If there’s one automotive that defines Citroën’s long-lost spirit of innovation, it must be the SM. It’s maybe not as iconic because the landmark DS, however for sheer ambition, this oddball Maserati-powered sports activities coupé was unmatched.
The place else within the Nineteen Seventies would you discover options like speed-sensitive energy steering, allied to hydro-pneumatic suspension and swivelling headlights from the DS? And the suave, streamlined Robert Opron-penned design – nonetheless spaceship-like in spite of everything these years – stays as peerless because it was 54 years in the past.
Till now, that’s. As a result of DS – the corporate that bears the initials of that automotive’s predecessor, lest we neglect – is celebrating its tenth anniversary by creating an homage idea referred to as merely the SM Tribute. If the aim was to carry the majestic two-door kicking and screaming into the 2020s, then the agency has succeeded – after which some.
All of the hallmarks of the SM’s groundbreaking styling are nonetheless current and accounted for – the glassy entrance fascia, the lengthy bonnet, the aerodynamic chopped-off Kamm tail, the cigar-like tapered physique and even the faired-in rear wheels, making the SM seem to glide on the highway. That’s nonetheless the case right here.
After all, like all fashionable automobiles the Tribute has ballooned in dimension, now three centimetres longer at 4.94 m – though the commensurate two centimetre enhance in top to 1.34 metres has saved the proportions largely comparable. This pales compared to the width, which has grown by an enormous 14 centimetres to 1.98 metres, giving the automotive a extra muscular stance in live performance with the large 22-inch alloy wheels.
Past that, DS has saved the modernisation of the SM’s design to a relative minimal. The clear and crisp aspect surfacing stays unadorned by fussy strains or superfluous design particulars – only a single crease that cuts by way of the rear spats earlier than fading into the doorways – though some gloss black surfaces have been utilized to assist conceal the majority.
On the entrance, the glassed-in quantity plate has given approach to an illuminated three-dimensional graphic that integrates the headlights and DS brand, bookended by Lamborghini-like three-prong gentle signatures. On the again, cutouts within the rear fenders reveal just a little of these large wheels, whereas the black shoulders creates a floating rear deck that surrounds the rear windscreen.
The simplified rear finish, additionally completed in black, is essentially the most distinctive a part of the Tribute, with slim taillights that mirror the entrance gentle signatures – stretching all the way in which to the rear wheels. The 2-tone color scheme utilises a reinterpretation of the unique SM’s Gold Leaf paint choice, with a satin end and hand-applied “patina” for a weathered look.
The automotive you see right here doesn’t seem to characteristic an inside, however DS has rendered what the within would appear like on a fully-fledged mannequin. The laser-engraved ivory leather-based and Alcantara cabin carries over the twisting dashboard design, the lounge-like seats and even the oval devices of the unique, though like virtually the whole lot nowadays, the meters are actually proven on a full-width show.
Including an additional futuristic contact is a clear curved centre display that rises up from the centre armrest, housing the rotary gear selector. One unlucky sacrifice within the service of a tech-forward aesthetic is the unique SM’s single-spoke steering wheel, changed by the standard idea automotive rectangular ‘wheel with a race car-style centre show.
Does this appear like one thing you’d wish to purchase? Nicely, don’t get your hopes up, as a result of DS has no plans to place this beautiful SM Tribute into manufacturing. Nonetheless, the automotive will encourage a variety of future fashions that will probably be coming…on the finish of the last decade. That’s nonetheless an extended, lengthy manner away, however think about driving a zero-emission coupé a while sooner or later that seems like this. It doesn’t get a lot cooler than that.
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