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Classic Test Drive: 1972 Citroen SM
[Jay Ramey continues to impress us with his tales and images. This time he takes us for a spin in a 1972 Citroen SM -- Hooniverse]
A few days ago I got to make a trip to Wayne Carini’s shop, F40 Motorsports in Portland, CT. Immediately, I knew that one does not simply drive over to Wayne Carini’s just in some random commuter car. One has to arrive in the full sense of the word, preferably in something that will surprise the staff of his shop. Thanks to a friend, we had just the car for the trip along Connecticut’s B roads.
Penned by Robert Opron and released upon the world in 1970, Citroen took advantage of its purchase of Maserati some two years earlier in building the SM. This particular SM hails from 1972, and is powered by a Maserati-designed 2.7 liter V6, good for 170bhp. The V6 in the SM came in two displacement sizes, the 2.7 and the 3.0, either with Webers or Bosch Jetronic injection. This is an earlier car with a 3-speed Borg Warner autobox, which was available alongside a 5-speed manual. This car has been in the owner’s stable since the early 1990s, sharing space with a 1971 5-speed SM, among other classics.
At speed, the SM’s ride is cushy and forgiving, though not overly floaty. Citroen’s famous hydro-pneumatic suspension absorbs the biggest bumps that country roads can throw at it. The SM also features a self-centering power steering system called DIRAVI, which is quite helpful on the twisty back roads, getting the front wheels back to center for you. The car also has tilting and telescoping steering, which is more than could be said for some other 1970s GTs and coupes.
The SM competed with other mid-priced GTs of the era, like the Alfa Romeo Montreal, Fiat Dino Coupe, Jensen Interceptor, and the BMW 3.0 CS. Though, I’m sure many of your will agree that the Citroen did not really “compete” with any other cars of the time, being in a segment all by itself. And that segment was called Citroen. You either bought a Citroen, or you bought something else.
Since this is a French car, I am required by federal law to talk about “quirks.” I’ll start off easy. For one thing, the turn indicator doesn’t self-cancel. That’s okay, other drivers are too distracted by your car to use their own signals anyway. Another interesting engineering decision is the unique placement of the battery in the engine compartment. Even though there is quite a bit of room underhood, as the V6 sits behind the front axle, the battery is located just behind the headlights, and cannot be removed through the hood. Rather, one either has to remove the entire front right wing, or use a little trap door in the front right wheel well placed specifically for battery removal (after removing the wheel, that is). Thankfully, the somewhat awkward placement of the battery does not prevent one from accessing it through the hood when one needs to jump start the Citroen.
The center of the dash is dominated by a giant cyclopean warning light, which comes on and glows when there’s something wrong with some system, and commands you to stop your voiture immediately! That really tells you quite a bit about priorities in French automobiles, but at least the car’s always upfront about its mechanical well-being. It doesn’t have some tiny little symbol waaaaay off to the left of the gauges that looks like an assortment of boxes with a propeller. (In American cars, I am told, that symbol indicates that the oil has not been changed in the last 50K miles, and that you’ve got another 20K miles max before you really DO have to change the oil).
Finally, the brakes operate not via a traditional rectangular pedal, but a small black rubber button on the floor that looks and feels like a racquet ball. The same setup exists on the DS, and it’s actually quite clever. The button sits immediately to the left of the gas pedal, so you don’t have to lift your right foot up in order to mash the brake. Instead, you can just let your foot slide off the gas and on to the button on the floor. The brake button is quite sensitive and takes a little getting used to, but the brakes feel very firm and it doesn’t take much of a stomp on the racquet ball to get the car to halt. One must also be careful not to mash the button during a turn, as the rear of this front-wheel drive car will come around the side and slap you in the face.
Since Connecticut is one of only a few places in North America where you can encounter another French car while driving your own French car, only 45 minutes into the trip a Peugeot 505 V6 STX sedan flies past us. The US was the single largest export market for the SM, with more than 2,400 cars out of a total of just over 12,000 cars coming to our shores. The SM even snagged Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award for 1972. However, the SM’s looks suffered somewhat from the DOT-mandated sealed-beam headlight requirements, hence stateside SMs came with a very different front fascia, without the swiveling six headlight setup in its home market. Somewhat surprisingly, it was Peugeot’s takeover of Citroen in 1975 that brought an end to SM production, as the car was deemed to be too niche for Peugeot’s mass production tastes. Just a little over 400 cars were built during the last two years of manufacture.
Despite their relative rarity, driver-grade SMs are not that expensive, with solid examples still in the $20-25K range. Even Alex Roy is a fan, having bought an SM just a couple years ago. I was there when he took delivery of the car, a nicely kept gold-colored example.
Even though the coachbuilder Chapron, well known for DS Decapotables that have recently surged in values, handbuilt a small number of wonderful sedans based on the SM called the Opera, it fell to Maserati to create a luxury sedan based on the SM. That enterprise ended up going virtually nowhere, as only a few Quattroporte II prototypes were built on the SM chassis. As a result, one of the enduring disappointments among French car fans was that no sedans based on the SM were manufactured commercially, if one discounts the CX’s modest raid of the SM parts bin. Chapron and another coachbuilder by the name of Heuliez also created a number of bespoke convertibles based on the SM, but they’re not seen often (unless you pick up a copy of this month’s Octane magazine, as there’s a huge profile on the Heuliez SM targa).
Even though Wayne Carini was out of the shop at the time, he’s seen our Citroen before just a few weeks ago. Mike Roberts, the sales manager at F40 Motorsports, runs outside to take a look at the freshly detailed SM. “You don’t see too many of these every year!” he exclaimed. We spot a Citroen Mehari in the shop’s backyard, awaiting restoration, as well as a number of other rare automobiles. But that’s a story for another time.
