Dramatic French styling, cloud-like ride quality, and a sonorous Italian V6: the Citroën SM had it all. It could even be fairly reliable — as we found out with our friends at Morton Street Partners last year — yet the elegant grand tourer almost spelled the end on the famed marque. Now, almost 50 years after production of the SM ended, Citroën is reviving one of their greatest ever models with this: the SM Tribute.
In 2024, this could have easily been some sort of crossover SUV — we’re looking at you, Ford — but thankfully Citroën has stuck to the recipe and produced a gorgeous grand tourer. While the French firm remains tight-lipped on their concept car’s powertrain, the lack of intakes at the front and exhausts at the rear suggests the SM Tribute will be swapping the Maserati-sourced engine of the original for electric propulsion. Fortunately, the overall formula remains relatively unchanged, with a long, swooping side profile, a panoramic glass nose that incorporates a modern play on the original SM's headlights, and even closed rear wheel fairings with striking openings for extra style points.
The colour of this gorgeous concept is called Gold Leaf — an option from the original SM’s catalogue — while the cabin has everything you’d expect of a 21st-century concept car, including acres of Ivory leather and Alcantara, transparent glass screens, and a rectangular steering wheel. Whether the SM Tribute makes it to production remains to be seen, but in the meantime why not find yourself a pristine example of the original in the Classic Driver Market?
