Citroën in many ways were like the Tesla of the 1950’s and 60’s. Where other car manufacturers were making normal, everyday cars, Citroën were ripping up the rulebooks and reinventing just what a car could be in their own mad, Gallic way. Their approach to almost every aspect of the car was unique, new, and, well, Citroën-esque. And it’s not like different meant “wrong”. The Citroën SM introduced innovative features such as self-centering steering and rain-sensing wipers years before they became mainstream. So, with a pedigree like this, why aren’t we all driving around in Citroën’s today? Why did the SM only sell 13,000 cars before taking Citroën into bankruptcy?
BTW, kudos to Citroën for featuring a woman driving their car fast in 1970. Not something you see even today in car adverts!
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The Citroëns are not just cars. They are pieces of modern art.
I recall just weeks ago around Altrincham in Manchester while travelling to Flixton near the Trafford Centre - I saw one of these rare cars also travelling on the motorway !! - wasn't really out of place at all except for its very different appearance but would always fit into any era !!
junk!!
@@harapaki3412you know nothing about cars it’s plain to see
Your reviews are now setting the standard in retro car reviews. Plus the sense of humour is appreciated.
The Citroën SM was way ahead of its time for looks, so futuristic as it was its a shame it wasn't the seller it could've been
In my humble opinion, this is the best factual car channel on KZhead.
FACTS!
Utterly agree.
Spot on 👍👍👍👍👍
This car was s reali nightmare gor mechanics. My father was an expert mechanic he hated them they had 37 hoses going to the engine. He had to number them to keep them straight.
Um... OK... that "speed feel" bit will give me nightmares for months!
HAHAHAHAHA
I remember my parents saw this launched at the UK motorshow (guessing around 1970/71) and going on the waiting list for one. They pulled out after a few month I think because of the waiting list. Was a truly fabulous car. I've always liked Citroen's avant guard approach.
The DS is a glorious car. The headlights looked intimidating when I was a kid.
i love this car. highly underrated, truly out of its time.
like NSU Ro80, that too was ahead of it's time
@@tonyb9735 LOL nothing exceptional in this car, and the worst, an unreliable engine which causes a lot of breakdowns at barely 25,000 km! next to the SM, it's a low-end Fiat 500 LOL
The most beautiful lines on any car. Ever. The SM still looks futuristic today.
It does indeed. And way more attractive than today's cars. It's a damned shame that it wasn't a huge seller for the USA market.
@Uncle Joe Stalin I agree. The Jaguar XJ6, while attractive itself, isn't quite as attractive (I don't think) as the Citroen SM and DS.
@Uncle Joe Stalin I agree. It is. :)
Purity and real attention to detail whilst keeping it simple ! They probably just werent prepared to mess the look up by puting bumpers on it for US regulations
@@BEATNIKMACHINE I'm sure. While I appreciate being able to protect the car from parking bumps, etc., unless it's done right, the "US reg bumpers" would make most any car look hideous. So it's probably just as well that the car didn't stay on the US market for very long.
I worked on Citroens in the early 70's, the SM was amazing, fast, silent, strong, I'd even consider owning one today.
My late father's SM was a '74, and I can personally confirm it would do 140+mph on the straight past the potato fields of eastern Long Island. It did have the Americanized headlights for import into the US, so it did not have the swiveling headlights or the yellow low-beam fog lights. Dad managed to keep the original beams on his '71 DS because he bought it in Lyon and had it shipped over. Dad was a mad man in that way, could not stop buying French cars. Jay Leno, btw, has a great video where he drives and reviews his personal '72 SM. Check it out.
I enjoyed your video. My father brought one over from France in the early 70's. He loved driving his SM. As a kid I loved the sound of the maserati engine. We still have this car in the family today and every now and then I will take the Cadillac of France out for a joy ride.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_la_Mothe_Cadillac Just additional information 🙂
@@froggywoogie There was a 1951 U.S. Postage stamp (Scott 1000) that bore an image captioned _The Landing of Cadillac at Detroit 1701 - 1951_ .
Please don´t compare the SM with a Cadillac! The SM is far ahead!
Finally got to see one in person today, albeit in a pretty neglected condition. Surprisingly wide, and probably the most nicely designed dash I’ve ever seen.
