Photo: X-Tomi Design
The world is pretty crazy right now, and we want to go back to a time where the Coronavirus wasn't a thing and French cars were "rad." Helping us this week is the unexpected launch of the not-Citroen DS 9.
It's the carmaker's luxury flagship sedan, and we're not going to pretend like it's at the top of our shopping list. But it might have been if they'd gone the extra mile with the flamboyant design.
Besides the original DS, the SM is perhaps the coolest Citroen design of all time. It's really big, futuristic in a classic way and matches some of the best Italian GTs of its era for style.
Citroen designers were ripping up the rule book written by their German rivals and coming up with mad Gallic shapes. Most aspects of the SM were unique, and some of them eventually became mainstream. It's believed that this car was the first to have automatic wipers and a self-centering steering wheel, for example.
Yet it's the shape that enthusiasts remember, with a transparent nose, followed by a long hood and swooping roof. We don't feel like the DS 9 achieves the same level of innovation. In fact, unloved BMW modern designs like the 6 Series GT are more in line with Citroen's old philosophy.
That's why we want to draw attention to the DS 9 Coupe rendering by X-Tomi Design. It's a simple conversion to a two-door body, perhaps with hints of the BMW M4 in its profile. It's been a while since French automakers offered such a car, the last one we remember being the Renault Laguna Coupe, which had all-wheel-steering way before the Porsche 911.
It's easy to see Citroens and DS models as flamboyant models with soft handling. But the hydro-pneumatic system that made the DS famous was also supposed to offer a kind of proto adaptive ride, pumping up the side of the car that was receiving the most force. That's why we want the DS 9 to be a revolutionary sports coupe, not another luxury sedan.
Besides the original DS, the SM is perhaps the coolest Citroen design of all time. It's really big, futuristic in a classic way and matches some of the best Italian GTs of its era for style.
Citroen designers were ripping up the rule book written by their German rivals and coming up with mad Gallic shapes. Most aspects of the SM were unique, and some of them eventually became mainstream. It's believed that this car was the first to have automatic wipers and a self-centering steering wheel, for example.
Yet it's the shape that enthusiasts remember, with a transparent nose, followed by a long hood and swooping roof. We don't feel like the DS 9 achieves the same level of innovation. In fact, unloved BMW modern designs like the 6 Series GT are more in line with Citroen's old philosophy.
That's why we want to draw attention to the DS 9 Coupe rendering by X-Tomi Design. It's a simple conversion to a two-door body, perhaps with hints of the BMW M4 in its profile. It's been a while since French automakers offered such a car, the last one we remember being the Renault Laguna Coupe, which had all-wheel-steering way before the Porsche 911.
It's easy to see Citroens and DS models as flamboyant models with soft handling. But the hydro-pneumatic system that made the DS famous was also supposed to offer a kind of proto adaptive ride, pumping up the side of the car that was receiving the most force. That's why we want the DS 9 to be a revolutionary sports coupe, not another luxury sedan.
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