DS; Citroen’s attempt to emulate the Volkswagen Group by building a car that’s identical to their ‘volume’ products, save for the badge and headlights, and charging 50% more for it. Yes Audi, we’re looking at you.

Still, Volkswagen have made it work, thanks to mankind’s preference for marketing over facts, and PSA – owners of Citroen and Peugeot – would love a slice of the premium profit margin pie for themselves.

The DS range is PSA’s answer, and it’s safe to say that so far it hasn’t been a success. It’s almost as though people don’t want to spend half-as-much again for a thoroughly average car with fancy headlights and a clever marketing campaign…

From 1955 to’75 though, ‘DS’ meant something a whole lot more. Very probably the most advanced car ever made, Citroen’s DS 19, 21 and 23 models sold almost 1.5 million units between them.

The original DS featured innovative front-wheel-drive (a rarity even by the ’70s), hydro-pneumatic self-levelling independent suspension, headlights that swivelled into corners, power steering, a semi-automatic clutchless transmission, and it was the first production car ever fitted with disc brakes. Quite a car then, and a world away from a Citroen C4 with ‘DS’ written on the back and and larger price stuck in the windshield.

This glorious machine is a 1967 DS 19, and it’s been beautifully recreated in Lego form by Jonathan Elliott of Flickr and MOCpages. His wonderful Model Team style replica features working steering, squishy suspension, opening doors and hood, and a lovely authentically detailed interior.

There’s a lot more to see of the DS 19 at Jonathan’s photostream and MOCpage – click the links above to make the jump.