I have always wanted to come upon a classic Citroën in the wild–any one will do. 2CV, DS, CX, Traction Avant. But finding one in Northwestern Illinois is about as likely as, I don’t know, hitting a unicorn with your car. So I sigh, shrug and go Brougham or Volvo 240 hunting instead. But today, I can live vicariously through another CC writer’s find–a lovely gunmetal-gray Citroën SM. Wow!
image: lov2xlr8.no
In 1968, Citroën acquired Maserati. Part of the reason this happened was that Citroën had been hankering for a production grand tourer for some time. While the then-current DS series was an engineering tour de force, it was not exactly a Ferrari. But ah! Maserati made fast cars, didn’t they?
image: lov2xlr8.no
Upon taking over the boutique Italian sports car concern, Citroën immediately had them design an appropriate high-performance engine–a 2.8L V6, to be precise. This would power what would become the SM, and also the Maserati Merak, a relative of the more expensive Bora. It initially produced 170-hp in the SM, while a more breathed-on version with 190-hp went into the Merak.
image: lov2xlr8.no
Of course, American sales had to be dancing in the heads of Citroën executives. The SM debuted at Geneva in early 1970 and went on sale the following September. It arrived on North American shores as a 1972 model and was promptly named Motor Trend’s 1972 Car of the Year. Due to US regulations, the US-market SM did not receive the most excellent glassed-in nose with six headlamps, two of which turned with the steering.
image: lov2xlr8.no
It was still a beautiful car, though. The V6 combined with Citroën’s famous hydrpneumatic suspension must have been a great combination of speed and comfort. But there was a fly in the ointment–namely, Citroën’s shaky US operations. Frankly, Citroën never really made great inroads into the US market, with the possible exception of California. So purchasing such an expensive and complex automobile with few trained experts outside of Citroën dealerships was not a most inviting scenario.
image: lov2xlr8.no
If you lived in LA or NYC, you probably would have been okay. Heaven forbid it broke down anywhere outside of a major metropolitan area; taking your new SM to Larry, Darryl and Darryl in New Glarus, Wisconsin was not going to end well. But if you had ready access to a well-run Citroën dealer or independent shop, these cars were a pleasure. A SM could do 130 mph with no trouble, and the sharp steering was a mere 2.0 turns lock-to-lock. Sounds like fun to me!
Sadly, the SM was on the market only a couple years when the 1973 gas crisis hit. That pretty much bumped off the SM, where in Europe, with displacement-based taxation, the car became essentially unsalable. That, and the upcoming 1974 US bumper regulations caused Citroën to withdraw from the North American market–and also its eventual purchase by Peugeot, which was announced June 24, 1974. SMs continued to be built for Europe and other non-North American markets–at a trickle–through 1975.
Only 12,920 SMs were built, so finding one anywhere outside of a European car show is no mean feat. Add in the few imported to the US and your odds go down even further. But CC Contributor Chris Green found this one in the LA area, just sitting curbside. I am impressed!
I may never see an actual Citroën in the metal, but I am at least heartened by Chris’s find, which he spotted in Burbank while checking out a car auction nearby. What a great addition to the CC digital library! What a car! What a beauty! Don’t you agree?
Photos by Chris Green, occasional CC Contributor and owner of the coolest Colonnade Monte Carlo in the world.
Actually this car’s achilles heel was the Maserati engine, the distribution chains were sensitive and so were the exhaust valves (if I remember it right)
The rest of the car was pretty straight forward big Citoren technology with hydraulics and so on.
New on these was the DiRaVi power steering, that progressivly at slow speeds but would become less powerfull at high speeds.
There have been quite a few sold in the USA and there are two SM magicians who can maintain and alter the Maserati engine to a reliable powersource.
The other rather unusual thing on big Citroens is that you have to remove the bolted on front wings for major service to get decent assess to the engie bay.
Oddly enough, the manual gearboxes that came from the less powered DS series, could stand the job without any problems.
