New breed with a famous pedigree

Doctor on the Road: DS7 Crossback

Our motoring correspondent Dr Tony Rimmer takes a new, premium, French brand for a spin. Can it recapture the magic of years past?

Just occasionally, in medicine, a revolutionary development comes along which takes us all by surprise and alters the way we practise.

It may take us a while to change, but if we do not take notice, we can be left behind. In the world of cars, this is what happened in 1955 when Citroën launched the legendary DS.

An aerodynamic and futuristic body clothed a chassis with an advanced hydro-pneumatic suspension and braking system.

The result was a car that possessed a magic carpet ride and cut through the air very efficiently.

All other car manufacturers were caught napping and could not understand how Citroën could sell this new technology to the mass market so cheaply. The DS cemented Citroën’s reputation as being a forward-thinking, albeit quirky, producer of mainstream cars.

In 2010, to capitalise on this positive image, Citroën named all the top versions of each of its models, DS. Then, in 2014, to separate these cars from the basic Citroëns that they were based on, it created the standalone and premium DS brand.

The DS 7 Crossback is the first DS product that is all new and has no Citroën equivalent.