Owned both '72 and '73 SM automobiles , one , a 5 speed with the other the automatic in the US . BOTH enjoyable to drive with an unbelievably tight turning radius . Dad , at one point in our lives , was a Citroen (DS) Salesman and would delight patrons of our local Drive-in theater when he would lower and then completely Retract the suspension, leaving the car "high centered" and able to rock on the viewing hills ! Grandfather came to visit in his new Ford . Dad drove him in the Citroen when Grandfather saw some large quartz rocks that "would look great in" his garden . As Dad dutifully loaded stones into the Citroen , he reminded grandfather of the self leveling suspension....Needless to say, the load was far too much for the Ford and WE had some nice quartz rocks ! THANK YOU for your fine Production , information and memories .
Love these cars! Thanks for covering them! I knew about the hydraulic ride, but never knew they pioneered rain-sensing wipers. Thanks for going the extra step to explain how they work!
Great video I was a mechanic working on these cars when they arrived in the uk they were a nightmare to service and repair the biggest fault being if you damaged a hydraulic pipe you had no steering or suspension or brakes oh the horror of recovering one of these will haunt me forever thanks for the memories of when blokes like me were mechanics and not technicians who today would not know where to start I subscribed look forward to more mechanical memories and mayhem regards david
Speed feel and magic body control - who would have thought of such genius advertisement moves
Another fabulous Video ! It brings back Memories While studying in Boston in the early 90s,. I came across an add regarding 2 Citroen SM for sale in Framingham. I went there to eye ball them -- the cars were impecable, bodyewse. No rust at all, the interiores were fantastic Just to clear the garage, I could have bought them for a song. Due to a Health Problem, the Gentleman had stopped the cars' restauration -- he used to be a Mechanic with the US AIR FORCE. UNFORTUNATELY, he passed away a few weeks later , the house was put in the Market and I was given a period of time to close the deal and remove the vehicles. Unable to find a qualified Mechanic , I received my downpayment back. The vehicles were sold to a dealer located in California - the Dealership is still around selling great cars, namely DE 21s. 1.000 Thanks for this great video.
By far the most comprehensive overview of the most futuristic production car of the 20th Century.
Really appreciate the effort you put into these videos. You can see how much time must go into the research and editing. All in all, it makes for a very professional production. Well done!
Oooh.well done
What a true shame this gorgeous forward-thinking car wasn't more of a success. It is a truly beautiful car with a ton of fascinating features (especially for its time) and I bet if I had been alive during the time, I would have lusted after one. Citroën really was the Tesla of the 1960s and 70s, and that's a good thing. Gotta love quirky cars👍
I remember these as a child. Never knew so few were actually made ! Another excellent car history , thanks 👍👍👍
l like your calm and relax way of talking man! Your channel will grow soon.. All the best, and keep it coming.
@MIKE J Exactly. Most of the US derived YT auto review channels have that stupid sophomoric humor angle and it is annoying and stupid.
I had a 1978 2.4 l EFI 5 speed CX Prestige with the SM self return speed sensitive steering (2.5 turns lock to lock). Magnificent touring car in both Europe and back home in Australia. It had the high pressure brake valve controlled by a pedal instead of the mushroom button of the DS & SM. Even more comfortable and roomy than the SM plus a large boot. The 2.5 l EFI turbo really made the Prestige and smaller CX GTI perform - better than the 2.7 litre V6 SM. Rust was the big killer of the CX. At the other end of the performance and sophistication spectrum I also bought a 2CV6 in 1978. Then another in 1982 and my third in late 1989 - now covered 280,000 kms. Vive La Difference!
Diravi works great for cruisers but I can see how people didn't like it for a sports car. My cx rusted away too :(
My all time favorite car design. I love the way that Citroen used to go about car design, as if they'd never seen one before, and it was an all new invention. I would love to have one of these, perhaps powered by a modern 60 degree v6, with the manual. Everything else just as batshit crazy as they built it originally. Maybe I'll hit the lottery and it'll happen, but if not, there's always the car chase in the beginning of "The Longest Yard"....
I saw one at a servo in Germany recently.. It made me stop still for a few moments and just stare. It oozed class and filled me with longing to own one.
