SM Tribute: DS Automobiles tries to rekindle the flame of old Citroëns
To mark the tenth anniversary of the Chantilly Arts & Élégance event, of which DS Automobiles has been a partner since its first edition, the brand has chosen to pay tribute to the Citroën SM, the high-end coupé launched in 1970 and powered by a Maserati V6.
After a series of sketches in 2020, DS is celebrating the Citroën SM with a real concept car, or rather a manifesto, as Thierry Metroz, the brand's style director, refers to it.
However, don't expect to find any Citroën logo on this SM Tribute. Thus, as the logic of the Stellantis group dictates, the French high-end is now reserved for DS. The heritage of the chevron brand is therefore once again robbed in an attempt to fuel that of DS Automobiles, which has only existed as a manufacturer since 2014. Not sure that lovers of old Citroëns will appreciate this approach.
DS revives the SM, but did it really want to?
The front canopy, which houses the license plate and headlights of the original model (except in the United States for homologation reasons), is here reinterpreted in the form of a 3D screen. It integrates the DS logo and a light signature intended to recall the headlights of the Citroën SM.
This model, which takes up the overall lines of the original model, is barely longer than the latter (4.94 m, or 3 cm more), slightly higher (1.34 m, or 2 cm more), but much wider (1.98 m, or 14 cm more), our cars having gained a lot of weight since the 70s.
The rims have also grown considerably, going from 15 to 22 inches in diameter. The rear wheel fairing has been partly redesigned, but it is now only partial and breaks the pure line of the original SM.
The two-tone paint chosen for this show car is supposed to recall the Golden Leaf shade that was in the SM catalog in 1971.
Due to lack of time, according to Thierry Metroz, this model is devoid of an interior. The interior of the SM Tribute was however imagined virtually. We notice seats with horizontal cushions, as at the time, but married to a dashboard much more modern than that of the original SM, which shared it with the Maserati Merak.
“True to the avant-garde spirit of the SM, the information display is done by projection and the curved 'screen console' associated with the steer-by-wire steering wheel complete this spirit dear to the brand”explains DS. Expensive to which brand, good question!
The eternal question of a possible series production remains. It seems difficult to imagine a return of the SM on our roads, especially since Peugeot never got the green light to produce the very well-received coupé e-Legendeven though the lion brand was at the top of its game. The return of the SM to DS, which suffered theDS 9 failuretherefore seems stillborn, in a group that has many other priorities. Thierry Metroz nevertheless tries to gather the enthusiasm of the public, by describing the SM Tribute as “dream that could come true”. If this were to be the case, the engine that could move this coupe remains unknown, but the designer does not exclude the possibility of a “collaboration with Maserati at one point”.
