DS SM TRIBUTE pays HOMAGE to the Citroen SM as DS celebrates a decade on its own

DS celebrates a decade since it became a standalone brand with the DS SM Tribute paying homage to the original Citroen SM.

Way back in 1970, Citroen revealed the Citroen SM, a futuristic-looking car equipped with levels of equipment just not envisaged by any other car maker at the time.

That included stuff like rain-sensitive wipers, hydraulic self-levelling suspension, swivelling headlights that moved with the steering and a Maserati engine (Citroen owned Maserati at the time).

Never a huge seller, despite its innovative design and futuristic technology, the SM is one of those cars that is more appreciated as it aged, but production only lasted for five years before it was binned when Citroen went bust and was bought by Peugeot.

Now, DS is celebrating a decade since it was hived off from Citroen by going back to its Citroen roots with a homage to the SM with the DS SM Tribute.

The SM Tribute stays faithful to the original design in profile (there’s a comparison photo between the SM Tribute and original SM) with much the same dimensions apart from the width, and even gets a take on the rear wheel covers and the single glass nose.

Inside is a mix of modern and traditional, with the same curved seats with strip panels of leather as the original but modern curved centre console and a yoke steering wheel.

Thierry Metroz, DS Automobiles Design Director, said:

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.

What we’re sharing, which dates from 2020, and our presence in Chantilly with SM TRIBUTE bear witness to this activity and our research on the subject.

Whether the SM Tribute signals a production intention or simply heralds a new design direction remains to be seen.

But it does look good.