I only found this channel last week and I have watched all of your videos all ready keep up the good work bro
"It was that good". Citroen was always far ahead of Rolls-Royce in all technical aspects.
Rolls Royce use Citroën hydraupneumatic suspension (buy the rights and technical support) in the Silver shadow and Silver spirit, in the same time did Mercedes Benz copy the system (MB SEL450 6.9L), but never reach the same efficiency...
@@leneanderthalien Yes RR did not use those citroen green spheres in their version and powered the system off its central camshaft.
If you type in Wikipedia Self-levelling suspension you also get this: "...In 1966, Rolls-Royce licensed Citroën's hydropneumatic system to fit to the rear axle of the Silver Shadow. At first, both the front and rear of the car were controlled by the leveling system; the front levelling was deleted in 1969 as it had been determined that the rear levelling did almost all the work. Rolls-Royce achieved a high degree of ride quality with this arrangement. ..." For the rest google Rolls Royce. :)
It's important to stress the word 'was'. Citroen has not invested a cent in development since 1980s. All boring fwd cars with not a single outstamding feature, except for 60 years old suspension.
@@piotrmalewski8178 size 1975 is Citroën, property of Peugeot...And it's you choice to say "boring frontwheel drive cars": before all electronic safety systems was powerfull rear wheel drive DANGEROUS on slipery surfaces...even today, MANY sporstcars did crash because out of control, the driver did deactivated the safety systems (ESP, etc...), front drive are natural safety and not need electronics to be controlable...
A few years back, in N.E Thailand, I was a passenger whizzing along. By the roadside, was a Mausoleum like structure. A brick plinth with a glass window wall and tiled roof. It contained a DS! I had no time to get a picture. I have no idea where we were!
Love my SM (I recently drove it for an 8 hour journey and got out at the end completely relaxed)... also had 6 DSs (2 Safaris), 2 IDs over many years...
I'm lucky enough to have driven a SM numerous times I'm amazed they sold any, it's so different to anything else utterly brilliant but a complete culture shock for anyone driving the typical 70's vehicle, great content.
This is a car I always liked the look of. The nearest I got to driving one was in the early 80s when the TV facility I worked for bought a CX 2400 Safari for our location crew. It was huge and could carry 4 crew, all their luggage plus the camera, sound and lighting kits easily. It had the 2.4 injected engine with 3 speed C-matic. It took a bit of getting used to, with all the usual Citroen eccentricities! The turn signals were operated by a big rocker switch on top of the dash! The gearbox had a torque converter, and a 3-speed box, and an electric clutch! You could put it in top gear and accelerate away slowly and smoothly. Ideal for a camera car. When fitted with the heavy duty roof rack, you could put a big TV camera with its mounting & the camera operate on top and the suspension would keep it all level even at 40 mph. We did a horse race once at a track where the road alongside was not at all smooth. We had no trouble keeping up with the horses, and keeping the camera steady. All this was due to the work done on the SM. Another thing like the SM was the brake "pedal"! It was also very long and I was the only one who drove it who didn't ding one of the corners.
I loved the hydro-pneumatic rear suspension in my old 1984 300TD. Very subtle - I really only knew it was there when carrying heavy loads - the rear end never sagged, nor was the ride affected very much by it!
Been waiting for this one for a long time. I had the matchbox car in the '70's and'80's
Beautiful looking car! My nan had a DS many years ago and I had a 2cv, love their looks and quirkiness. Also love your videos man they’re really interesting and loving seeing a new one in my notifications keep it up!
Videos are doing amazing pal! Top quality content
Good work. Thanks. These are surely the best car review documentaries available.
My father had this (among other Citroen models) back in the '70s. Loved the ride!
Another brilliant story, worthy of repeat viewing. Great stuff and a beautiful car.
Yet another amazing video, such insight and delivered in your usual way 😉. Thank you Mr. Bigcar!
Fascinating episode, with an added touch of Alan Partridge! 8-)
I remember that my denstist in Montreal was driving and would never stop praising it since this was the most confortable vehicle on the road and so much fun to drive even in the wintery streets of Montreal. The road holding would put to shame most luxury most luxury cars sold in those days.
Luc - The calcium chloride used on icy roads destroyed Citroëns as they were not well rustproofed. I had a Canadian DS21 Pallas that broke in two from rust.
