Manual Maserati: 1973 Citroen SM
It’s slightly disingenuous to call this a Maserati; I know. But as a 1973 Citroen SM, it does share its engine with the Maserati Merak, a sonorous 2.7-liter V6 that made a healthy 180 b.h.p. and was capable of ferrying passengers in complete comfort to a top speed of 140 miles per hour. This example is equipped with the preferred five-speed manual gearbox, which is somewhat hard to find in these pseudo-exotic cars. The SM is said to run without issue but also sounds like it was recently extracted from long-term storage, so it will likely need plenty of love before it’s a driver. Find the Citroen here on craigslist for $13,500.
The SM is a car that many adventurous Euro-car enthusiasts have brought home over the years, but far fewer have actually succeeded in reviving. The SM is a wonderful machine chock-full of cutting-edge engineering like few other manufacturers could muster up at the time. The issue is – like any ancient luxury car – is that those systems eventually need repair, and usually those bills and multi-page invoices rear their heads at about the time the third owner is wondering why he dragged this car home when there’s a perfectly good Honda Civic for sale around the corner. The SM is not immune from occasionally appearing in a wrecking yard, although more often than not, another well-intentioned enthusiast will snatch it up before that happens.
Does anyone remember Burt Reynolds in The Longest Yard? He righteously abused a manual transmission SM, eventually letting it sink to its death in a memorable small-town car chase scene. The SM shown here actually looks quite dry given its Texas location, and fortunately not to the point that the leather seats and dash have perished. The listing also reports that the SM will come with two of its four hubcaps as well as the factory fender skirts and the jacking kit. The seller had started to buy parts for the SM before deciding to list it, including five new suspension spheres and a gallon of LHM fluid.
Still, even with new parts in hand, that is not stopping this SM owner from moving the unusual garage find along. I can certainly relate, as those wonky projects are exciting for being the first one of such a car you’ve seen in years and instantly rarer than most project cars being dug out these days. But then reality sets in, whether it’s the complexity of the repairs, the obscurity of parts and panels, and most likely, both. The SM is not a car you restore in a weekend or even six months, as the delay in parts availability and shipping alone can keep a car like this on blocks. I hope the next owner brings this rare SM 5-speed back to life, as it will be a pleasure to drive once it’s in safe, running condition.
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Comments
Seems like a good starting point. Has good bones and the interior is still serviceable. Get this car mechanically sorted clean it thoroughly and enjoy before jumping in with both feet to restore this car. Still think it’s best to find one running and driving and in good condition. One has to assume the V6 has not received the valve train mods to make the engine more reliable. If you know these cars this would be a good one knowing what needs to be done. If you are new to Citroen probably not the one to buy.
Can not recall seeing one in red….fastest front wheel drive car when introduced.
I question that as the original color. I think there was a color change somewhere in it’s life.
Unless the Sodium exhaust valves have been replaced, this is a grenade waiting to happen with a price tag that may exceed the value of the car…….not fun or cheap to do. With that in mind, I have loved these cars since the day I laid eyes on them decades ago. Currently have a D-Special slumbering my my garage waiting for nicer weather to be driven and have had 6 ID/DS Citroens over the years. These really are the Citroen Brass Ring IMO…..
The proverbial Money Pit with the added dose of complexity thrown in for free. No Thank you. Fantastic cars to drive when sorted though. GLWTS
I always felt you had to be into S&M to own a SM.
I owned the American version. The Marquis de Sade.
Big C,
I’m told this is the American version of the Marquis de saw’ed. The owner took a sawzall to his Mercury Marquis wagon!
BEWARE CRACKED EXHAUST MANIFOLDS
in an effort to meet pollution standards, they tuned them very lien.
An easy way to check is open the hood at night and look for exhaust flames from manifold
Peter is correct.
In the mid 1990s we worked on a Citroen SM with a pair of cracked exhaust manifolds. We couldn’t source any new or replacement manifolds [pre-high quality internet you know], so we sent them out to a company specializing in cast iron crack repairs.
As my shop specialized in unusual, rare, and oddball vehicles, we had experience with cast iron parts made of Unobtanium, and we used this shop in the upper mid-west. They were even able to repair a cylinder head with an internal crack. The repair called for the head to be cut apart, the crack welded, and then the head welded back together again. After 35 years, that engine is still running fine.
The company heated up both SM manifolds glowing cherry red, before welding the cracks, and what we got back was a pair of beautifully repaired manifolds, some of the finest cast iron repairs I had ever seen, the crack ends drilled & pinned before welding.
The repaired manifolds lasted around a year before one cracked badly, the other sustaining another small crack not long after. Both cracked in a different location, not where they were repaired. So we sent the manifolds out for repair the second time. About 2 years after finishing the second repairs I retired and closed the shop, and I’ve not heard from the car’s owner, so I assume they lasted or he found another set.
If I had a SM with cracked manifolds, I think I would approach a company specializing in stainless steel tube headers and install them in place of the cast iron manifolds [but saving the cast iron ones for possible repair in the future]. I’m kinda surprised no one seems to have developed a tube header set for the SM engine, and for that matter, the versions from the Maserati V8.
I remember the beginning of that movie. He really had a blast driving that car. Still can’t figure out the scene where he released the parking brake and the car lurched forward off the pier? I think in that scene, the car was an auto and the car was in drive, but the car he went crazy driving was a stick.
I got one when I was 20, in 1973, new. of the 50 plus cars I have owned, it was by far the most interesting car I have driven. I worked for both Mercedes-Benz and BMW and have driven all sorts of exotics, but nothing compares in terms of fun, comfort and drivability, if not a bit underpowered. But to restore one like this would take a strong stomach, and lot of patience, and a wallet full of money. Good luck to the fool who forks out the $13 grand to hold title to this once marvelous machine. I am not that fool.
I’m thinking that the decimal point is off by one position. $1300. is a better number, not $13000 for a potential boat anchor
350€ is fair as it needs a full restoration. With all the detoriated
parts shown it even not works as a parts donor.
The paint looks like an older respray and it received a bit too
much spatula. I never liked this bright red as its super sensitive
to uv-radiation and most fade over short time. No matter who
made the car, its a terrible decision.
I bought one this past Spring and will be restoring it over the next few years. The cars are really something special, but definitely not for the faint hearted. I paid less than this one, for a car with no rust, garage kept all it’s life and 50K miles. I’ll be rebuilding an engine to take care of the valve and chain issues and painting and restoring the interior, but mechanically my car is quite solid and the suspension hydraulics were recently worked on with new spheres. If you had to pay a specialist for everything, it would be way too expensive, but if you can do much of the work, the car will be worth the money you invest. Values are rising as these cars are recognized as the works of artistic and technical “art” that they truly are.
SM = spend money. I had a 73 5-speed for several years in the 1980s along with a DS21 Pallas. Really a great design and an experience to drive.
The manifolds are definitely a problem, so much so that the factory had drip shields over the manifolds to keep any oil from catching fire that fell on the thermal reactors that make up the emissions system. Definitely a good idea to fit stainless steel or the European manifolds, but neither are cheap. There is a UK vendor that offers them and that is what will be fitted to mine.