The Citroën stand at the 1927 Paris Salon.

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1 Citroën was something of a showman, it has to be said, establishing beautiful showrooms in all of Europe s high rent districts in the 1920s. He even had a stunt pilot write the Citroën name in smoke above the 1922 Paris Salon site, and then had it put in lights on the Eiffel Tower from 1925 to The Citroën stand at the 1927 Paris Salon. merchant from Holland who moved to Paris in the early 1870s. André was the youngest of three brothers, born on 5 February He studied hard and won many academic prizes in the early part of his life (he went to the same school as Louis Renault, incidentally), and in 1900, established a gear cutting factory in Paris to produce a new type of gear he had seen in Poland. After a few years of market research and product development, the company at last became profitable, supplying gears to many different industries. Citroën bought bigger premises in 1911, not far from the Mors factory; in fact, just south of the Eiffel Tower, and it was here that he really made a name for himself. His first dealings with the motor industry dated from around 1905, when he secured a contract to build 500 engines for Sizaire-Naudin, but it was his association with Mors that brought him much closer 12

2 Overview of the car s various hydraulic circuits. Cutaway drawing of the SM by Theo Page, showing the location and shape of most of the vehicle s major components. 54

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4 196 Various shots of one of the two matching four-door dropheads built by Henri Chapron for use as state vehicles for the French President. The PR registration numbers follow on from the presidential DS ordered by Charles de Gaulle.

5 The Citroën XM, seen here on the cover of the French catalogue. 1985cc model replaced the DS in the line-up, although it was not until 24 April 1975 that the last of these legendary machines was built, by which time the CX 2200 had been released to augment the two-litre model. While the CX was undoubtedly a good car, many mourned the passing of the DS; in all, 1,330,755 had been produced. Sadly, the Quai de Javel factory closed with the end of the DS era. Over 3,225,000 vehicles had been built there, but at least head office stayed at this historic site until the early 1980s. As for the SM, that was built at the Ligier factory in Abrest from late The 1975 MY SM Apart from discontinuation of the lightweight RR wheels at the end of 1974, the SM went into its final season unchanged. In its native France, the 1975 model year car was priced at FF 69,800, or FF 71,880 with automatic transmission. However, by the end of summer 1975, it was no longer listed. In European export markets, the 1975 SM was SF 49,900 in Switzerland, and at 25 of the 180 Citroën dealers authorized to handle the SM in Britain, prices started at By mid-1975, the cost of Citroën s flagship model had risen to This compares to 3195 for the CX 2.0 and 3495 for the CX 2200, but the SM had gone from price lists by the tail-end of summer, with only 327 sold in the UK. In America, SM prices still started at $13,500 for 1975, Standard colour schemes (1975 MY) Coachwork Noir, Gris Largentière, Blanc Meije, Rouge de Grenade, Bleu Delta, Vert Argenté, Beige Tholonet, Or de Simiane, Brun Roquebrune, and Brun Scarabée. Upholstery Grey, beige or green cloth; black, grey or beige grained vinyl, or black or beige leather as an option. Carpet came in grey, brown or green. although, in reality, this was simply a case of clearing old stock. American emissions regulations became stricter for 1975, and minimum corporate fuel consumption requirements were announced to add to the misery of automakers. On low volume sales, it was not worth Citroën trying to continue pushing the V6 flyer in the States, but at least the SM was not defaced by the safety bumpers that would have been required by Federal law had it been sold in the States for a longer period of time. As it happens, the CX never made it to American shores (nor did the GS, for that matter), the company s withdrawal from the US 211