@@algrayson8965 Indeed Citroen did but not the Peugeots. It was so for so many other famous cars like the Jaguars (and most British cars). Now, Citroens resist rust better then Hondas and VW.
Very good presentation of The Citroën SM story. I've never owned a SM myself, but today I have in my posession a couple of CX's, one BX and one XM. Great and interesting autos, these classic Citroëns are. Super channel you have here. Thx.
there is a cx for sale i my area,,how is the car for repairs?
@@joeenglert dont testride it ... if you do ... you dont care about maintanance :-) ... i dont know about parts in the us .. but europe is oke .. the thing is citroen has special tools for some parts . So sometimes you have to improvice and make your own tool .. good luck ! ... just look around and see if there are more french cars in your neighbourhood .. with good care they ll go for ages
Thank you for an informative and easy to watch video, also thank you for NOT putting any irritating and unnecessary music behind your speaking. Very rare!
I've only seen one in person.
Probably the best explanation of the history of a car maker , well done.
Great video, many bonus points for the Remington reference.
_mmm... SPEED FEEL_ Just started watching your videos and the info and presentation is top notch. Here's to more great videos!
I was playing "Jet Set Willy" on a ZX Spectrum - a long time ago... ;-)
That game was so infuriatingly difficult!
Don't forget manic miner 😁
Of all the videos you've made, this is my favorite. Probably because the Citroen SM has always been a dream car for me. Thanks for your output.
Just love these videos !! can't wait for the next one, they are so informative,Thanx...
Excellent - I had no idea about the cut-down engine - thanks
These are such beautiful cars. On Friday I took delivery of the new DS3 Crossback.
Enjoy it buddy, such a cool car
Very special car. My former car was a C5 V6 aut., a super cruiser but with HA3+ suspension a bit firmer than the DS and CX era cars.
Love your channel! Entertaining and informative!
The DS Also had self leveling on the main beams.. The brake mushroom came in the DS first. Great video, thanks !
Love my '69 DS 19 Pallas. SM was out of my price range at the time it was supposed to come to Canada but life changed and so did Citroen and US craziness related to their idea of safety.
My GS had the brake mushroom and the hydro suspension. Both were great and trouble free,
Another great video. Very well presented and enjoyable. Thank you.
You do these so well.
As always, a very informative video on one of my favourite cars. It is tragic that Citroen of today is no longer innovative with its cars.
The design is increddible. One of the all time best in my opinion. Thanks for the video.
Great vlog as always! I tried to find the price of the SM in Norway. No luck. It was just as insane here as in the rest of Europe and U.K. The total no. of SM sold from 1970-1976 was 4!
My bride of 32 years says this is an "Automobile" (in a loving very respectful way) - not a "car". She liked our CX but says the SM is sex on wheels!
The french built, without a doubt, the best looking, handling and comfortable cars from the 50's through to the 80's. Even their cheap economy cars are so much more comfortable to sit in than a brand new luxury car.
Glam Stachee, having watched lots of Leno Garage eps, I think he has said his Citroen(s) have by far the smoothest rides of any of his fleet of cars.
@@mattkaustickomments Of course. The Citroen hydropneumatic system is the most advanced, safest, most relaible and most comfortable suspension system ever built. It gives the car the real "magic carpet" ride. It also gives constand ride height, irrespective of load, and also variable road clearances.
They used the Paris streets as their testing ground. If you tried going fast in almost anything, you had to clench your teeth!
@@paullangford8179 I can still imagine the Paris streets being much better roads than 2019 rural eastern european roads. They're giving my 30 year old Peugeot a new challenge.
I had a 1986 Visa 17RD with the reliable 1769 cc Diesel engine. Despite it's uncool looks (especially painted nicotine brown!) it was one of the best cars I've had. It had comfy seats, was reasonably fast and did 55 MPG (UK) seemingly however fast I drove (it was fairly aerodynamic being a Citroen). I sold it with 178,000 miles on the clock only because I was offered another car by my parents. The panels were very thin but it didn't rust since it had been treated internally (Dino'd?).