The five-speed was a fairly late addition to the DS line, so I suspect it was designed with greater power in mind.
I saw one here in Toronto several years ago, but it wasn’t in the nice shape this one is. Nothing that a good paint job and a little interior work wouldn’t fix, though. The Citroen SM is a unique and beautiful car, and stands out among lesser cars. Good find.
This is another car that I have never seen. A fascinating car, though. I do recall them being advertised, but my automotive tastes had not matured to the point where I paid attention to them as something other than a foreign oddity.
Don’t give up hope of finding one of these for yourself, Tom. Remember, I found a Lamborghini Espada at a Sam’s Club in Champagne, IL. Maybe your piece today will kick the CC Effect forces into gear for you. 🙂
I’ve seen a. Citroen BX GTi at the Chrysler Employee Motorsport Association (CEMA) 2013 car show in this very same blue. I am still waiting for time, so I can write it’s “Car Show Classic” article.
The more Citroens on CC, the better! Looking forward to it.
Just got the piece up, and it was actually a CX GTi.
Stunning! There is no other word.
I recall sitting in one, in a Citroen showroom a few years ago, whilst a colleague had a warranty discussion (one of many) concerning his Picasso
Great find Tom – you’re starting to fill my fantasy garage!
Well, I “found” it on the Cohort. Chris Green deserves the applause for finding this gem!
One for sale here in Canada Atlantic:
http://moncton.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-classic-cars-1972-Citroen-SM-W0QQAdIdZ533773702
Isn’t Kijiji Canada only? He should have that on CraigsList too, at least. These are specialty items, I doubt there’s more than a handful of potential buyers on the whole continent and they are not likely looking at CL or Kijiji. Then there’s the logistics of getting shipped from Atlantic Canada (what are the chances of another Maritimer taking it?) Drive it? Yeah, right!
Owning one of these is likely to drive it’s hapless owner to do what Burt did.
It’s been for sale for a while, I’ve been drooling over it since it was posted. Cars like this don’t sell quickly around here, especially during winter season…
If the link is correct, it’s already been sold!
Shortly after the SM was introduced, one wearing Quebec tags pulled into the gas station where I worked. The driver filled up, and while his wife and daughter were having a stretch, he kindly gave me and a pal a quick look through his SM. Incredible car, nice people. Since then I’ve seen a couple of SMs around town.
At least 11 of them for sale in my classic Citroën loving country.
Price range from 15,000 to 49,900 euro.
http://www.gaspedaal.nl/Citroen/SM/?srt=pr
You know how it is, how your taste in cars gets established at some particular time of your life. For me it was in the late ’60’s, early ’70’s and the SM was one of my objects of desire.
The advertisement with the happy skiers is as evocative of that time as anything I can think of.
To hell with any of its mechanical weaknesses, that interior alone makes me swoon 🙂
Even Burt Reynolds tearing around in one in the movie “the longest yard” couldn’t spoil the euro chic atmosphere the SM exhales.
Man, I still want one.
Cheers
Alistair
Thankfully there was a horse to ride back after the SM broke down on the beach.
This car does invoke that carefree lifestyle that he ads suggest, the kinds of life style you would have to have to be able to own one of these, independently wealthy, without any cares.
The SM broke down?
No problem, lets take one of my other 20 cars. Is the Eldorado gassed up? No the convertible one, great, lets take that…..
Love it. Rare and gorgeous, and the Master Alert Warning System connects you directly to HAL 9000.
Problem Light.
I like the picture with the Prius in the background. The profiles aren’t unrelated.
+1
The Honda Insight of 2000 is a better comparison.
Probably the ultimate dream car of dream cars. Given the choice between a Ferrari GTO and one of these, I’d take the SM without a moment’s hesitation.
Take the GTO, sell it, buy the best SM in the world and retire on the rest, keep some of the millions aside to keep the SM running though.
