Special edition marks 60 years of innovation
YOU can only imagine how gobsmacked the motoring public must have been way back in 1955 when Citroen released the now iconic DS on an unsuspecting world.
Looking more like it should have been in that space-age cartoon series of around the same era the Jetsons, the DS must have seemed totally out of this world to drivers more used to rumbling around in Austin A30s and Morris Minors.
And as well as that super-streamlined shape it contained equally alien features like front-wheel drive, a single spoke steering wheel, hydropneumatic, self-levelling suspension (which saw the car ‘sit down’ on the road when switched off) and headlights that turned as you cornered (a feature brought in on later cars).
It was also the first mass-production car with disc brakes and boasted features then only found on luxury limos like power steering and a semi-automatic transmission.
Fast forward to 2015 and Citroen are paying homage to their groundbreaking car of 60 years ago with special editions of its current DS range.
Our test car this week was the DS 5 1955 Special Edition Prestige BlueHDi 150 S&S six-speed manual in a lovely Ink Blue.
Now it has to be said that Citroen are clearly trying to replicate the success Toyota had in creating a luxury brand with Lexus (and Nissan are currently attempting with Infinity) in the DS range marketing it as a ‘DS Automobiles’ brand with the catchline ‘Spirit of Avant-garde’.
A quick look confirms that there is not actually a Citroen badge anywhere on the car. There are – telling you fuel out even further.
While not as ground breaking as the original DS was all those years ago, there is no doubt the DS 5 special edition is a good-looking, cutting edge motorway cruiser that can waft you along in style.