Another great video. I love your Sinclair Spectrum shirt. That was my very first computer. The SM was one I never had the chance to drive. I used to see a fair number of them around Los Angeles considering how few were imported due to our incredibly stupid laws of the time. It was always a car that actors, musicians, and assorted "odd" people drove. I thought it was such an innovative car that I just wanted to take one for a test drive. There was only one dealer within 50 miles of me. I showed up there shortly after the first ones went on sale in 1972. After looking over the one SM in the showroom. I screwed up my courage and asked if I could take a test drive. The very French salesman looked down his nose at me, sniffed slightly, and informed me that the entire first year's inventory was already sold, but I could put down a deposit of $500 if I want to reserve a 1973 model. He said they didn't solicit the business of those who felt they needed a test drive before they decided to buy. The fact I drove up in a four door 1970 Toyota Corona Mark II probably didn't help matters, so I slunk my way out. So this is one that got away, but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for this innovative but weird looking car.
If companies treat me like that, I tend to not buy from them... I don't understand why people flock to something the more "exclusive" it is. I'll decide if it's something I like, not you.
@@BigCar2 I never spent any more time trying to hunt up an SM, so I had already decided that Citroen was off my list. I've wondered what that salesman did for a living after 1973. I don't know why the SM became such an in car among the glitterati considering all the problems the car turned out to have. The early 70's was a time that everyone wanted to be "different", and the SM was about as different as you could get. If I remember correctly, the standard 5 speed SM was over $12,000, a whopping sum when those who just wanted luxury could buy a fully equipped Cadillac DeVille for less than $7,500.
Great video, the SM was a great car at the time and with fantastic innovations, thanks for this excellent review , so very well done.
Another very enjoyable video. Keep them coming.
I've heard of the Citroen SM. Beautiful looking car. Great ideas.
Another great video, thanks. I'd like to see you do a video on why automatic gears are far more popular in North America than the UK.
As an Australian I really appreciate your videos of European vehicles. Cheers mate 🍻
How many times can I like this? Awesome video thanks. It strikes a refreshing balance between sufficient acknowledgment of the revolutionary features, and the rose tinted love affair that has seduced many an owner to put up with far more idiosyncrasies than would be tolerated towards any other brand of the time. Fantastic cars. I have only sat in an SM, but I was the fortunate keeper of a 1973 DS23 Pallas for enough time to lose my heart and a ton of money on it. And I would do it again 🙂
Didn't think I could love this channel more than I did but then I saw the ZX Spectrum shirt!
lol -- I chuckled too as my first computer (well kind of a computer) was the ZX. Never had the T shirt though.
Thanks for doing so much real research on all these cars. Very interesting and I have always been fascinated by Citroen
This was very interesting. I always wondered about these cars. Amazing how forward thinking they where
I have the related CX and also a Austin Morris Princess. It would be great to see the Princess story.
One of my favourite cars of all time😁
HAHA! I love it, an old power steering system called "Speed Feel" sounds creepy nowadays, then lo and behold we find there's something brand new with an even sillier name like "Magic Body Control"!
Great retrocar channel, I watched almost all your uploads in one day, 👍🏼👍🏼
That's a lot! I totaled it up recently that I've done several hours of videos. That's a lot of my voice to listen to!
Big Car you have a pleasant voice 😉
I had DIRAVI in the Citroen CX and it was magical.
The brake pedal travel was to shorten the reaction time. And it's shape allowed the driver to slide down from the accelarator in a flowing arc. The overall brake system was way ahead of american and european cars...
The brake button travel was actually increased over the 1956 DS. All later Ds and IDs, then the SM, with the button pedal used a hollow rubber "mushroom" to squash a little bit and reduce sensitivity to sudden deceleration and judder.
That noise is typical of front bearing failure. The reason it goes away in direct gear is that the side load from driving the cluster gear is taken away. You can also usually hear it come and go a bit when the clutch is pushed in and out in neutral. As others have said, there are pullers available to remove the front bearing. However...If you would have broken out the metal retainer that keeps the balls spaced out between the races, all the balls can be moved to one side. After that, the inner race can be offset(along with the shaft) to the opposite side and the balls and shaft can be removed. Thanks for posting this, we all have to "live and learn". PS: Loved you ingenuity in fabricating the makeshift puller. 🦾
Excellent and thorough history of the SM.
