Citroën SM

The story

The SM is the DS reimagined as a grand tourer with a Maserati heart. Its 2.7-liter V6, sized to dodge a punishing French tax band, sits behind the front axle and drives the front wheels; the fully powered steering needs only 2 turns from lock to lock and recenters itself; the suspension lifts the body to its working height a few seconds after startup. Robert Opron's shape tapers toward the tail, and European cars carry 6 lamps behind a shared glass cover. It is not quick away from a light. Across a continent, few cars of its day came close.

That talent for distance drew a glamorous clientele, from heads of state to the composers behind the Star Wars and James Bond scores, and a near-standard SM won the brutal 1971 Rallye du Maroc at its first attempt. The same ambition undid it. Owners needed a hydraulics expert and a Maserati expert, often in countries that had neither; Citroën went bankrupt in 1974; and American bumper rules had no answer for a car whose ride height moved. Peugeot ended it in 1975, but its steering, transaxle and engine lived on elsewhere.