Cars - Citroën SM

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	Cars - Citroën SM

The Citroën SM was a high performance coupé automobile produced by the French manufacturer Citroën between 1970 and 1975.

Model History

In 1961, Citroën began work on 'Project S' - a sports variant of the revolutionary Citroën DS. As was customary for the firm, many running concept vehicles were developed, increasingly complex and upmarket from the DS. Citroën purchased Maserati in 1968 with the intention of harnessing Maserati's high performance engine technology to produce a true Gran Turismo car, combining the sophisticated Citroën suspension with a Maserati power unit.

The result was the Citroën SM (Sport Maserati), first shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1970.

The SM was Citroën's flagship vehicle, competing with other high performance GTs of the time from manufacturers such as Jaguar, Lotus and Porsche. It was also Citroën's way of demonstrating just how much power and performance could be accommodated in a front wheel drive design.

Contemporary automotive journalists were most effusive about the SM's dynamic qualities, which were unlike anything they had experienced prior. The SM provided a combination of comfort, sharp handling, and high performance not available in any other car at the time. Popular Science noted that the SM had the shortest stopping distance of any car they had tested.

Unfortunately, the SM did not find a sufficient customer base in the European GT market, but much of the SM's technology was carried forward to the smaller Citroën CX, launched in 1974 - the DIRAVI steering being the most obvious example. The engine in enlarged 3.0 L form was used in Maserati's own Merak which, together with the Khamsin, used Citroën's high pressure hydraulics.

The Look

The look of the car was quite distinct. Designed in-house by Citroën's chief designer Robert Opron the SM bore a vague family resemblance to it's famous ancestor, the Citroën DS sedan. Seen from above, the SM resembles a teardrop, with much wider track at the front.

The SM was unusually aerodynamic for its era, with a very low drag coefficient. European critics marvelled at the resulting ability to travel for hours at 120mph in comfort. In addition, many of the details reflect M. Opron's American background, notably the truncated 'fins' at the rear.

The SM combined many unusual features - lights that swivelled with the steering, unique self centering and fully powered steering, self levelling headlamps, a wiper mechanism that is 'sensitive' to rain, and many other features that are now common place on cars of today.

The SM's design was timeless; the car was even used in 1999 in a television advertisement where 'a futuristic car was required'. It placed eleventh on the Automobile Magazine 100 Coolest Cars listing.

In 1970 it was a car of the future, the fastest front wheel drive car to be made. It was an example of the car as a symbol of optimism and progressive technology.

US exports

The main export market for the SM was the United States. In the USA the market for personal luxury cars was much larger than in Europe, with competitors like the Cadillac Eldorado, Lincoln Mark IV and Ford Thunderbird alongside a large selection of Italian, English, and German imports. Nevertheless, the unique design of the SM made quite a splash and won the Motor Trend magazine Car of the Year award in 1972: unheard of for a non-US vehicle at the time.

The SM's six headlamp set up was illegal in the United States and consequently US specification cars were fitted with four fixed round exposed lamps. At the time, the US law applicable to headlamps dated from 1937. Because the US auto market was an oligopoly, with three competitors controlling 85% of the market, outdated regulations could continue to exist. The law required round sealed beam headlamps of fixed dimension, with no glass casing, height adjustment, or directional adjustment.

Despite initial success, US sales ceased suddenly - Citroën expected (but did not receive) an exemption for the 1974 model year 5mph bumper regulation imposed by NHTSA. The variable height suspension of the SM made compliance impossible. The law as written called for bumpers to be an exact height off the ground at all times, yet according to the laws of physics, cars dip at the nose on braking. Vehicles classified as trucks were always exempt and the entire law was eventually repealed in 1981. The final batch of 134 now illegal 1974 US model SM's were shipped to Japan.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Citroën SM ]

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