RE: You Know You Want To... Citroen SM

[Johnboy Mac]

anything fast said:

George H said:

£19k for that?!

worth every penny...

in the future a well preserved original example will be a blue chip classic and worth a lot more than 19k!

like it or loathe its a very interesting car and there is little else that is comparable to it.. would have it in my dream car garage any day

+1 AF.

Even carbon fibre wheels were available iirc. Hard to believe it's forty years old.

[don logan]

PHHHHWOAAR!

Shhhhh, don`t say that they are a bargain / under valued until I`ve bought one!

(seen the price of DS Decapotables recently)

[vixen1700]

varsas said:

Superb. IIRC these cost twice what an E-type was when new, so £19k is a relative bargain!

Still remember the first time I saw one at the international classic car show at Alexandre Palace. I'd had my Spitfire for a few years by then so I thought I knew all about classic cars...

Almost. I found the '72 motor show guide at my mum's house at the weekend among other good stuff and the price of an SM was 4250 with Purchase Tax of 886.98 against 2785 with 581.77 tax for the E Type. :

[skicat]

I was about 14 and had a part time job in a Citroen garage when these were launched. One owner used to come back every weekend, fill it up with petrol, and without fail, add 2 pints of oil to the engine.

I still would though.

[Colonial]

Stunning

[P9UNK]

vixen1700 said:

Almost. I found the '72 motor show guide at my mum's house at the weekend among other good stuff and the price of an SM was 4250 with Purchase Tax of 886.98 against 2785 with 581.77 tax for the E Type. :

that's very interesting, although I love it, one has to say that it looks a little clumsy besdie any of the E Types and quite old fashioned compared to the XJS which was out by 1976...still a striking car though and worthy of my garage any day.

[Johnboy Mac]

P9UNK said:

vixen1700 said:

Almost. I found the '72 motor show guide at my mum's house at the weekend among other good stuff and the price of an SM was 4250 with Purchase Tax of 886.98 against 2785 with 581.77 tax for the E Type. :

that's very interesting, although I love it, one has to say that it looks a little clumsy besdie any of the E Types and quite old fashioned compared to the XJS which was out by 1976...still a striking car though and worthy of my garage any day.

Sorry, P9UMK your now messing with a fanboy here. No,in all honesty I consider the SM to be far more modern looking than either of the Jags and possibly overall more modern/advanced looking than any other car since the SM's introduction. The only one's that come close are the RO80 & the 928, all in my opinion of course.

[vixen1700]

I still have the brochure filled with images like this with a fur hat wearing chic and pictures taken at all manner of odd angles. Possibly the coolest publicity brochure ever.

My dad managed to get me to have a sit in the Motor Show SM as he was placing an order for a GS at the time.

[Chris-R]

vixen1700 said:

I still have the brochure filled with images like this with a fur hat wearing chic and pictures taken at all manner of odd angles. Possibly the coolest publicity brochure ever.

My dad managed to get me to have a sit in the Motor Show SM as he was placing an order for a GS at the time.

Love to see more of those brochure pics!

[vixen1700]

http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/others1/73sm/bild...

'Cos it's so big.

Couldn't be more '70s.

And more...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CITROEN-SM-Car-Sales-Brochur...

Edited by vixen1700 on Tuesday 24th May 13:40

[RichardR]

There used to be an SM in the Grayshott area back in the 80's and I'd always stop for a look if I saw it parked up in the village.

At the FoS last year I saw the Maserati side of the same coin (1974 Quattroporte II):




I'd never realised previously that Maserati had made their own version. With the hydropneumatic suspension at rest, it looks really mean IMO!

[urquattro]

vixen1700 said:

I still have the brochure filled with images like this with a fur hat wearing chic and pictures taken at all manner og odd angles. Possibly the coolest publicity brochure ever.

My dad managed to get me to have a sit in the Motor Show SM as he was placing an order for a GS at the time.

I think the Maserati engine was about 2.8L and was offered to offset the poor engine fitted by Citroen as original, 1.8L ?? and that caused these fantastic cars to be rowed along. The car was years in front of the engines of the period. Imagine this shell/hydraulics etc with a modern turbo diesel or a high performance petrol ztec or similar. The queue to buy could be miles long, start up, engage lift pumps and waft away, superb style and engineering in my view. I do have the red E Type, excellent car etc but not comparable as these two are chalk and cheese.

[vixen1700]

A little while back, I think it was Hexagon Motors had a totally restored SM by a French specialist up for sale for £75,000. Best in the world apparently.

[Caruso]

I have a penchant for quirky/french/italian/unreliable, but even I have never seen the attraction of these. The fun to liability ratio is too low even at 1/2 that price.

[cookie1600]

As if this wasn't enough to mess with your wallet, mind and your fantasy garage, how about one of the development models that used a Maser V8?







How about sorting this lot out?

[anonymous-user]

Awesome.

But ruinous i suspect.

[james_tigerwoods]

In my ignorance - How complex is hydro pneumatic suspension to work on/fix?

[Balmoral Green]

My mum had one in the seventies, she bought it from Jeremy Thorpe at the height of the scandal, the paps were all over the place when we went to collect it.

[JoeFrost]

Right, so how does one modulate a brake 'button' then??

Owners?

[vixen1700]

yonex said:

Awesome.

But ruinous i suspect.

More 'Money Well' than 'Money pit'.