Citroën launched the DS in 1955 and refined it across two decades, but it was the 1968 facelift that produced the most visually coherent version of Flaminio Bertoni's extraordinary saloon. The DS21 sat at the top of the petrol range, its 2,175 cc four-cylinder engine producing around 109 hp in carburetted form, paired with hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension and power-assisted steering and brakes as standard. Norev's die-cast reproduction at 1:18 picks a DS21 that most collectors would consider the definitive specification.
The DS21 in Its Prime
The 1968 facelift transformed the DS's front end with a new four-headlamp arrangement on DS21 and DS23 variants: twin inner lamps that swivelled with the steering gave the car a futuristic presence that competitors could not match. The revised dashboard and updated interior completed a package that kept the DS competitive into the 1970s. By 1969 the DS21 represented the engineering and aesthetic summit of the range, combining the 2,175 cc engine with a wheelbase of 3,125 mm and an overall length of 4,840 mm.
The Lorraine Special Series and the Champagne Livery
Between approximately 1968 and 1972 Citroën marketed a set of limited special-series DS variants using French regional names — Lorraine, Bretagne, Normandie, Aquitaine — to distinguish models featuring distinctive two-tone paint and often upgraded interior trim. The Lorraine designation identifies a scheme with a darker lower body separated by a contrasting band from a lighter upper section. On this example the upper is finished in champagne/cream, creating the precise contrast that made these factory specials sought-after alternatives to standard single-colour DS saloons. Production numbers for the real DS21 Lorraine were limited, reinforcing its collector relevance today.
Norev's 1:18 Scale Model: Die-Cast Precision
Norev renders this DS21 Lorraine in die-cast metal at 1:18, a scale that allows the complex hydropneumatic suspension stance and the Bertoni body lines — the tapered tail, the curved roofline, the sculpted flanks — to read as they do on the full-size car. The Champagne two-tone livery is reproduced across the die-cast body, with the contrasting lower and upper sections divided as on the factory original. The post-1968 four-headlamp nose is a defining feature of this casting, correctly placing the model in the 1969 specification.
In the Display Cabinet
This model sits naturally alongside other Norev 1:18 DS castings — the DS23 Pallas, the DS21 Injection — as well as related DS-derived subjects such as the Citroën SM grand tourer or the coachbuilt DS Cabriolet by Henri Chapron. For collectors focused on French automotive design or factory special-series liveries, the Lorraine Champagne offers a visually distinct counterpoint to the single-colour DS models that dominate most shelves. It is equally at home in a broader survey of late-1960s European road cars at 1:18.