Mmmmmmm, nice. Want. We actually had a Citroen dealer here in Cleveland until the late ’80s selling grey-market XMs. The owner was a gentleman by the name of Andre LeBlanc, and he was the second generation to own the store. Also, he was a friend of my father’s so I got to visit and drool on a fairly regular basis. It’s strange, having been around Citroens as a child (the last one we had was a ’71 DS21 that my father sold in ’80 or ’81) I find them somewhat “normal” LOL.
Ha! I know what you mean about that. Before I90, my parents would drive down Detroit Avenue in Cleveland all the time on the way to my Grandmother’s house. I saw Citroens in that very showroom as a kid in the late 60’s early 70’s. Eventually I’d own a couple. Including a 73 SM. I always thought they were the coolest thing. Imagine my shock when I found out that all my friends and most family thought they were ugly!
Beautiful. A car that both satisfies my brougham instincts along with a desire for something different. The US spec schnozz is not its most endearing feature, but he side profile and rear 3/4 views are stunning. I really like the shot of the silver car in the reflective building entrance – it almost looks like a four door hardtop. I see some ’68 and ’69 Skylark in the side profile.
They made a few four door custom SM’s, a couple of convertibles and a full convertible limousine SM for the president of France.
Here’s Pope John Paul II in it.
Merci. When better Buicks are built, Citroen will build them!
The presidential SMs were two identical stretched models, made by the coachbuilder Chapron in 1972. Some very wealthy and passionate fellow had a third identical one made in Switzerland in 2006. These cars served occasionally as parade cars into the 21st Century.
Three 2-door convertibles, though the middle one might not be an original Chapron-built car. Marginally more common (7 units made) than the presidential car…
You know, its interesting. Unique. Very avant garde. I bet it is a wonderful GT, eating up miles, supremely comfortable. But I would never use the word beautiful. Maybe its my age, but there are plenty of other late 60s-early 70s cars I find beautiful… the Pantera, most Ferraris of the time, the Esprit, Corvettes, the Renault Alpine, etc. This car is just awkward all around.
True; it’s not “beautiful” in the way the really beautiful cars are. I found them a bit challenging aesthetically when they first came out, although it certainly was a highly impressive car and design. The awkward rear end alone keeps it from having attained “beautiful” status.
Of course it must have been a huge challenge for the designers, given that it sat on the DS platform, with its very unusual proportions.
These were rather common in LA when I lived there, and it was always a car that captured one’s attention, no matter how many there were. But their half-life as daily drivers seemed rather short; by the early eighties they were quickly becoming less common, and more likely to be seen in driveways, with a newer car behind it.
I see what you mean about the SM not being “beautiful” in the sense of a front-engined Ferrari or an Alfa Romeo 1750 or 2000 GTV, but it strikes me as beautiful in the same way as a Porsche 928, that is big, modern, sleek and singular.
But a Porsche 928 is perfectly proportioned and most definitely beautiful, muscular, large yet graceful. Compared to a Panamera, which is ungainly and ill proportioned. Impressive? Definitely, but it is no 928. The SM is impressive and makes a statement, I bet in the early 70s especially. Beauty escapes it though.
Interesting you cite the Alpine. “eye of the beholder” and all that. I’d personally say the SM is a more beautiful car than the (to my eye) uninspired Alpine in a shot, but then it’s a very subjective thing, beauty.
I was specifically thinking of the early 70s Alpine, Google says its the A110. Many of the other Alpines were not quite as good looking. And while it isn’t my favorite car, I added it to my list because it is also French, and very proportional and pleasing to the eye even today. But hey, as you said, looks are very subjective.
I would guess that back in the early 70s we were surrounded by large square ugly cars, and the SM must have been like a space ship, very futuristic and bold in a time when that was really appealing and almost shocking. It appears to have a very usable back seat and large cargo area, which most cars on my list do not. And it was a much more attractive design than the DS it was based on, so I can see the appeal.
