Seattle Citroën
Early 1969
UPDATED
2/2025
Citroën sold 1051 cars in the USA in 1969*. Almost all of these would have been DS's, but would a few Meharis would be included in this number?
* According to a 1981 United States Trade Commission report
USTC, Dec 1981
The year 1969 brought curious changes to DS’s bound for the USA. There were significant mid-year changes in 1969, so we will identify cars from early and late 1969 as; Early 1969 cars and 1969 1/2 cars. This section deals with the early 1969 cars.
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Early 1969 cars bound for the USA (both sedans and wagons) received the same exterior lighting that 1968 USA cars had.
In early 1969, Canadian sedans and wagons still had full Euro lighting.
DASHBOARD AND WIRING
Early 1969 DS’s for the USA had a very unusual dashboard that was only used for less than a year. These changes are described below:
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The most notable dashboard change on USA DS’s and ID's in early 1969 was that the little round dashboard switches that had been used for a number of years were replaced with rectangular rocker switches made by Jaeger. These rocker switches were only used for a few months in early 1969 and were apparently an interim solution to comply with US crashworthiness rules associated with occupant safety. Annoyingly, some of these switches didn't have symbols on them, so one had to memorize their function. See photos.
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The ignition switch was moved from the main dashboard facia to the left side of the steering wheel pod, also presumably to comply with US crashworthiness rules.
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Hazard lights were now factory incorporated into the wiring and operated by one of the rectangular Jaeger rocker switches.
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The dash had black crinkle paint on the steering wheel surround instead of chrome/aluminum. I think the reason for this change were rules associated with glare.
The above changes started driving even more substantial differences in the wiring between USA and Euro models.
Early 1969 cars for the USA still had different turn signal switches than Euro cars, still with a separate turn signal flasher unit. However by 1969, the flasher was no longer made by Klaxon. Instead the unit was made by Scintex (P/N DX 575 100).
Early 1969 USA DS21 dashboard with Jaeger Rocker switches. This particular car has Coolaire A/C
Early 1969 dash showing close up of poorly labeled Jaeger switches
Early 1969 dash showing ignition switch on left side of steering pod. Also notice black crinkle painted steering wheel surround. Finally notice the rear defogger switch to the left of the steering pod
Early 1969 ID19 USA dashboard with Jaeger switches
Typical Jaeger Switch used on an early 1969 DS dashboard
The Citroën parts book suggests that these USA dashboards with Jaeger switches may have been used on late 1968 models as well, but we believe this is not true. To our knowledge, these dashboards were only used on early 1969 USA models.
Canadian cars received new dashboards in 1969 as well, but the dashes were much closer to their European counterparts, with rectangular push-on, push-off switches made by Gelbon.
The speedometer on USA/Canadian cars continued to have minor differences (units in MPH and minor warning light differences).
A summary of DS/ID dashboards can be found HERE.
CITROMATIC SHIFT GATE EMBELLISHER
In early 1969, labelling on the shift gate embellisher for the Citromatic shift lever changed on American DS's.
On Euro cars, the shift embellisher was always labelled with the letter "D" for Démarreur (starter in French) and "AR" for Arriére (reverse in French). But in 1969, USA cars were changed to have the start position labelled with an "S" (presumably for Start or Starter) and reverse labelled with an "R". The parts book indicates that this change occurred in March of 1968, but whenever the parts book uses this date relative to USA unique parts, it usually means that the change actually happened for early 1969 cars.
We think that Canadian cars received the European shift gate with the "D" and "AR" nomenclature until mid-1971 at which time Canadian cars became (almost) the same as USA cars.
The shift embellisher changed one more time in on North American cars. Refer to the 1972 section for details.
Euro shift embellisher labelled with "D" and "AR"
USA shift embellisher labelled with "S" and "R"
DOOR LATCHES
1969 through 1971 USA models had different door latches and striker plates than the Euro models. These changes were to help prevent the doors from popping open during an accident (they were called anti-burst latches). Specifically, the striker plate of latches on USA cars had an extra layer of metal that would prevent the door latch from disengaging from the striker plate if the pillar moved away from the door in an accident. This change was driven by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 206, "Door Locks and Door Retention Components." FMVSS No. 206 drew its technical content from an SAE recommended practice document; J839.
A second door latch change occurred on 1969 through 1971 cars. The front doors received a little black knob on the aft edge of the door that could be used to lock the front doors from the inside. We believe that this was also required by US regulations. See photos.
The parts book suggests that these unique door latches were on some 1968 USA models as well, but we believe that the parts book is in error and they were only used on 1969 to 1971 USA cars.
