THE GOOD OIL

Citroen has revealed it intends to produce an allnew flagship model in 2020, designed to celebrate 65 years since the introduction of the iconic original Citroen DS model.

We can’t publish the renders yet because they’re heavily embargoed, but suffice to say the production version of the recent Numero 9 concept car is jawdroppingly lovely to look at.

Sitting somewhere between a futurist’s take on the original DS and a longer, lower DS 7 Crossback, the DS 8 Fastback is designed to sit atop the pile over at Citroen’s luxury offshoot (an offshoot which has only really had limited success outside Europe), and will rival the likes of BMW’s far more conventional 5-Series sedan.

The DS 8 won’t be a three-boxer though — in keeping with the classic model it pays homage to, it will be an aerodynamicist’s dream car, with a long, low, wide body that errs on the side of wagon more than liftback.

Underneath the bonnet, there will be the now-essential mix of conventional internal combustion and electric power. Citroen states the car will be available (in Europe at least) with a 1.6-litre PureTech petrol or 2.0-litre BlueHDI turbo diesel engine, and also as a plugin hybrid.

No, the DS 8 isn’t destined to sell in huge numbers, but as far as cachet goes, it’s already a winner for us, based simply on the minimal 2D renders we’ve seen.

And more than the stillgorgeous DS models of the 1950s and 60s it is inspired by, it also reminds us of two other rangetoppers from Citroen’s past; both flawed, both scarce in our part of the world, but both elegantly bonkers in the best possible way — the Citroen CX and the Citroen C6. Magnifique.