Is the DS 9 legitimate compared to the 1955 DS that gave its name to the French brand ? 65 years separate them, so to confront them is to imagine the difference between an infant and his grandfather. No comment ! Even though…
Thierry Métroz, the head of DS design has always said, “I formally forbid myself – and the brand with me – from designing and conceiving revival concept cars. We won’t be making any, even though I know very well that you’re all waiting for a concept car inspired by the 1955 DS, or the 1970 SM. But we’ve got a lot more stories to tell.” Here’s one story to tell, the story of the DS9. So let’s try to see the common micro-particles between its two French sedans.
The first surprise is that the very large DS 9 isn’t that big next to its grandmother : only 13 cm separate them ! Let’s mention the wheelbase of the new DS 9 that the brand advertises as “long”: 2.90 m. It’s surprising to see that in this respect, the 1955 DS beats the newcomer by a wide margin with a wheelbase of 3.12 m !
-1 : the almost horizontal line, which connects the headlamps to the tail lights, is located at the top of the DS9’s flanks, while it is on the low level of the flanks of the 1955 DS.
-2 : the roof line is surprisingly quite identical on both sedans. But of course, it leads to a sharper drop on the DS 1955 and a softer drop on the DS9.
-3 : a little wink, totally involuntary, the hollow line of the DS 9’s flanks reminds, upside down, of the 1955 DS’s hood-profile connection…
-Not to mention the presence of the DS 9’s position lights, which have been brought up to the level of the iconic DS’s turn signals.
Let’s add that the weight ratio is the opposite: on the original DS, the front end is bulky, it shows the powertrain strength (a traction road sedan is not common in 1955) and the wheel is perfectly visible to accentuate this towing force. On the other hand, the rear part is receding and the wheels are streamlined. The force that the 1955 DS expresses, it places it at the front. In terms of aerodynamics, the DS 9 raises its rear end and tries to lower its hood…
There, the micro-particles were hard to find. Normal, the infant and the grandfather have genes in common that can’t necessarily be guessed from the physical appearance. So I’m closing the photo album of the 1955 DS, and invite you to open the one of the newcomer, freshly revealed !
