Safari DS23

Here is the Citroën DS23 estate "Safari", from Richard, in Australia.

The body is in its original colour, Ivoire Borely AC084.

His serial number 00FF7513 is in the very first of the 1975 year model production. But he has no hazard lamp, and is in fact to the 1974 specifications.

A lot of the last of the D series which were imported in Australia were fitted with compliance plates dated 12/74. the main reason (as I understand it) was; the liable customs duty was not paid and the cars were kept in bond until sold. There were a large number of Safaris, all of course with the same plate date, but sold as late as 1976. They were very expensive here in Australia, almost twice the price of the average Australian car.

Of course RHD, he had originally a 5 speed manual gearbox, but he was adapted with an hydraulic command.

Intérior trim is Targa black. Curiously, none of the Safaris imported in the last shipment were fitted with cloth trim, all were Targa. Vinyl was long considered, by Australians to be an inferior product compared to cloth, which was very much in vogue.

Also, combination with ivoire borely was not in the french official tables, but obviously sold for exportation by Citroën, as proved by this model, and another one similar in New Zealand.

It's uncommon to see in France a Targa interior with all the options: headrest and central armrest. Howevever the central armrest is a recent addition (bought to CitronPieces).

Thanks a lot Richard for the pictures and explanations.

Here a last word from Richard about the future of the car:

"My car is original with this combination, I will be changing the interior colour to Tabac Cuir in the next few weeks. It has been too long here in Australia in Targa, it is too cold in the winter and too hot and sticky in the summer. Time for a change."