In the spring of 1997, me and a friend got into my DS 21 IE and headed for France. The objective was to find a car, a nice SM perhaps? I had also been calling all over Europe to find out about Birotors for sale, but there's not a lot of them around, so I wasn't really hoping to find a wankel Citroën. Eventually, I managed to trace a couple of cars for sale. One of those was located nearby the French-Spanish border, a 3000 km trip from Stockholm, Sweden! Well, we were going to the Côte d'Azur, so what the heck, just a few more miles, I thought, looking in my pocket map.
Despite my non-existing French language skills, I managed to find my way to the car, mostly because of the seller's ability to (want to) speak at least a little English. We arrived to the garage in Pau, and there she was: in Brun Scarabeé roof and Beige Tholon body, she was absolutely irresistable! I wasn't less impressed when I opened the door and saw an immaculate interior.
With only 35 000 km's on the clock she wasn't even a bit worn. Well, except for the engine that is... A test ride convinced me: this is le voiture for me! I tried to keep cool though, not to give anything away in the following price negotiation. Finally, he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Since I wanted to have a look at one more Birotor, I promised to call him a week later. The other car was nice, but not running, and far too expensive. When I arrived home, I made a call to confirm that I would buy the Birotor. After exchanging heaps of fax', the deal was settled.
So, how do you get two Birotors, one of which is not running, from the French-Spanish border to Sweden? The one running was easy, eventhough I think it was a bit of an impossible project: driving to Narbonne, catching the car train from there to Hamburg, and then driving to Stockholm. Still quite a distance to drive!
Starting from Pau, I headed off in a modest speed. The engine was running as smooth as as only a wankel can run, and I started to realize that the brochure's statement: "Brilliant Performance and Luxuous Comfort" was true! In fact, the car felt a bit sporty as well! The three-speed-gearbox (C-matic) was easy to figure out, and the steering gave good road feeling. Unfortunately, Narbonne was not so far, so the enjoyable ride was too short. Next day, me and the car got on the train to Hamburg and after a night's train ride there were only 1000 km's left...
Without any misfortune, me and Birotor arrives to Stockholm, and what happens? Yes, the engine is running irratic, and stalls easily! Still this isn't a big problem, since the engine has not been running for long, and has to be restored, or at least disassembled and checked.
That was the easy part, driving a running car! So how to get a non-functioning Birotor 3000 kms from South France to Sweden? The first thing that came to mind was renting a trailer, but I had no towing hook on my car. Transportation by lorry would be very expensive as well, so the only thing remaining was renting a small car transportation truck. We had to make a fast trip, since the rent for the truck was quite expensive. Around Labour day was an ideal time to drive and get the car: we would have a four-day-weekend to do the 6000 km distance. As co-driver, I persuaded a friend, with whom I have driven to collect cars many times, mostly DS:s. Heading south in the afternoon, we made the first stop for the night in the south of Sweden, next night in Strasbourg, and arriving in Pau on the following day. Loading the Birotor then developed into a social event, when the seller's parents turned up and offered us cold beer. Eventually we understood that the old man was the former Citroën dealer of the village. In the days of the Traction, people came from far away villages to get their TA:s repaired, since he was the acknowledged Citroën expert for miles around. After a nice conversation, we turned north. What followed was a marathon trip with only the occasional nap when the eyelids got too heavy.
After six years of restoration (well, restoration isn't really the word, swapping engine is more like it), she is finally running again! Working with the car in an unheated garage in Sweden isn't very inspiring (in winter time that is, and summertime there's too much else to do...), so the work progressed really slooooow. Saturday July 5, 2003, the Birotor woke up again, filling the garage with thick sticky smoke.Only minor adjustments were required to make her work perfectly.
