Citroën SM won third place in the 1971 European Car of the Year competition and was produced by Citroën from 1970 to 1975.
The exterior of the futuristic 4,893 mm long grand tourer with a huge wheelbase of 2,950 mm made other cars look ordinary. Six sections of headlamp under a transparent hood and an intricately designed rear bodywork with covered rear arches gave the car the appearance of a spaceship.
In the chassis, the company naturally applied the hydropneumatic suspension known from the DS model, endowing the sports car with the signature smooth ride.
One of the main innovations was the DIRAVI (DIrection à RAppel asserVI) steering system, with variable force that ‘clamps down’ as speed increases and allows easy steering at low speeds for easy parking and manoeuvring.
Citroen SM specs:
- top speed – 235 km/h
- acceleration to 100 km/h – 8.3 s
- horsepower – 178 hp
- power density – 123 hp/t
- engine volume – 2675 cm³
- vehicle weight – 1450 kg
Citroen SM engine:
Modena Trident chief engineer Giulio Alfieri took the architecture of the 4.2-litre V8 as a starting point, resulting in a compact 2.7-litre aluminium V6 weighing 140 kg without attachments, with an unusual 90-degree cylinder bore for a six, four camshafts and three Weber 42DCNF carburettors.
The most powerful version developed 203 horsepower, but motorists settled on 178bhp at 5,500rpm and 233Nm at 4,000rpm.
Citroen SM 0 – 100 (Citroen SM 0 – 60):
Acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h takes 8,3 seconds.
Citroen SM top speed:
The top speed reaches 235 kilometres per hour.
Citroen SM interior:
Citroen SM price (Citroen SM for sale):
The car is available from $80000.