De Citroën SM

When Wiebe Boukema and Lieke de Boer get married and have children? They must become exemplary citizens. If a stubborn Frenchwoman enters into a connection with an ecstatic Italian? Yes, what should come of it? A Citroën SM for example. Beautiful. But with its own unique character ...

A Citroën SM

The car is beautiful. The impressive bonnet swings open. And then? Chaos! Bewilderment! Under the hood of a Citroën SM looks like the styling and interpretation of the engine compartment was done by a drunk steel construction worker and a plumber with a bi-polar disorder. It used to be called 'Manic Depressive'. And what is that? Look under the hood of an SM and you will get a nice idea.

Sitting from the front edge of the engine compartment to a whole lot behind it - as a knowledge not familiar with technology muttered - “Tjemig! What a lot of things! ”And then it makes little difference whether we look at an 2,7 liter (actually 2670 cc) carburetor block or an 3 liter injection engine. Overall green balls, which, depending on the wishes of the customer, contain normal LHM or high-quality blue LHM.

Why easy when it can be difficult?

All to keep the hydraulic spring and braking system working properly. Those things for the block are the air conditioning pump, the speed-dependent 'Diravi' power steering An (expensive) distributor cap where (not yet replaced by electronics) double contact points and the radiator, which in practice gets so little air because its air supply is too far flows under the hood so that things really go wrong on hot days. The mounting of two large CX fans works wonders there!

There is also the rod shop for the drive, the steering and the things that have to do with the steering headlamps. And a huge oil barrel from which all pipes come. Plus the gearbox. Oh yeah; Talking about the engine block: the stunning Maserati V6 with its double overhead camshafts and three double Webers is hidden far behind all the technical banter against the bulkhead of the SM.

What a bustle under the hood!

Bombarded with even more things. A huge can of air filter. Cables from the two ignition coils to the distributor with its double points. And the six spark plugs. In that block are distribution chains that were of poor quality in the first series. The members of the Moluccan band Massada knew that. They bought small change SMs with rattling blocks. They put the matter in order and stole the show with their SMs. That is how the Citroën SM Diva still a bit Rock & Roll.

1.0 injection

Gasoline injection was a fashionable idea at the time. The Bosch injection installation (from 1972) actually dates from the DS and was still at Flintstone level. A large part of the injected fuel left the building without burning. And Maserati engine block designer Alfiery swore by the three double Webers he had actually thought of on his V6. We can only conclude one thing: under the hood of an SM is the most beautiful nightmare you can dream of.

But a good SM is a fantastic, reliable car. Even the parts supply is okay. But an SM is not a budget car. He is not prepared for that.

Oh yes: If you go Googling on SM, then you can go to the most surprising sites and those of Cyril Sars. Cyril's is the site you're looking for ...