It is noted that the Euro and USA door latch and striker plate components cannot be intermixed, thus making it difficult to find a matching spare part. There are latches that are chrome-plated or not chrome plated, left or right, front or rear, USA or Euro. By our count, there are 16 different door latch part numbers! And it doesn’t help that the 1966-1969 parts book is hopelessly confusing for door latches.
Although the parts books do not reflect it correctly, we believe that Canadian cars received the Euro door latches until April of 1971 when the configuration of Canadian cars essentially merged with USA cars. This means that Canadian cars had USA anti-burst door latches for only a few months in late 1971, noting that in 1972 the door latch design changed considerably.
USA 1969-1971 DS anti-burst striker plate
USA 1969-1971 DS door latch comparison - Euro is on the left, USA anti-burst on the right
Typical Euro striker plate
USA 1969-1971 DS’s had a black knob to lock front doors from inside
To help make sense of the confusing 1966-1969 parts book description of door latches, we have sorted it out for you (see table below).
TABLE NOTES:
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Most of the EURO latch part numbers were also used before 1966 but this article is only addressing 1966 -1972 cars.
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Pallas door latches are chrome-plated. Other than the visual difference of the chrome plating, Pallas and non-Pallas latches are interchangeable.
EMISSION AND SAFETY EQUIPMENT
Smog controls remained virtually unchanged on early 1969 cars for the USA market as compared to 1968's. The only noticeable difference was that the oil filler cap was vented with a hose (oil cap P/N DX 132-81). The other end of this hose went to a spigot on the intake manifold at the base of the carburetor. Some 1970's seem to have had this vented oil cap, even though the parts book implies that it was only 1969's. The vented cap was completely gone by 1971.
Canadian cars for 1969 still matched Euro cars and had none of the USA emission controls.
Vented oil cap used on USA 1969 and maybe 1970 DS's
STRUCTURAL
In a curious move, Citroën added stiffeners to the chassis in several areas for 1969 on USA DS's.
The most visible of these stiffeners are a pair of channels added to the floor, just in front of the muffler box (one below the driver's feet one below the passenger's feet). We believe that these stiffeners were only used on early 1969 American specification DS’s. They disappeared by 1969 ½ when USA cars got double layer floors, meaning that these stiffeners were only used for a few months in early 1969, and only on USA cars.
There were other stiffeners and gussets added to USA cars as well in early 1969, such as doubler plates on the front frame area, near to the holes in the frame that the front driveshafts pass through.
Per the parts books, the front frame section had a unique part number starting in 3/68. We have learned in practice that this date isn't correct. Whenever the parts books shows that a part was unique for the USA after 3/68, we have found that this means it was applicable for early 1969 cars.
Lon Price reports that Canadian 1969's did not receive any these extra stiffeners and instead followed the configuration of European frames. Sure enough, I found a 1969 Canadian DS21 and it indeed did not have any of these added stiffeners. But per the parts books, Canadian cars did start getting the USA front frame stiffeners in 1970.
What drove the addition of these stiffeners? It is most likely a structural crash requirement imposed by the US government, but so far I have not been able to find the specific regulation.
Clearly there is more to learn about these curious frame strengthening details on USA cars, so stay tuned.
Chassis stiffeners on 1969 USA Cars. Why were these added?
HYDRAULIC FLUID
Early 1969 DS's in North America (Both USA and Canada) continued to have LHS2 hydraulic fluid (brake fluid) in the hydraulic systems. European cars received LHM in 1967. An excellent summary of the Citroën hydraulic fluids written by Tony Jackson and Mark Bardenwerper can be found HERE.
A 1969 owners manual from a Canadian 1969 DS had this odd stamp over the page discussing LHM
HYDRAULIC PRESSURE SWITCHES
Before 1969, USA and European DS's and ID's had the same pressure switch arrangements to warn of low hydraulic pressure. However, starting in early 1969, USA cars started to deviate.
Why were the pressure switches different on USA cars? I am reasonably sure that it stemmed from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 105. Among other things, this safety standard specified that a hydraulic failure in either the front or rear brake system must be indicated to the driver by a dashboard light. So in order to comply, Citroën needed to two pressure switches; one that would measure pressure available for the front brakes, and one that would measure pressure available for the rear brakes. European DS's and ID's in this era only had one pressure switch.
Due to the architectural differences between DS and ID brake systems, Citroën had a slightly different solution for each model, but in both cases, Citroën had to add a second pressure switch to comply. Details provided below.
