Tuesday 24th May 2011

You Know You Want To... Citroen SM

The car that fell to earth

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I was a pretty ordinary 15 year old. I had posters of Ferraris and Lamborghinis on my wall, liked playing football and riding my BMX, and was struggling to come to terms with puberty and girls. At least I eventually came to terms with the puberty...

Like most 15 year olds, the prospect of being taken for a spin in a Citroen was as appealing as the inevitable fall-out which usually followed parents evening, but when a Citroen SM rolled into our driveway I was speechless. This car (to me at least) looked stunning. Not classically beautiful perhaps, but stunning nonetheless. Then I was told that it had a Maserati engine and a suspension system which was fundamentally similar to the 'active' systems that Formula One cars were using at the time. I wanted in.

What followed next was a motoring epiphany. The sound, the razor-sharp two-turn lock-to-lock steering, the funky interior with its oval steering wheel and gauges, the way it felt on the road...were all a million miles away from what I'd expected. How on earth could something this size feel so crisp and change direction so swiftly? I quickly developed an intense love (perversion?) for these things.

I spotted this one on eBay recently and it sounded good. All the iffy bits (body work, cam chains and tensioners etc...) have been seen to by a specialist. But don't let that make you think that it'll be plain sailing owning one of these machines. This one is a fuel injection model, so to get to any of the spark plugs you'll need to remove most of the injection kit, and don't even ask about how to remove the battery. We haven't even covered the hydropneumatic suspension system yet either with its pumps, pulleys and spheres, or the brake 'button' (...not 'pedal').

A nineteen grand asking price is top-end money for an SM and we'd imagine that it would go for somewhat less than that. So if you want something from the Seventies which is truly different and decades ahead of its time (BMW have only recently cottoned-on to the 'adaptive' swivelling headlights for example), this could be just what you're looking for.

You'd be mad to consider such a car, which is exactly why I want one.

[Garlick]

I'd really like to own that!

[james_tigerwoods]

The french are the only ones that make these kinds of bonkers cars - Vive le difference and long may it continue!

Love it - but only because it's mad, me, I want a DS, CX (estate) and that ^^^

[andyps]

I do know I want to, and I know I would be mad to do so. But in my fantasy garage there would certainly be an SM. A fabulous car in my opinion, a strange marriage of technologies and organisations which my head says in real terms probably doesn't work, but my heart says does.

[P9UNK]

stunning, definitely one for the fantasy garage and to be driven before watching an episode of Space 1999. Love it, one of the greats from the French

[vixen1700]

I've come close to buying one about three times over the years but have always been scared off at the last minute, alas they've really gone up now and the chance of having one now is remote.

Sat in one when Im was a kid at the '72 Earl's Court show and it scrambled my brains as to cars being more than something from getting from A to B.

[Agoogy]

Its got the rear hauches of that German coach built Corvette that most seem to dislike...

I used to have a Majorette toy one of these, always disturbed me that the front so much wider than the rear, or at least appeared so...
I think I'd still go for an original DS....

[robsco]

I know you know I want to.

[CABBYBROWN]

Oh yes! Definitely one for the fantasy garage!
A well looked after example like this one appears to be shouldn't have too many gremlins needing to be sorted (I'm telling myself...) I've had a couple of CX's in the past and they were very reliable and reasonable to run: This SM is a bit special though

[james_tigerwoods]

Every now and then I get a hankering after a daft car, thankfully I don't have the disposable income to buy (and run) something bonkers that I don't need (we have a Golf and a Honda Jazz in the household already...) - but in those moments of madness, I want something daft like this or a Fiat Multipla or a CX...

Is that wrong?

[Tyre Smoke]

Whose going to be brave enough to bung in an offer?

If I had the room, I so would.

[Ari]

That's fantastic!!

[red_rover]

The SM is the BX development hack if you ask me.

[Baryonyx]

I love the daring of French design (Renault 5 Turbo, Clio V6 etc etc), but this is just dire. It looks like a crap spaceship from a 1970's tv show.

[George H]

£19k for that?!

[LuS1fer]

One of my childhood heroes. even when it was launched, I already recognised we would never see its like again with the fuel crisis looming and the incredible aerodynamic fuselage design. It epitomised Citroen and nothing will ever come close again. Even the C6 is a rather uninspiring nod in its direction but ultimately a fail.

[anything fast]

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

[Johnboy Mac]

Love it!

[Owlwood]

Wow, never seen one of these before. That interior is really something else...

[996tom]

What a beauty . Last one i saw was in the museum at Le mans.
Would definately have one in the fantasy garage. Magnific

[varsas]

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...