The Ace Café motorcycle culture of 1960s London is embodied in the latest DS3 Café Racer, a stylish, new, limited edition from DS, featuring strident ‘Café Racer’ exterior branding, bi-tone body colour and a luxurious interior of Trinitario Brown Nappa leather, in a watchstrap pattern. Its production run for the UK is of just 150 examples, to further confirm its strictly limited appeal.
Available in Ink Blue, Perla Nera Black, Platinum Grey, or Ruby Red, all with Parthenon Cream roof colour combinations, the range starts with a PureTech 110 S&S manual priced at £21,305, with an automated version at £22,825 and a punchier (130ps) manual variant at £21,825, all before Forces Cars Direct discounts are applied.
The DS3’s roof bears a special hand-affixed graphic that makes reference both to the DS Brand and to the Café Racer movement. Special badges on the bonnet and doors, decorations on the rear boot and the ‘shark fin’, which mirror the roof decals, all add to the value and appeal of this limited edition. Unique to the model are 17-inch black diamond-cut ‘Bellone’ alloy wheels, with cream wheel centres. The car also features a chrome licence-plate embellisher, gloss black door handles, exterior door mirrors with gloss black cappings and tinted rear windows.
The interior boasts a cream, hand-printed dashboard graphic, to pick-up the distinctive roof decor. The hide-covered seats feature cream over-stitching that is also carried on the perforated leather steering wheel rim and the sun-visor trim kit. Materials used for detailing, supplemented by aluminium foot-pedals and clutch footrest, add both sportiness and sophistication.
While dipping into history, the Café Racer also features a wide range of on-board technology, including automatic air-con, reversing aids, automatic wipers and heated wing mirrors. A 7.0-inch touchscreen and sat-nav system offer an intuitive and finger-friendly interface. Mirror technology means that smartphones can be used safely (incorporating Apple CarPlayTM or MirrorLink®) and a DS Connect Box introduces both emergency and assistance systems for extra peace of mind.
The DS3 Café Racer combines modernity, a few degrees of creative freedom and an homage to the glory of the past, with references to the heritage of car and motorbike racing. To make its customers feel extra-special, not just with its limited edition model, DS also offers an array of elegant and trendy accessories, such as luxurious scarves for women and even pocket handkerchiefs for men. Of course, they are available in the limited edition palette as well, with a delicate black-and-cream silk and exclusive pattern that matches the car's graphic design.
The ‘Café Racer’ movement is deeply rooted in pre-war Great Britain and became popular with British bikers in the early-1960s. They would jump on their machines and race around the streets of London, from one café to the next. They would modify their bikes to make them as light as possible and create an aesthetic that was radical, yet simple. It is a style that connotes luxury, with a touch of rock ‘n’ roll, in a neo-vintage design ethos. Its influence is not restricted to bikers’ circles but goes much wider, by extending to worlds as broad as fashion, lifestyle and magazines.
The DS3 is known for its modest verve allied to polecat dynamics that seem to fit well with the Café Racer movement. It is a viable four-seater, despite its compact dimensions. However, it will be acquired by people seeking a style-first initiative and is sure to sell-out very rapidly.