The Alpine A310 has SM-like features though. The six headlights, the kick in the back C-pillar, the minimal bumpers… It’s like an SM-Porsche 912 mash-up.
There is no car that represents the French people in any other way , they’re arrogant, soft, and easy going chiue, stylish and strangely conservative and yet it’s practical in a strange way.
Quentin Willson, British motorjournalist.
At the time, I owned the Matchbox version… featuring a prominent trailer hitch and door gaps worthy of British Leyland. : )
I am the original owner of one of those too, mine is bright blue with no decals. I also have a couple of the 1/43 Corgi versions in both lime green and mauve.
Marvelous car and nicely presented, Tom. An early-adopter professor in college, the one who had an HP calculator on his belt when they were brand new, drove an SM. Especially on the streets of 1973, it was a total spaceship. The Car of the Future right there in front of you.
Nice observation about the Prius parked behind it, Dman. It was indeed the shape of things to come.
Of course at the time we joked that anyone who would buy a Citroen with an Italian engine must be deeply into SM.
A beautiful car but so was the opposition,the early 70s was awash with exotic supercars.Perhaps it’s biggest reason for not selling was that it had too much Citroen and not enough Maserati in it’s looks.Citroen was a maker of strange little cars like the 2CV and family cars like the gorgeous DS.It was also only available in LHD which put a lot of people off in the UK.I’ve only ever seen a gold one in the early 80s Despite it’s mechanical complexity there’s a place for one in my lottery winners garage and an on call mechanic to keep it running.
+1
Gem hit it.
Any Citroen is a pleasure to drive in a way nobody else can emulate, I know coz I drive one, not this model though these are quite rare in going condition here. that Maserati engine was no good, the rest of it is based on the DS but expensive gas and unreliability killed these off.
Here’s a trivia question for you all. What cars have the license plate mounted higher than the taillights? I can think of one besides the Citroen SM.
The GM A-Body station wagons from ’78 until ’83 come to mind.
They definitely needed the high mounted third brake light!
That’s the one I was thinking of, here’s a 1980 Malibu wagon from GBodyForum. I was amazed to see taillights in the bumper when it came out, thought the bumper laws had ended that. It certainly did need the CHMSL.
The 81-83 Imperial is the only one that comes to my mind.
That’s one I had forgotten. Interesting comparison between two very different personal luxury coupes of the period.
Those Chryslers were rubbish! Absolute rubbish! It’s an insult to compare a masterpiece like the SM to some of americas worst excuses for automobiles ever made.
Had a gold ’73 5-speed model for a few years in the 80s “Citroen” years in Houston. Bought it from the original owner and used it regularly. The timing chains will last for a good 75K miles if you tension them often and get rid of the piston AC compressor that puts a lot of shock into the center shaft. The hydraulic suspension systems was incredibly compliant and made others feel absolutely primitive. I vividly remember winding out that Maserati v-6 flying into downtown on Memorial Drive in the morning–those Michleins were just floating over the pavement joints and dips. It was as close to an exotic supercar as I ever got.
Just remember that SM = spend money.
Perhaps my favorite car, ever. I saw one when I was maybe 5 years old, in Nashville of all places (Nashville had a Citroen dealer back then), and it made such an impression on me that I’ve wanted one ever since.
One of the few US shops dedicated to the SM (specifically, not just the Citroen marque) is located here in the LA area, so this car is likely one of their flock.
These did seem to pop up in the oddest places in the US, I’ve seen a neglected one slung low in the driveway of a Washington DC suburb. You even see one in the background in Smokey and Bandit too!
Carmine,
Where was that SM? The only one that I have ever seen in the Washington, DC area was a green one parked in DC itself, in Georgetown, for most of the 1980s and 1990s. It always sat bottomed out, and I never once saw it move from the same parallel parking space.
This was back in the 90’s, it was down there street from the hotel I was staying in, it was brownish gold colored with the camel colored interior.