MUSHROOM BRAKE PEDAL
European DS's with a mushroom brake pedal had a Bourdon tube style pressure switch installed on the brake pedal assembly. This pressure switch operated a warning light on the dashboard that illuminated if the pressure available for the rear brake system was low.
Up through 1968, the LHS2 (brake fluid) version of this pressure switch was the same between European and American DS's. However, in early 1969, this pressure switch started to have unique part numbers that were just for USA cars.
The Bourdon tube is visible on this brake pedal cut-away
Notice "15\25" tag showing the pressure setting
Mushroom brake pedal support labelled for USA
The repair manuals specify that this pressure switch should trigger the dashboard light when the incoming pressure dropped to between 60 and 70 bars (870 - 1015 psi). However, the pressure switch used on USA DS's in this era was set to trigger the dash light at a significantly lower pressure of 15 to 25 bars (220 - 360 psi). These unique pressure switches had a little aluminum tag on them with the numbers "15\25" to indicate the unusual pressure setting (see photos). I have no idea why the pressure setting was different.
At the same time that USA cars received this unique pressure switch on the brake pedal unit, USA DS's with a mushroom brake pedal also started getting a second pressure switch located on the priority valve that was wired in parallel with the other switch. In this way, low pressure at either switch would turn on the red dash warning light; one switch indicating pressure available for the front brakes (the one of the priority valve), one indicating pressure available for the rear brakes (the one on the brake pedal unit). With these two pressure switches, Citroën was able to claim compliance with FMVSS 105.
Euro DS's never had a pressure switch on a priority valve.
Jeff Lannigan
Pressure switch on priority valve on USA DS's starting in early 1969
CONVENTIONAL BRAKE PEDAL
Starting in 1969, ID's with the standard brake pedal also received very odd pressure switch arrangements to comply with USA rules. Just like on the DS, the ID also needed two pressure switches to comply with FMVSS 105; one to warn of low pressure available for the front brakes, and one to warn of low pressure available for the rear brakes. Euro ID's only had one pressure switch, located on the security valve.
Since ID's already had a pressure switch on the security valve (which effectively measured pressure available for the front brakes), a Bourdon tube pressure switch was added under the front left fender splash pan, mounted directly on top of the security valve. This Bourdon tube pressure switch was hooked up to a hydraulic line supplying pressure for the rear brakes. This pressure switch also had the unusually low trigger point of 15/25 bars.
So with these two pressure switches, ID's were also in compliance with FMVSS 105.
The parts books are incredibly confusing when it comes to these pressure switches, but they suggest that Canadian DS's and ID's used the European switch configurations and part numbers until 4/71, at which time the configuration of Canadian cars became (almost) identical to USA cars.
More changes to the hydraulic pressure switch configurations happened to US/Canadian DS's and ID's in 1971.
Bourdon tube pressure switch as found on 1969 to early 1971 ID's and D-Specials in the USA.
Parts book snippet showing Bourdon tube pressure switch for USA ID19's from 1969 to mid-1971
Larry Feuerhelm
The parts books seem 'mostly' correct when it comes to the above pressure switch differences, but the information is incredibly confusing to sort out, in part because the information is scattered in various places in the parts book(s) and sometimes the pressure switches are not listed separately. Furthermore, I have never seen an electrical schematic that shows these additional (USA-only) pressure switches. Fortunately, the wiring of these added switches is easy....the second pressure switch(es) were simply hooked up in parallel with the first, so either one sensing low pressure would create a ground that would turn on the dash light.
OPTION LIST
It is often difficult to get a list of options that were available on DS's and ID's in North America. We recently found a rare USA price and option list for 1969 models from Roger Sagner's Motor Mart, a Citroën dealer from Portland Oregon.
Notice that power steering was still an option on wagons and on ID19's in 1969. Despite technically being an option, virtually all ID's and wagons in the USA had power steering by this time.
Click to Open
TIRES
For 1969, all DS’s in the USA were equipped with an unusual and mostly forgotten Michelin tire called the XH (size was 180-380, used in all 5 positions). Euro equivalent cars had XAS tires, with most Euro models having narrower tires in the rear. It is unclear what drove Citroën to use the XH on USA cars, but a Federal regulation of some sort is a good bet.
We believe that Canadian 1966 to 1972 sedans and wagons were all delivered with 180-380 XAS tires.
Extract from a 1969 USA owners manual specifying 180-380 Michelin XH tires. We found several owners manuals from this era where this page was stapled or glued over the original page that showed XAS tires.
Michelin XH tire