1973 Citroen SM GT Coupe
After six years of production (begun in 1969) only 12,920 SMs had been built, and not surprisingly, there was no replacement. Citroen was never one to follow conventional wisdom. Remember the Traction Avant with it's front-wheel drive, the spartan 2cv with it's, uh, uniqueness? What could the car-buying public expect from a company that was confused and being run by bean counters, Peugeot, and Maserati. Now there is strong leadership. The world would be less exciting without the likes of Citroen? The SM has Citroen's hydra-pneumatic suspension, inboard front disc brakes, front-wheel drive, swivel headlamps, and an odd power steering set up that required drivers to rethink their steering input choices.

The Maserati-derived 2.7L 60 degree V6 was a packaging marvel, though prone to timing chain nightmares. The engine weighed merely 309lbs. and gave 170bhp. and lb.-ft of torque. Top speed was reported to be 137mph, though reports of valve bounce at high revs would tend to keeps speed runs to a minimum.

Thanks to Gene Lynch for kindly providing history and facts about the SM and Citroen.