An SM cameo in Smokey and the Bandit makes sense, given that the SM played a significant role in the original version of The Longest Yard, and Burt Reynolds was supposedly an owner and fan.
Look at that radio mounted in the center console. How wonderfully bizarre. I wouldn’t want to own one myself but I’m glad others do so I can admire from afar.
Believe it or not, there was actually a derelict SM in the spot next to mine at the outdoor storage yard where I kept my Monza for a while. It’s in El Segundo, Ca.
Very neat cars. We will see these going for crazy prices one day.
I’m not man enough to own one, but I’d sure like the opportunity to drive one of these things.
My dad owned a DS 19 in the mid sixties. Great car to drive, crappy car to maintain.
When I worked at a pimpmobile factory in S. Norwalk, CT in the early 70s, we got a number of these things in to have sun roofs installed. The combination of Citroen mechanics and a Maserati engine made my mind spin so fast that I was committed. Just kidding. I understand that there is someone in LA that can keep these things running.
Heard the same about DS 19s. I’ve also heard that pigs can fly.
I saw a gold coloured SM at the Automotion show in Brockville Ontario this past summer. It was in quite nice condition. Somehow it escaped the rust monster.
I think the later car that looked most like a latter day SM was the GM Impact electric car:
http://www.evnut.com/images/ev1/ev1_vigil/050315_ev1_vigil09.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/EV1_dont_crush_protest_692.jpg
Also, does anyone besides me remember this:
btw, I think the car looks much better with it’s French-market headlights.
+1 it looks REALLY odd to a European eye without the glazed nose.
Good point about the EV1, both cars are extremely aerodynamic: Citroen SM’s Cd is 0.26.
Wonderful clip of Patrick McGoohan in an SM. I guess he outgrew the Lotus Seven. Those two cars define opposite extremes of ride, comfort and technical complexity.
I TOTALLY remember that edition of Columbo. I really liked the scene where patrick mcgoohan’s character (usually a bad guy) throw Columbo some money to buy gas for his battered Peugeot 403.
The only car that out run”The Rover” perhaps?. is Patrick about to be bugged to death by Lt.Coloumbo !. ” Excuse me sir……
The only car that out run”The Rover” perhaps?. is Patrick about to be bugged to death by Lt.Coloumbo !. ” Excuse me sir……
Aaron Severson has written one of his superlative articles about this car, titled “She Likes Whips and Chains: The Pleasures and Pains of the Citroën SM”. Read it at Ate Up with Motor.
Canadian spec cars had the European headlight system as well. I was fortunate enough to have been exposed to SM’s as a young lad and into adulthood – one of my most fondly recalled driving memories is as a nineteen year old behind the wheel of an SM from Calgary through the Rockies in the mid-80’s. That car was the common metallic gold colour with brown leather interior and for some reason not recalled, I still have a brand new SM owner’s manual. The SM is probably one of my favourite cars of all time – the sound of that V6, the clicking gate of the gearshift and most of all the other-worldly ride make for an unforgettable experience.
The rear quarter glass and panel influenced the styling of the 1971 Cadillac Coupe de Ville
Well seeing as to how the 1971 Coupe deVille was designed around 1969-1970, and released the production for Summer 1970, it predates the 1970 debut of the SM, which didn’t even go on sale in Europe until Sept 1971 and wasn’t in America until 1972, I’m going to go with NO.
OK. But there is some resemblance.
I can see the resemblance, the full size cars were growing swoopy lines and deep skirts in the advanced studio drawings from 1967
That looks like one of the V16 concepts that the studios were working on. You can see the resemblence to the first gen Eldo. Some full size mock ups were actually constructed. This would make a good post.
Nice! I’ve seen one or two before, but neither were running!
I own a 1973 SM, its a 3L with 3x2bbl Weber carbs and an automatic transmission. Mine is gold with a cognac interior. The SM featured in this article is absolutely beautiful. I hope to get mine in that shape in the near future. In the meantime I have a DS21 5M at the body shop waiting its turn for a body restoration. The DS has to have the most comfortable seats ever second only to Volvos.
