► DS reimagines classic Citroen SM
► Similar silhouette but very different design
► Is it making a comeback?
DS is again looking at iconic Citroens as the inspiration for its new cars, with the SM now reimagined as a sleek concept car.
Revealed ahead of the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Concours, held just outside Paris, it celebrates 10 years since DS officially split from Citroen and previews ‘models that will come along at the end of the decade’, says DS design director Thierry Metroz.
A new Citroen SM, really?
Time remembers the SM kindly, and so do DS’s designers who have created the ‘SM Tribute’. Looking nothing like the cars currently in the premium French brand’s line-up, such as the DS3 and DS9 (its current flagship), it’s a striking reinterpretation of this classic.
It retains the SM’s silhouette, while the famed wheel spats have been retinterpreted as an extension of the bodywork, though are still removeable. The iconic glass-fronted ‘grille’ is back, too, as is the huge rear window. Dimensions are similar in width and height, but it’s considerably wider at just shy of two metres.
A very modern SM interior
It’s a bold mix of old and new in the SM Tribute’s interior, with fabulous curved one-piece seats harking back to the original, and trimmed in a similar tobacco colour, though, of course, DS doesn’t describe them that way in 2024.
The rest of the ‘new’ SM’s interior is very different, though, with a curved centre console incorporating the thinnest of touchscreens and a yoke-like steering wheel.
Why is the SM so important?
It’s easy to forget just how innovative Citroen has proven over the years, and the SM is a fine example. Conceived in the late 1960s as a replacement for the flagship DS, it featured a host of innovations that were impressively cutting-edge at the time.
Swivelling headlights, electric front seats and rain-sensitive wipers were all advanced, and its Maserati V6 engine and hydraulic self-levelling suspension made it an impressive GT car.
So will it make production?
Good question. DS has a habit of revealing lots of whacky concepts that never come to fruition, but the SM feels a bit different. There’s clear lineage, and widespread appreciation for this old Citroen, which could do DS plenty of favours.
Thierry Metroz, design director of DS, says: ‘We are working on the genes of our iconic models to fuel our research into the shape of future models that will come along at the end of the decade
10 years of DS – how time, erm… flies!
It’s been 10 years since DS Automobiles was established as a standalone brand, though it didn’t help that in its first few years it kept selling rebadged Citroens. The same could be said for Cupra, of course. But unlike that brand, DS has never really come to any real success outside of its home market.
Despite its fairly wide range of vehicles, including crossovers, SUVs, saloons and family hatchacks, DS sales remain minimal. In the first eight months of 2024, it sold just 780 cars in the UK. To give you an idea of how small that is, Subaru sold more than twice as many cars in the same period…
The DS SM Tribute will be shown at the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Concours d’Elegance on September 15 alongside a wide range of original SMs.