Citroën - SM 2.7 V6 Maserati - 1973

The car world is full of charming mistakes. Almost always there was a misunderstanding when a technically ambitious concept accompanied with a confusingly beautiful shape and a motor without any Fortune. The Citroen SM, once the queen of the road, towers over everything and nothing realy fits here. In the end, nobody wanted to have it anymore, neither the creator nor the new owner, who had even paid for it. Citroen had the last 100 SM mounted at the racing car manufacturer Ligier, and Peugeot as the new master in the house pushed the last 60 SM bodies without hesitation in the junk press. A horrible end for an ex beauty Queen!
When the French press in 1970 gave the new big Citroen the honorary title "La reine de la route" and even sober testers with German engineer training in the Citroen SM believed to see the future of the automobile, they all did not suspect its weaknesses. From the over-sensitive Maserati engine and the overburdened mechanics, who ruined the reputation first and then the technology. Today we know that only the plan to design the SM was perfect, the design had shortcomings. He seemed foolproof. The dream factory Maserati, whose majority of shares Citroen had taken over in the late 1960s, would develop the engine, the superior hydropneumatisch and a revolutionary form would come from France. That had to be terrific. And everything happened with great attitude. Citroen wanted to revive the shine of its groundbreaking Tracion Avant 15 CV "le Six" with a six-cylinder engine, giving the country a dignified Grand Roleur, a contemporary luxury car.
The shape caused a stir and the mature hydropneumatics for superior suspension qualities. But the Maserati six-cylinder, of all things, suffered from the wrong handling and lack of refreshness. Rough and rattling was the light-alloy engine, which was initially at the flat-built 90-degree cylinder angle and then usually on three timing chains of inferior quality. In conjunction with undersized chain tensioners and a vulnerable ignition system, they made for a fatal reputation of the 2.7-liter V6. Impatient and negligent owners and poorly trained mechanics did the rest: Was the engine not gently warm and meticulously maintained, the major engine damage came before the 50,000-km mark.
Even before the 50,000 km mark. It did not help that changed to model year 1972 by Weber carburetors on Bosch injection and a year later, a three-liter version with 180 hp and full automatic was raised in the program. It was not about a few more horsepower, but about reliability. Oil crisis, speed limit, the new owner Peugeot: In the end, all against the SM, the last little more than 100 copies of the year 1975 were hardly sell. The question about the "what am I?" could not be answered at any time: sports car or flying carpet? And who should buy it? After all, half a century later, it's no different: many admire the SM, but few understand it. Although he still plays in the price and performance class of Porsche and Mercedes-Benz coupes, he remained a GT for connoisseurs and aesthetes, who are not looking for an everyday classic. What a charming mistake.
The Citroen SM has all the ingredients that a dream car needs, is rare and exclusive, beautiful and fast, and a milestone in automotive engineering in form and execution. Unfortunately, the complex design, the high-maintenance drive and the difficult spare part situation require a high degree of ability to suffer from the owner. And cheap is the exquisite pleasure of traveling with His Majesty, of course not. Every spontaneous purchase must therefore be avoided. The opposite is true: With careful and regular maintenance by the professional, the Citroen SM meets all the requirements that are placed on an exclusive vehicle in its class.
Never buy a car whose service history is vague and incomplete, or whose engineering and bodywork have obvious shortcomings - unless time and money do not matter. Visible and invisible traps the SM offers plenty, laymen are difficult in the assessment. Interested parties should therefore seek the advice of an expert and / or contact the club.