I saw one in upstate New York a year ago at a gas pump. I was driving by at about 50 with my girlfriend. I gave a little “whoa,” and she asked me if I wanted to go back to see it. I said no, as I had other things on my mind. I had seen a few in my youth and assumed I’d see another. But with only 12,920 sold, that might have been my last one ever. 🙁
There’s a professor at Dickinson College (in Carlisle, imagine finding a rare collector car here…) who tools around in one of these during the summer months when the weather is nice. It looks incredibly alien, even in a town where unusual cars abound all summer long. God only knows where he goes to have repair work done on it.
I hear Dickinson Girls are fast…..
Chevy Vortec 4.3 or Ford Cologne 4.0 swap, anyone? 🙂
There are even less in the US now Tom – the last three for sale here in NZ (over the last 12 months) were all freshly imported from California… The only downside being they brought that hideous US-spec front end with them. No offense to those who like it, but seriously, it destroyed the aesthetics… Stupid regulations! 😉
That rear end view looks a little odd too – the ones I’ve seen here in NZ have got a chrome plinth in the raised bit of the bootlid, above the number plate:
I still can’t imagine driving a car with the odd combination of soft suspension/ultra-fast ratio, fully-powered hydraulic steering/pressure sensitive brake button. It seems like, once mastered, it’d make for a very smooth experience, excellent for passengers, but the driver, it seems like it would always remain a strange experience.
I don’t understand why they didn’t make more than a few sedans, especially once if became clear that the abortive Quattroporte II was not going to sold in any significant quantities. The SM’s styling is so well resolved, the car works well as a sedan, also. The rear quarter panel and side view of the car are just so sexy, and combined with chrome detailing and the car’s overall low height, fairly scream of exclusivity and decadence. You just know, looking at the car, that the passengers inside must be hedonists.
It’s personal luxury at its finest.
A buddy of mine (who drives a CX) lusts after one of those… But they’re really not the easiest cars to own, even in France. Hence there are quite a few for sale — and prices are still low, considering how few were made and the Maserati engine. The Chapron versions (“Opera” sedan and “Mylord” convertible) are infinitely more collectible, given that only 7 or 8 were made. Photographed this one at ICCCR 2012 in the UK. Still drooling over it.
I worked at a shop that serviced these. The head tech, Jurgen, had worked out a way to replace the water pump without pulling the transmission and engine. Like all DS, the front of the engine is up against the firewall, transmission bolted on in front of that. It was 20 hours in the flat rate manual to change the pump; pull the engine and trans. He made up some tools to remove the pulley, it was an air hammer wedge. Then he would disassemble the pump in place. When it was small enough, he could snake it out. The new pump he took apart and did the “install in reverse order”. He could do it in 4 hours; got paid for 20.
In 1972 my dad got a brand new brown sparkle citron SM and wow it was like nothing I could have imagined. We lived in LA at the time and one day he came home with that thing (I can still smell the brown leather) and it was amazing.
1st of all when you set down in the front seat
in that car it felt very firm and tight. I don’t think I have been in the car to this day where you can go over a big speed bump at 60 mph and the car kind of floated over the bump
with no effort or air at all. The steering was so tight you could turn the wheel a 1/4″ and the
car just snap (only word I can think of) to the occasion and I lie to you not this car felt like it could out corner a go cart because this car didn’t slide at all unless you hit a real sharp turn at about 40mph and even then it was minimal.
