a bargain at that price

but I think you'll
definitely be a bargain.

We'll definitely sell, so that
would be a good go for that.



This guy, Stephen, has
beaten a path to my door.

A dedicated DS fan, he's given
the car a real expert inspection.

He knows these cars
backwards but I'm not worried.

Ours is one of the best.

That's very nice in here.

What do you think of it?

Yeah, no, good.

The seats are great.

Yeah, funny, because
these are original parts.

When I got the car, it had
a tear in the driver's seat

and I thought there's no chance
I'm going to get seat covers

but one lucky phone call
and we managed to find an

original set of seat covers
for this car, original parts.

And the rest of it is lovely, isn't it?

So these are new seat
covers, all sort of recon?

No, they're brand new in a box.

Brand new?

Yeah, brand new seat covers.

If we even replaced the
clock, that was broken as well.

Happy?

Very happy.

No, I like the interior, it's great.

Shall we have a call?

The paintwork is all in good order.

I love this colour, I think
the colour's fabulous.

What about the little marks down there?

What we normally do
on Wheelie Deal is we

paint that but because
the car's so original,

you're never going to match the
paintwork in and do you know what?

I think it adds to the
character of it and it's honest.

It's an honest car.

We've had a good chat and
Stephen seems to like the

old Citroen but now it's
show me the money time.

Is he going to make me an offer?

You've had a good rattle round this car.

You know it's a tidy one.

I want £7,250 for it.

I was looking to spend
today about six and a half.

No, that's it, I'm sorry mate, it's £7,250.

You know what you're looking at, Stephen.

I know it's a lovely car but...

You know what you're looking
at, this is the one that you want

and you ain't going to get
a better one for the money.

It's got a few little bits that I've...

You're never going to
do that, you'll ruin the car.

If you tidy that little scratch
up, leave it, it's character.

It's honest.

It is character.

And I do... Come on.

Come on, make me an offer.

No, it's my car.

I don't need to make you an offer.

I want £7,250 and I'll sell it easily.

£7,000 and I'll buy it today.

You've got the cash?

Absolutely.

I want it at your hand.

Look after it.

I love this motor.

Please look after it.

£1,815, that's the biggest profit
we've ever had on Wheeler Dealers.

Ooh la la!

Well, it's been really
tough to let our old DS go.

I am seriously falling
in love with this old car.

But the good news is it's
been an easy one to sell

and we've earned some
serious moolah in the deal.

If you want to see more cars
getting the same treatment,

then join us again soon.

Ta-la!