New concept:
Now DS has looked back in the catalogs and been inspired by an old icon. The result is extremely elegant.
Actually, it is rather rude of DS to go back into Citroën’s rich archive. They can now celebrate ten years since they were separated from Citroën as their own brand and really have nothing to do with it anymore at all.
But on the other hand, I like what Thierry Metroz, the head of design, does, so he’s forgiven.
He is good at creating internal competitions. He is good at bringing in students and external consultants and bringing out forms and ideas that don’t really exist.
And best of all – he doesn’t give up. He is doing everything he can to put DS on the map to prevent them from continuing to develop into a non-brand.
What he has done this time is to ask the question: What would it have looked like if we had continued to build and develop SM these 50 years.
(case continues)
Brief history
SM came in 1970 and lasted only five years. It was like no other car – supercar in performance with a real Maserati engine and a body where every angle made you have to open your eyes even more.
It had pneumatic, super comfortable suspension, but at the same time a suspension that adjusted to the conditions – it was not easy to make this car trip. And the hydraulic aids meant that you got steering and braking you had never experienced before – while the feedback to the driver was also unlike anything you had experienced before.
If the DS had been a revolution 15 years earlier, this is also a car that has a clear place when car history is told today.
And Metroz manages to remind us of that.
The SM Tribute is unlike anything else in the brand’s lineup (although it’s certainly glued to one of Stellantis’ standard platforms).
It has the same profile as the old one. The characteristic covers over the rear wheels are there, still removable – but now they look like part of the bodywork. The glass grill is there. And the huge rear window is in place. But the doors have become twice as wide – the rear seats look livable.
Corresponding goals
The measurements are roughly the same as the old one: 494 (+ 3 cm), 198 (+14 cm) and 134 (+2 cm). In addition, it sits 3.5 cm lower with its 12 cm oh 22-inch wheels which are probably a bit more than the original.
The interior tastes of the real 70s with wide, tobacco-coloured seats with sausage upholstery. However, the rest is unmistakable, all the way to 2025, with a steering wheel that is no longer a steering wheel but a stick.
Now I don’t expect the rest of the car to be as cutting edge as the SM originally was. Here it is probably primarily about triggering some design memories.
If there is any point in it? Whether the car can be returned?
It is doubtful. In the spring of 2020, Insta was full of sketches of #SM2020, without seeming to generate ideas about new models.
This new tribute will probably have to settle for having been shown at the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Concours d’Elegance this weekend. And it will certainly work hard at a round of exhibitions and events. But new model – I doubt that.
