RE: Citroen SM: Spotted
Discussion
daytona111r said:
cookie1600 said:
A stunning car in any guise, I'd love one but the running costs must be astronomical.
A school friend's father had a gold SM back in the day. Stunning, stunning car. Had a real thing about them, ever since.
Used to drive to South of France in it for holidays, etc. He got through quite a few headlamp covers, and IIRC, they were £300 apiece to replace...
TooMany2cvs said:
P5BNij said:
Does anyone know how many were built in its five year production run..?
Just shy of 12,000.The v8 isn't even a straight Maser motor swap - it's a German guy who's basically added two pots onto the v6 to build a v8, because it turned out it wasn't quite as simple as lopping two pots off a v8 to make the v6. <head explodes>
As already described earlier, simply glorious. Oozes glamour from every pore, in a completely different way to the Hollywood version of the term with whitewall tyred Silver Clouds and the like...
|https://thumbsnap.com/u1Ry6pA6[/url]
among various cool bits of kit were the optional carbon resin wheels made by Michelin for Citroen. An industry first, I think. These were originally made for the works rally cars and then became generally available as options for the road cars. Weighing about 4.5kg each, they cut the unsprung weight down considerably. These are quite - well, very - sought after these days.
OLDBENZ said:
Nice dashboard shot whilst I am at it.
Christ, even the air fresheners are expensive on these 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Feu-Orange-Vintage-Air-...
TooMany2cvs said:
Some Guy said:
Lovely car, shame its a left hooker.
They all were, apart from three converted by Middleton Motors.These are the people who have done the most recent RHD cars
Anyone with a hankering after a classic Citroen, bear in mind that Citroen have a pretty Stalinist view of history and - in Britain anyway - are not much good at providing spares support for their old cars once the 10-year mark after end of production has been reached. Probably the best-served in terms of ease of finding parts are the DS and 2CV, followed by the GS, SM and CX.
Robert Opron was a bit of a design genius and there is a 2-page feature on him in the last issue of Octane magazine. He more or less started his Citroen career by facelifting the DS in 1967/8, but he didn't last long after the PSA takeover in the mid-70s, so moved to work for Renault.
Edited by Horsetan on Monday 6th November 17:15
TooMany2cvs said:
There's a whole bunch of SM estate pics around, apparently showing various different cars - but I think they're all photoshops...
edit: Same as that inflated D "van"...
And, sorry to break it to you, but the flying ones aren't real either.
THIS is, though...
Hydraulic suspension trailer, the pickup is registered "WORK SM" (California), the saltflat car is registered "RACE SM", and has done north of 200mph at Bonneville. Jerry Hathaway, SM World in California.
Jerry hathaway is interviewed about this on Jay Lenos Garage.edit: Same as that inflated D "van"...
And, sorry to break it to you, but the flying ones aren't real either.
THIS is, though...
Hydraulic suspension trailer, the pickup is registered "WORK SM" (California), the saltflat car is registered "RACE SM", and has done north of 200mph at Bonneville. Jerry Hathaway, SM World in California.
Edited by TooMany2cvs on Monday 6th November 11:13
OLDBENZ said:
among various cool bits of kit were the optional carbon resin wheels made by Michelin for Citroen. An industry first, I think. These were originally made for the works rally cars and then became generally available as options for the road cars. Weighing about 4.5kg each, they cut the unsprung weight down considerably. These are quite - well, very - sought after these days.
That's the second reference to them being carbon when Wiki I linked earlier and this poster Motco, who says he analysed them to find out, both say not?https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I want them to be, but it seems not?
Speed 3 said:
Christ, even the air fresheners are expensive on these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Feu-Orange-Vintage-Air-...
Every car my dad had was equipped with one of those https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Feu-Orange-Vintage-Air-...
Well, the LH sidelight is broken in the pic. The description says it's Auto (it's 5 speed) and the ad tells us that "most were Autos"; they weren't. Autos were more common in USA, but not in Europe. (The US ones had stupid fixed head lights, rather than the brilliant turning ones on the Euro cars).
By modern standards they are big and clunky, but after readjustment, a dream to drive. The vari=power steering great and it's pin sharp. I have a report of one somersaulting with four up, and no one being hurt!
By modern standards they are big and clunky, but after readjustment, a dream to drive. The vari=power steering great and it's pin sharp. I have a report of one somersaulting with four up, and no one being hurt!
Reliability is not as bad as many imagine. You have to remember its a very complicated 40 year old car and must be viewed as such, however there are a number of modifications that have been developed, that significantly reduce the problem rate. Spares are available, with some being remanufactured and there are still some good specialists around re maintenance. Like any car , they are better when used as intended and SMs are truly one of the GREAT GTs in the truest sense of meaning. I've had mine several years now and use it it for trips abroad such as the south of France, Le Mans, Spa etc, there is nothing like it for covering ground on fast open roads.
Faffmeister said:
Reliability is not as bad as many imagine. You have to remember its a very complicated 40 year old car and must be viewed as such, however there are a number of modifications that have been developed, that significantly reduce the problem rate. Spares are available, with some being remanufactured and there are still some good specialists around re maintenance. Like any car , they are better when used as intended and SMs are truly one of the GREAT GTs in the truest sense of meaning. I've had mine several years now and use it it for trips abroad such as the south of France, Le Mans, Spa etc, there is nothing like it for covering ground on fast open roads.
Oh I don't know, I might be tempted to take the Khamsin on occasion (in my dreams I should add...), sharing the powered brakes, clutch, and steering of the SM iirc.Pistonheads - the only website in the world where you can legally share photos of other people's children.
Fabulous subject though! The SM belongs to a subset of classics which are bought for the overwhelming purpose of providing for the owner's driving enjoyment, with very little thought for the other reasons classics are bought ie investment/depreciation avoidance, nostalgia, eligibility for events, pose value, getting one over the establishment, something to do while avoiding the wife etc etc.
Perhaps with the exception of the Stanley Steamer or something turbine-powered it really is the ultimate car guy's car.
Fabulous subject though! The SM belongs to a subset of classics which are bought for the overwhelming purpose of providing for the owner's driving enjoyment, with very little thought for the other reasons classics are bought ie investment/depreciation avoidance, nostalgia, eligibility for events, pose value, getting one over the establishment, something to do while avoiding the wife etc etc.
Perhaps with the exception of the Stanley Steamer or something turbine-powered it really is the ultimate car guy's car.
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