DS 3 Performance will be a classic. But sooner or later?
Every Monday we’re serving you up a delicious slice of future gazing. That’s right, once a week we’re using our expertise and passion for the subject to predict what motors are destined for classic car stardom. This week, Parkers finance editor and former Classic Car Weekly news editor, Murray Scullion is celebrating the Citroen DS3 and DS 3.
It would have been so easy to start this series with a Ferrari or Lamborghini. But where’s the fun in that?
Citroen DS: Histoire
In 1955, the Citroen DS landed in the automotive scene like a UFO from outer space.
Quick history lesson of the DS name. In 1937 Citroen CEO, Pierre Boulanger set out to make a voiture à grande diffusion. He would never see his dream realised, but thanks to the design work from one Flaminio Bertoni, in 1955 out came the Citroen DS 19.
It received 80,000 orders in the first 10 days of it going on sale, and its Hydropneumatic suspension and hydraulically assisted brakes are still talking points in 2020. It would go on to win scores of accolades later in life, particularly as a classic car.
Which explains why this DS is so important. Citroen re-animated the DS name in the form of the Citroen DS3 in 2009. By 2016 the name changed to simply the DS 3 - re-birthing the DS name as a standalone premium brand of Citroen.
Citroen DS3 originally had fans of the marque up in arms due to the re-use of the DS name
What’s really interesting about the DS 3 is Citroen’s take on it. It’s a direct rival to the Fiat 500 and Mini, both of which are modern interpretations of classic cars. The DS on the other hand, takes an iconic nameplate and uses it to create something new. Despite the huge differences between, say a Citroen DS 23 and a DS 3, small french cars easily transcend into classic car royalty. Just look at the Citroen 2CV, and more recently, the Peugeot 205.
Like with the Peugeot 205 GTI, we suspect that the DS 3 Performance will be the cars you see at classic car shows first. And once again, like with the 205, more workaday models, and the cabrios, will take longer to achieve classic car status. We’ve seen cooking-model Peugeot 205s take a huge leap into the classic car fraternity lately, while even cheap cabriolets, like the Volkswagen Golf Clipper are becoming classics in their own right.
DS 3: Rarity
DS 3 Performance – is it a modern day Peugeot 205 GTI?
If you regularly peruse classic car adverts, and seeing as you’re on a website called classiccarsforsale.co.uk we reckon you do, you’ll have seen thousands of adverts decreeing the rarity of their car, based on that car’s particular trim and engine choice.
Citroen anoraks will be frothing at the thought of the derivations of this car. For instance, the Cabriolet was only available with the 130hp 1.2-litre PureTech engine in Elegance trim for a year. This might not seem important now, but in 20 years time these will be rarer than a well-judged and informed Donald Trump tweet.
DS 3: Why should you care?
The resurgence of an iconic name. Nigh-on endless customisation, variation changes, and name changes are assurance that there will be lots of rare models. Plus, while it was available in cabrio and hatchback, and as the Citroen DS3 and DS 3, it really only took on one shape throughout its life before it was killed.
Add the fact that they’re cheapish to buy (and getting cheaper), practical enough for a three-seater, and even slowish models are playful to drive, it’s an easy car to put forward as a future classic. Not that sought after now, but something rare, cool, and left-field for the future. For sure.
DS 3: The CCfS classic car prediction
DS 3 Performance models will be the first to be welcomed into the classic car world, closely followed by older Citroen DS3 models.
DS 3: Classic status is already on its way, as it effortlessly fits in the Citroen car park