Happy Birthday Your Majesty: Citroën SM turns 40

Jonny Lieberman — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:58:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Performance, Europe, Citroën, Luxury

Citroën SM - click above for high-res image gallery

Well now, this is exciting. The iconic Citroën SM turns forty years old today. First introduced at the Geneva Motor Show on March 11, 1970, the SM was incredibly advanced for its time. In fact, there are those who would argue that it's still way ahead of the curve.

A couple of basics, if you will. SM stands for Sports Maserati (though some argue it stands for Sa Majesté in reference to the DS - i.e. Goddess, i.e. La déesse'). While probably not the wisest financial decision of all time, Citroën purchased Maserati in 1968. As such, they were able to use the new 90-degree V6 Maserati had developed. Essentially a V8 with two-cylinders lopped off, the SM's V6 (also shared with the Maserati Merak) is one of the most fantastically complex engines ever conceived. How does three timing chains strike you?

But the SM was much more than a powerful (for the time) engine in a sleek and sexy, Robert Opron designed aircraft grade aluminum body. The SM featured the world's first variable-assist power steering system (known as DIRAVI) which is so insanely complicated that we can't even begin to describe it to you (it involves heart shaped cams). Also, the SM featured one-turn to lock. Needless to say, the DIRAVI was tied into the SM's oleopneumatic system. What's oleopneumatic? A fancy French way of saying an oil-based hydropneumatic system.

Besides the steering the suspension, headlights, brakes and transmission were all run off the SM's hydraulic system. Headlights? Yup. The SM featured six headlights behind a beautiful glass cover, two of which turned with the steering wheel, and six could pivot up and down depending on rear ride height. In other words, if the rear of the car was loaded down, the lights would automatically adjust to point straight ahead so as not to blind oncoming motorists.

Back in 1970, not only was the SM the fastest front-wheel drive car in the world (the factory claimed 137 mph, but many took the cars up to 145 mph), it had the shortest stopping distance of any car, period. Credit the dual-channel hydro-brakes and the fact that the front rotors are inboard. In fact, rumor has it that until the Porsche 959 showed its face in 1986, the SM was the production deceleration king. One last little tidbit. As far as we know, the Citroën SM is the only car ever designed specifically to seat two men up front and two women in the back. Amazing, no? Happy birthday SM! Maybe in another forty years the world will be ready to embrace you. Read the press release after the jump.

Gallery: Citroen SM Turns 40

[Source: Citroën]

Continue reading Happy Birthday Your Majesty: Citroën SM turns 40

Happy Birthday Your Majesty: Citroën SM turns 40 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIDEO: Helpful French people teach you how to change your Citroen's oil

Jonny Lieberman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:01:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Europe, Videos, Citroën, Humor, Luxury

Citroen SM Oil Change How To - click above image to watch the video

Assuming most of you are Citroen owners, we're confident you'll find the following video extremely helpful. Even if you just own a DS or CX and not a full blown SM, it's useful. Heck, even you 2CV owners might learn a thing or two. For the tiny minority of you out there that don't own Citroens, we will admit that yes, compared to ~~an aircraft carrier~~ a Chevelle, an SM is a little tricky to work on. But as long as you view the SM like an airplane -- meaning a series of subsystems -- rather than one, single insanely complex French-Italian mashup (the "M" in SM stands for "Maserati) you'll do just fine.

In fact, after consuming two bottles of Bordeaux and half a pack of Gallouses you'll be able to repeat the following (from the maintenance section of an SM website): "The backspacing of the crankshaft bore accepting the oil pump shaft is not controlled adequately. The oil pump drive shaft commonly falls into the crank and runs on a small area of its splines thus wearing rapidly. A simple fix is to add a compliant spacer (so as not to end-load the oil pump) in the splined hole in the crankshaft timing sprocket." And hey, so what if the AC compressor is driven by the timing chain and ~~routinely~~ rarely jams and ~~grenades~~ upsets the engine? With easy to follow maintenance videos like this one, you have nothing to fear but fear itself. ~~And Citroen SMs.~~

Note: If you work in a brothel, mens' prison or the San Fernando Valley, the video after the jump is totally safe for work. Otherwise, consider it NSFW. And yeah, we wish the clip featured a European SM, and not the compromised, non-hydraulic headlight US version. Still, NSFW!

Continue reading VIDEO: Helpful French people teach you how to change your Citroen's oil

VIDEO: Helpful French people teach you how to change your Citroen's oil originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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