The Citroën SM is one of the most elegant and bizarre sports cars ever made. The origin of the ‘SM’ portion of the name isn’t fully agreed on, but some speculations suggest that the ‘S’ stands for sports and the ‘M’ may stand for Maserati, pointing to the Maserati engine.
Other enthusiasts have said that ‘SM’ stands for Serie Maserati or Sa Majeste, which translates to ‘Her Majesty’, a lofty title for a deserving vehicle.
Starting in the early 1960s, Citroën started considering potential variations of the DS with a prototype called ‘S’. Then in ‘68 Citroën, acquired Maserati and with the company came their exclusive Italian sports engines.
The ‘S’ was given a Maserati heart and the ‘SM’ was born. In 1970, the new car was presented at the Geneva Motor Show.
The company wanted to join the GT car market. Jaguar, Chevrolet, Aston Martin and Ford were all pumping out beastly machines with elegant designs, and Citroën wanted to demonstrate that they could do the same in their own specific way.
For France, the SM became a symbol of progress and design. Its body was developed in a wind tunnel (which was new automotive technology in the ‘70s), it had air conditioning and was fully loaded with comfort amenities inside the cabin.
Unlike other GTs at the time, the SM featured hydraulic-powered self-leveling suspension, self-centering steeringand of course the 170hp V6 Maserati engine under the hood.
Unfortunately, only 12,920 SMs were produced in the ‘70s. Well-liked, elegant, and powerful for the time, the Citroën SM is one of the best.
Sara Ryan
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Keyword: Citroën’s Answer To The ’70s GT