By Patrick Koune
Chantilly Art & Elegance 2024, the refined setting of the Concours d'Élégance where the automobile engages in dialogue with haute couture and history, DS Automobiles They didn't just arrive with a prototype. The French brand unveiled a vision: a rolling sculpture conceived as a link between heritage and future, between memory and desire. Its name: SM Tribute.
Worn by Thierry MetrozAs head of design at DS Automobiles, this project celebrates a double anniversary: the brand's tenth year and a decade of faithful participation in one of the most refined events on the international automotive calendar. But behind this celebration lies a deeper intention: to reinterpret one of the most iconic silhouettes in French history.
The lingering shadow of a myth: the 1970 SM
When it appeared in the early 1970s, the SM embodied a radical vision of the automobile. Technology, aerodynamics, comfort and futuristic lines made it an absolute benchmark, often compared to a Concorde on four wheels.
SM Tribute is not trying to copy it. It is reviving its spirit.
The long, taut hood, the low stance, and the fluid silhouette create an instantly recognizable design. At the front, the large canopy housing the headlights reinterprets one of the most daring visual signatures of the era. At the rear, the faired wheels evoke the world of aviation and remind us how the original SM was conceived as an object in constant motion.
It's less a reissue than a rewriting.
An object somewhere between a concept car and a production car
DS doesn't talk about a concept car, but about... MANIFESTOThe term is not insignificant.
The SM Tribute is based on existing technical elements within the Stellantis group. Proportions, wheelbase, dimensions, general architecture: everything has been designed to be industrializable without betraying the initial design.
In other words, this car could exist.
The windshield itself comes from a current production model, proof of a realistic approach that goes beyond a mere styling exercise. The design is not fiction. It's a proposal ready to become a reality, provided that the economic equation and customer desires align.
Design as a strategic language
Beyond the tribute, the SM Tribute heralds the evolution of DS's design language. Certain stylistic elements presented on this concept car will appear in upcoming production models. The automobile here becomes an aesthetic laboratory.
The purer surfaces, the horizontal reading of volumes, the lighting signature integrated into an overall architecture reflect the desire to position DS in a register where automotive luxury is conceived as a cultural discipline.
A French approach, where reference to the past nourishes modernity without ever freezing it.
Chantilly, the natural stage for automotive luxury
Presenting this creation at the Concours d'Élégance is no coincidence. For a decade, DS has been a part of this event where automobiles engage in a dialogue with fashion, design, and...lifestyle.
The SM Tribute finds its place as a contemporary collector's item. An object that is not merely to be admired, but that tells a story: that of a young brand that invents a temporal depth by invoking its roots.
A vision conditioned by desire
The production of such a model does not depend solely on technical feasibility. It relies on an essential variable: desire.
If the public, collectors and customers express a desire to see this car on the road, then the project can become a reality.
Luxury, here, is not just a matter of price or rarity. It's a relationship between a brand and those who view it.
The avant-garde as heritage
With the SM Tribute, DS Automobiles affirms that its heritage is not a museum but a living thing.
The avant-garde is not a relic of the 1970s.
It becomes a promise.
In the elegant silence of the Chantilly lawns, this low, elongated silhouette doesn't look to the past. It traces a direct line towards the French automobile of tomorrow.
Photos: Patrick Koune
