1973 Citroen SM Coupe

The SM is the symbol of demise of Citroën as an independent company. It is also the story of corporate management embracing the “bigger is better” theory, and the engineering department wanting to make a better and more sophisticated car, but ending up with something that was just more complex, less reliable and infinitely more expensive than the models it already had.

In the late ’60s, Citroën, at last freed from family control, embarked on a buying spree: It acquired Panhard, Berliet (trucks, tanks and such) and Simca’s factory near Paris, built a huge (and very costly) new factory and formed a joint holding company with Fiat, which among other things gave it the ownership of proud (but financially weak) Maserati.

If this was not enough, a joint venture with NSU was formed to develop the Wankel engine. All of this was made possible with funds from Michelin (a long-time Citroën backer and an investor in the stock of the new joint holding...