Loving the Spectrum T-Shirt. :-)
A 5-Speed Gearbox was offered already in the DSuper5 , five meaning 5 gears.
This is amazing, 341 likes and not a single dislike. Love the content.
:-) Give it time...
A week's a long time in KZheadland... 39 ppl couldn't find the "Like" button (sigh...)
Interesting summary of Citroën SM, but there is a couple of things I need to point out here. The headlamps weren't banned due to the movable design. The US regulations in the early 1970s allowed only round headlamps in two sizes (either two large 7" and four smaller 5.25"). The US headlamps have different output pattern with higher "blotchy" output while ECE required the sharp horizontial cutoff with bit of kick-up toward the right. The US headlamps must be be hermetically sealed while ECE allowed the removable lens and bulbs. Lastly, the US regulations didn't allow the clear glass or plastic cover in front of headlamps (Datsun 240Z and Jaguar E-Type for the US market had the clear cover removed). Maserati V6 engine had one serious design flaw: no timing chain tensioners! Over the time, the timing chain would stretch to the point that it could jump one cog tooth while the engine was running at higher speed. When that happened, the engine got dynamited, necessiating the expensive rebuild or replacement.
Thanks for the additional info!
I saw one of these for the first time a view months ago while staying in hackney. Each time I walked past it I thought it looked amazing. The styling is definitely before it's time and the interior was space age.. I thought it would make a fabulous EV conversion..
Your research is commandable ! Congratulations.
The SM box was used by Lotus in the Esprit. It is a good box and Lotus only changed to Renault 25 box when Citroen stopped making SM box.
Very well done, Informative. I saw my first SM in Mexico of all places. :)
6:52: they actually didn’t cut off 2 cylinders of a v8, the engine was designed from the get go as a V6. At the very beginning the plan for the SM was to put in a V8, but they realised it wouldn’t fit under the bonet for the design and it’s drag coefficient, entered the development of the V6, at 90 degrees so it would fit because a normal V6 wouldn’t. 7:33: the carbureted version’s max speed is around 220 km/h, the injection version is around 240-260 km/h. We got to 265 km/h in my grandfather’s stock injection version.
A French car with a modified Italian engine. What could possibly go wrong?
The Japanese could have pulled that stunt. The French, maybe after lunch. Or maybe tomorrow. Next week? But no, Jean-Baptiste in on holidays. And Pierre in Paris for 'formation'. Number? No, he has his personal telephone, we are not allowed to call that. No, Not in France. Never.
@@MarttiSuomivuori a french company (re) build a new SM 2 based on SM , they have improved all the problems. They use recent material (interior,exterior, engine) and technology. It's like to drive a recent car with the current reliability ! www.sm2.fr/sm2/en/ www.sm2.fr/sm2/en/gallerie-photos/interieur.html www.sm2.fr/sm2/en/gallerie-photos/exterieur.html Look at this engine rebuilt with recent materials : www.sm2.fr/sm2/en/gallerie-photos/exterieur.html The guy is engineer (french) ...
How many times have Citroen and Peugeot won the WRC. and the last time I looked Ferrari were Italian. Meanwhile where is the home of Chrysler ha ha
At least it had a decent engine considering the citroen was an ugly piece of crap.
Ask Régembeau.
I've just signed up for your Patreon; thank you for making thoughtful and informative videos about cars to which I can relate
Thank you Tanya! I’ll send you a message through Patreon when I get close to a PC.
@@BigCar2 Yay!! :-)
Best Citroen SM video to date!
So I saw that there was a new big car video *AND* it was on the *Citroën SM,* so I had to go outside to get a better signal to make sure I could watch it.
Great review of a fringe favourite. And bonus points for the Spectrum t-shirt
Since then the t-shirt has sadly bit the dust.
They were genuinely ahead of their time and that of their market sector. I recall being appalled at the a Avantgarde appearance and technology. Now I would give anything to have a DS. Sooooo beautiful. Audi engineers used much of the hydraulic system in the 100 range which has to be a very considerable compliment from within their own sector where it counts.
When car show opens with mega 80s synth you know it's going to be good
Love these car reviews
Excellent video. Thank you. The SM is a gem. It drives smoothly and got heaps of character. A real headturner.
SM is art
Futuristic looking cars back then that still didn’t look anything as crass as modern cars.