Elected president at 39, Emmanuel Macron is France’s youngest head of state since Napoléon. He wasted no time in breaking tradition, becoming the first French leader to ride in an SUV for his inauguration.

But the manufacturer – DS, a subsidiary of Peugeot – was traditional, with DS models having transported French presidents for decades. Former French president Charles De Gaulle credited DS with saving his life after his car was sprayed with bullets in a 1962 assassination attempt.