DS SM Tribute celebrates the eccentric Citroën Coupé – previews new models coming later in the decade

If there was one car that defined Citroën’s long-lost spirit of innovation, it would have to be the SM. It may not be as iconic as the DS, but for sheer ambition, this quirky Maserati-powered sports coupe is unrivalled.

What other features could you find in the 1970s like speed-sensitive power steering, coupled with hydropneumatic suspension and swivel headlights from the DS? And Robert Opron’s streamlined, elegant design – still spaceship-like after all these years – is as unrivalled as it was 54 years ago.

Until now, that is. Because DS – the company that bears the initials of that car’s predecessor, lest we forget – is celebrating its 10th anniversary by creating a tribute concept simply called the SM Tribute. If the goal was to bring this majestic two-door into the 2020s, the company has succeeded – and more.

All the hallmarks of the SM’s groundbreaking styling are still present and accounted for – the glass front, the long hood, the aerodynamically truncated Kamm tail, the elongated cigar-like bodywork, and even the rear wheels with a fairing that makes the SM glide along the road. Still the same here.

Of course, like all modern cars, the Tribute has ballooned in size, now three centimetres longer at 4.94 metres – although a corresponding two centimetre increase in height to 1.34 metres has kept the proportions largely the same. This is insignificant compared to the width, which has increased by 14 centimetres to 1.98 metres, giving the car a more muscular stance combined with massive 22-inch alloy wheels.

Additionally, DS has kept the SM’s design modernization to a relative minimum. The clean, crisp side profile remains free of fancy lines or superfluous design details – there’s just a single crease that cuts through the rear bumper before fading into the doors – although some gloss black surfaces have been applied to help hide much of it.

Up front, the glass license plate has given way to a glowing holographic graphic that integrates the headlights and DS logo, capped by Lamborghini-like three-spoke light signatures. At the rear, cutouts in the rear fenders reveal a glimpse of those massive wheels, while black shoulders create a floating rear deck that wraps around the rear windshield.

The simplified rear end, also finished in black, is the Tribute’s most distinctive feature, with slim taillights that mirror the front light signatures – stretching all the way to the rear wheels. The two-tone colour scheme uses a reinterpretation of the original SM’s Gold Leaf paint option, with a satin finish and hand-applied “patina” for a worn-in look.

The car you see here doesn’t appear to have an interior, but DS has recreated what the interior would look like on a finished model. The ivory leather and laser-etched Alcantara cabin retains the original’s twisted dashboard design, lounge-like seats and even the oval instrument cluster, although like most things these days, the gauges are now displayed on a full-width screen.

Adding another futuristic touch is the transparent curved central display that rises from the center armrest, housing the rotary gear selector. An unfortunate sacrifice in the service of the advanced technology aesthetic is the original SM’s single-spoke steering wheel, replaced by the concept’s conventional rectangular steering wheel with a racing-style central display.

Is this something you’d want to buy? Well, don’t get your hopes up, because DS has no plans to put this gorgeous SM Tribute into production. However, the car will inspire a host of future models that will be released… later this decade. That’s a long way off, long It’s far away, but imagine driving a zero-emission coupe sometime in the future. looks like this. It doesn’t get any better than that.

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