If your Inpark you turn the wheel let’s say all the way to the right and then take your hands off the wheel The Wheelerwood find its way back to center position I mean that thing was a space machine. Also on the left right beside the drivers door (on floor) there was a little antenna like lever (it would pull up like an old car antenna) this Lever would fit into different notches like an old Ferrari gearbox but only had the notches on one side (the left side towards driver door) and if you put the that shifter like device forward to the further most position the suspension would raise the car about 2 feet and if you pulled the stick all the way back to the last notch the body of the car would be about 6″ off the ground. Also come to think about it part of this design feature was to change a tire also she would just position and check under the car in the right spot and then pull this little lever and would raise itself (why aren’t they using this technology today?) I was about 17 and couldn’t wait for my dad to leave town I would assume that thing down to Malibu via Sunset Boulevard
To Pacific Coast Highway and just assume around those canyons like a spaceship I was kind of a little stoner type kid at the time and would pull up next to cars and push that stick all the way forward and the car would rise up about 2 feet. I used to love watching expressions on people’s faces because they thought their car was sinking into the ground
and sometimes grab the ceiling of their car because it had never seen anything like that
then I would just drive away with my buzz laughing my butt off. My dad got wind of what I was doing and boy was he pissed so he would care of my room looking for pot so I would
just hide it in his room.
Anyway about 1978 the car started deteriorating rapidly and always ended up on Melrose Boulevard at this German mechanics Citroen shop it was amazing how I watched that beautiful spaceship of a car turn into the worst piece of crap before my very eyes.
My dad was still hung on to it even though by then it was useless and always be in the shop. It pains me to think of the shop days but some of the innovations of that car still haven’t been surpassed (I don’t think) and whoever the designers were of that time we’re geniuses and I think it wise for auto enthusiasts make a living out of improving cars should find out who these people (or person) are and learn from them.
About a decade ago I saw a dusty SM rot on the street somewhere in Eastern-Europe. What a waist…
Very nice article.
I had a ’73 for about 8 years through the ’90’s. It was one of those rarities that had fairly high mileage and rust, since it was used daily on-and-off throughout its life. I picked it up because old Bob Hoffman from Citroen Auto Sales in Cleveland said that it was always one of the good runners. He told me that if the engine was trouble at the beginning, it would always be trouble and they’d have a new engine delivered in a big crate with a Maserati trident painted on the side. I saw one of those crates there and always wanted to bring it home.
Anyway, I knew the history of the car and it was cheap (!?). And it always ran great. Quirky, yes. Too much cold weather puttering around town? The plugs would likely foul at the next cold start. “Interesting” to tune, too. I tried getting the cassette ignition points just right (the left and right 3 cylinder banks had separate coils and points, so dwell had to be identical for the two halves of the engine to be firing in sync) but they’d drift apart. I called SM World in CA (I wonder what kind of wrong number calls they get?) for ignition points that were already set up for proper dwell and so it was a matter of dropping them in and setting the timing. Bob Hoffman showed me how to set up the carbs and to Just Leave Them Alone. And how to adjust the upper timing chains every 8 thousand miles or so. There were all the other little things like the touchy power windows and the finicky ignition switch. Mostly just “old car” problems. Otherwise? I drove it all over the place.
“Heaven forbid it broke down anywhere outside of a major metropolitan area; taking your new SM to Larry, Darryl and Darryl in New Glarus, Wisconsin was not going to end well”
So, in about 1994 I took it on a road trip, Cleveland Ohio to Raleigh NC, parts of SC and through the Blue Ridge mountains, Asheville NC and eventually back to Cleveland, stopping at relatives’ homes along the way. You get to know a car like that, and I had not really worried about a major breakdown, though I packed a tool case. The trip was completely uneventful. Get the SM going about 80 mph and just go all day long. It used less gas and oil and was running better than ever for it. That road trip had the effect of peeling about 30,000 miles off the odometer, judging by how it ran.
But referencing the quote from the article, one day it was getting close to dusk and I was heading south through Appalachia when I got a “collective case of the willies.” At that moment in the middle of a green and high altitude nowhere, it dawned on me what the hell I was driving and where the hell I was! I thought to myself, “If this thing breaks down, I’m so screwed! Obviously, I quickly wished I had phrased that differently. Fortunately, I recovered from the sudden panic and everything went very well. I have pictures somewhere of the car in heavy fog high up on Mount Pisgah in NC.