Classic Test Drive: 1972 Citroen SM
[Jay Ramey continues to impress us with his tales and images. This time he takes us for a spin in a 1972 Citroen SM -- Hooniverse]
A few days ago I got to make a trip to Wayne Carini’s shop, F40 Motorsports in Portland, CT. Immediately, I knew that one does not simply drive over to Wayne Carini’s just in some random commuter car. One has to arrive in the full sense of the word, preferably in something that will surprise the staff of his shop. Thanks to a friend, we had just the car for the trip along Connecticut’s B roads.
Penned by Robert Opron and released upon the world in 1970, Citroen took advantage of its purchase of Maserati some two years earlier in building the SM. This particular SM hails from 1972, and is powered by a Maserati-designed 2.7 liter V6, good for 170bhp. The V6 in the SM came in two displacement sizes, the 2.7 and the 3.0, either with Webers or Bosch Jetronic injection. This is an earlier car with a 3-speed Borg Warner autobox, which was available alongside a 5-speed manual. This car has been in the owner’s stable since the early 1990s, sharing space with a 1971 5-speed SM, among other classics.
At speed, the SM’s ride is cushy and forgiving, though not overly floaty. Citroen’s famous hydro-pneumatic suspension absorbs the biggest bumps that country roads can throw at it. The SM also features a self-centering power steering system called DIRAVI, which is quite helpful on the twisty back roads, getting the front wheels back to center for you. The car also has tilting and telescoping steering, which is more than could be said for some other 1970s GTs and coupes.
The SM competed with other mid-priced GTs of the era, like the Alfa Romeo Montreal, Fiat Dino Coupe, Jensen Interceptor, and the BMW 3.0 CS. Though, I’m sure many of your will agree that the Citroen did not really “compete” with any other cars of the time, being in a segment all by itself. And that segment was called Citroen. You either bought a Citroen, or you bought something else.
Since this is a French car, I am required by federal law to talk about “quirks.” I’ll start off easy. For one thing, the turn indicator doesn’t self-cancel. That’s okay, other drivers are too distracted by your car to use their own signals anyway. Another interesting engineering decision is the unique placement of the battery in the engine compartment. Even though there is quite a bit of room underhood, as the V6 sits behind the front axle, the battery is located just behind the headlights, and cannot be removed through the hood. Rather, one either has to remove the entire front right wing, or use a little trap door in the front right wheel well placed specifically for battery removal (after removing the wheel, that is). Thankfully, the somewhat awkward placement of the battery does not prevent one from accessing it through the hood when one needs to jump start the Citroen.
The center of the dash is dominated by a giant cyclopean warning light, which comes on and glows when there’s something wrong with some system, and commands you to stop your voiture immediately! That really tells you quite a bit about priorities in French automobiles, but at least the car’s always upfront about its mechanical well-being. It doesn’t have some tiny little symbol waaaaay off to the left of the gauges that looks like an assortment of boxes with a propeller. (In American cars, I am told, that symbol indicates that the oil has not been changed in the last 50K miles, and that you’ve got another 20K miles max before you really DO have to change the oil).
Finally, the brakes operate not via a traditional rectangular pedal, but a small black rubber button on the floor that looks and feels like a racquet ball. The same setup exists on the DS, and it’s actually quite clever. The button sits immediately to the left of the gas pedal, so you don’t have to lift your right foot up in order to mash the brake. Instead, you can just let your foot slide off the gas and on to the button on the floor. The brake button is quite sensitive and takes a little getting used to, but the brakes feel very firm and it doesn’t take much of a stomp on the racquet ball to get the car to halt. One must also be careful not to mash the button during a turn, as the rear of this front-wheel drive car will come around the side and slap you in the face.
Since Connecticut is one of only a few places in North America where you can encounter another French car while driving your own French car, only 45 minutes into the trip a Peugeot 505 V6 STX sedan flies past us. The US was the single largest export market for the SM, with more than 2,400 cars out of a total of just over 12,000 cars coming to our shores. The SM even snagged Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award for 1972. However, the SM’s looks suffered somewhat from the DOT-mandated sealed-beam headlight requirements, hence stateside SMs came with a very different front fascia, without the swiveling six headlight setup in its home market. Somewhat surprisingly, it was Peugeot’s takeover of Citroen in 1975 that brought an end to SM production, as the car was deemed to be too niche for Peugeot’s mass production tastes. Just a little over 400 cars were built during the last two years of manufacture.
Despite their relative rarity, driver-grade SMs are not that expensive, with solid examples still in the $20-25K range. Even Alex Roy is a fan, having bought an SM just a couple years ago. I was there when he took delivery of the car, a nicely kept gold-colored example.
Even though the coachbuilder Chapron, well known for DS Decapotables that have recently surged in values, handbuilt a small number of wonderful sedans based on the SM called the Opera, it fell to Maserati to create a luxury sedan based on the SM. That enterprise ended up going virtually nowhere, as only a few Quattroporte II prototypes were built on the SM chassis. As a result, one of the enduring disappointments among French car fans was that no sedans based on the SM were manufactured commercially, if one discounts the CX’s modest raid of the SM parts bin. Chapron and another coachbuilder by the name of Heuliez also created a number of bespoke convertibles based on the SM, but they’re not seen often (unless you pick up a copy of this month’s Octane magazine, as there’s a huge profile on the Heuliez SM targa).
Even though Wayne Carini was out of the shop at the time, he’s seen our Citroen before just a few weeks ago. Mike Roberts, the sales manager at F40 Motorsports, runs outside to take a look at the freshly detailed SM. “You don’t see too many of these every year!” he exclaimed. We spot a Citroen Mehari in the shop’s backyard, awaiting restoration, as well as a number of other rare automobiles. But that’s a story for another time.
alac-gore:, kaj god to značilo