If you’re a car enthusiast who frequents YouTube, then today’s Nice Price or No Dice DS might already be familiar to you as it was once owned by our friend Tyler Hoover and is being sold by its present owner, Dave the Car Wizard. Let’s see what wizardly wonder its price might hold.
No magic wand was needed to appreciate last Friday’s 2013 Porsche Cayenne GTS. Well presented and seemingly in turnkey condition, that performance-oriented crossover earned an impressive 78 percent Nice Price win at its $16,900 asking price despite being a decade-old Deutschlander.
If you’re anything like me (and why wouldn’t you be?), then you likely follow the vlogging exploits of our good friend, Tyler Hoover, the purveyor of Hoovie’s Garage, which he hyperbolically describes as the “dumbest automotive channel in all of YouTube.” I watch a lot of car YouTube, so I question that.
This isn’t a pissing contest, however, and to be honest, Hoovie does occasionally make some enjoyably questionable car-buying decisions. He often finds out how questionable they are after having an inspection by his mechanic friend and repair guru, David Long, aka the owner of Newton, Kansas’s Omega Auto Clinic, aka the Car Wizard.
Hoovie picked up this 1969 Citroën DS19 as a wild hair purchase. After seeing all the work its complicated hydraulics required and questioning the purchase as a whole, he traded it to the Car Wizard for store credit against the numerous other of his cars cluttering up Dave’s shop.
The Car Wizard has repaired most of the Citroën’s issues and made several videos on the car along the way. The funny thing about the Car Wizard’s videos is that, unlike dedicated automotive YouTubers such as Legit Street Cars’ Alex Palmeri, David has a business to run separate from his video work and, hence, rarely ever shows stuff actually getting done. Regardless, it’s fun to watch him drive around his shop in the DS19 on three wheels since that’s something they can do.
According to one of the Car Wizard’s first videos on the car, the Citroën’s paint is a six out of ten. There’s some popping in the surface, especially across the white coat on the roof. As I recall, the roof is made of fiberglass, which might explain why it’s reacting differently from the steel panels. It’s all very livable, and the underlying bodywork is straight, rust-free, and just as futuristic-looking as the day it was made.
A broken armrest and some missing trim mar the cabin, but that’s unlikely to diminish the experience of marveling at Citroën’s trademark one-spoke steering wheel and wonderfully weird switchgear and gauges. Overall, it looks perfectly suitable for use as a budget classic.
Of course, to be enjoyable, it needs to run and stop and do all the expected things a car should do, and this Citroën seems capable on all those accounts.
Powering the car is a 1911cc OHV inline-four, that makes 75 horsepower and sits behind the four-speed manual gearbox. The spare tire lounges above the radiator air intake in front of that.
According to the ad—and the Car Wizard’s videos—the leaky hydropneumatic spheres have been replaced, and the car now raises and lowers, goes and stops as it should.
The only issue noted is some carburetor tuning, which seems strange coming from a repair shop known for not shying away from older cars. There are 26,722 on the clock, and the car maintains a clean title and a YouTube legacy. The Car Wizard is asking $26,000 for the sale.
What’s your take on this DS19 and that $26,000 asking? Is that a fair price for a fairly well-sorted classic Citroën that’s been around the YouTube block? Or has the Car Wizard failed to work his magic this time around?
You decide!
Facebook Marketplace, out of Newton, Kansas, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to glemon for the hookup!
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