So at a certain point about 1998, I was in a new business venture and couldn’t maintain the extra cars as they were beginning to languish in my care. So that fateful year I sold my ’72 DS 21 Pallas (citromatic) and the SM. I interviewed potential buyers to be assured that the cars would survive well into the future. The DS was immediately sent off for a thorough restoration and is apparently in very good stead to this day, and the SM wound up with someone who promised good stewardship (other callers wanted to scrap it for the engine. uh, NO.) So the SM got a decent level of cosmetic body work, and it apparently continued to run well. The owner called me to let me know of its pending sale quite a number of years later, but I couldn’t consider repurchasing it at the time.
So here’s where it gets weird. Fast forward to last year. I was working on a project for a client, and somehow or another, there was an issue of picking up his Fiat Spyder or Valiant convertible, I don’t exactly remember, so we stop by the interesting building where they had been wintering, and he says to me, “You seem to know a lot about strange foreign cars, do you know anything about a Citroen SM?” mostly kiddingly, as we rounded the corner in the building.
And there sat the SM. Not ANY SM, but my old SM. I revealed that I know quite a bit about that very car. It had been sitting for several years and some mechanic told him the engine would never run, and the hydraulics were all screwed up, etc. So he treated it as modern art. I looked it over, made a short list of what was obviously in need (none of which was other than normal wear and tear items, including suspension spheres). “Hey, lets give it a try.” Fresh gas, oil, coolant, battery. Tended to a couple hoses and the power feed to the rear fuel pump. It cranked and I feathered the pedal and cautiously choked it (don’t want to foul those plugs!) and. . . it sputtered to life! I ran it high idle, watching for leaks and then tightened the pressure bypass valve on the accumulator to allow the hydraulic system to pressurize. The brake “button” firmed up, the steering wheel centered itself fully and then the SM got itself right up off its haunches. No gushers, and no drama beyond which is expected whenever an SM awakens from such a slumber. By God, it runs as well as it did the day I sold it. It needs minor things, but it will live again!
Very inspiring! It must have been fate.
Kind of like seeing an old flame, in a way. Get under the hood, jiggle those spheres and it’s back to purring again.
Those Citroen SM’s are rolling masterpieces. The european headlamp arrangement looks substantially better than the american spec front end. It’s too bad that the US was so antiquated about lighting standards. The Cibie euro spec halogens were superior and emitted less glare than the horrible optics of the US spec sealed beams. The SM was so cutting edge. What an amazing automobile. I had the honor of sitting in an SM many years ago and it was one of the most glorious automobile I ever sat in. The seats were ergonomically perfect. And what a beautiful instrument panel which still looks modern today. I wish I had the money and space to own one now. I can only dream on……
I was a subscriber to Motor Trend when the SM was on the cover as the car of the year. I was facinated by the car and maybe saw one on the road over the years. There was a brown one parked in the driveway of a photography studio in Santa Clara. I spoke with the owner and he said he had hopes of getting it back on the road but it disappeared a couple of years later. I actually found one at a local Pick and Pull lot for sale for under a grand. The body was straight and completem The lower rockers were very rusty and the seats were very worn. I imagine that it didn’t run, but I got a chance to sit in it and look under the hood. I’m sure that it could have been saved but it would have been a major undertaking. At this price it would be worth buying and keeping as an artifact, as long as it could be kept inside a garage.
This is a great article! My father imported a gray SM in 1972 to Kansas City. MO and my family owned into until my mother sold it 4 days before my 16th birthday. I never got to drive it except on my Dad’s lap as a child. I have been lucky enough to locate it again and show it to my children but it doesn’t run. It would be a dream come true to have the ability to restore it. The body still looks fantastic with no rust. These were beautiful cars before their time in 1972 and in many ways still are in 2015. It would still turn every head that saw it just like it did when I was a child.
To far a head of its time. The best GT car ever built?.