1973 Citroen SM review from North America

Brake accumulator - replaced.

Pressure regulator - replaced.

Cam chains and timing chain replaced - tend to break.

Jack shaft seal replaced twice - 1st time seal was damaged during installation causing the next fault.

All radiator hoses and sensors replaced, heater core and radiator boiled due to oil contamination from jack shaft seal. (My fault, not cars)

Original exhaust valves replaced - tend to break.

Rear wheel bearing replaced.

Spheres replaced 2 times - periodic replacement.

Voltage regulator quit

Alternator quit, both replaced with new style alternator with internal regulator.

Oil cooler lines replaced as a precaution.

Starter damaged by water, 25 years later because of rust, driving through flooded are in early 80,s - replaced (my fault, water was 4 feet deep, shouldn't have gone through it, but a credit to the car it made it with no problems at the time.

All in all not that many issues in 31 years of use!

This car is an engineering marvel; never seen anything quite like to this day and it was made in the early 70's.

The steering, breaking, and suspension are all controlled by a hydraulic pneumatic system.

The steering radius is tighter than a VW bug, and this car is 16 feet long.

Car has automatic centering steering, and steering wheel can be taken front tilt to tilt with 1 finger when car is running and sitting still.

The car can be driven on only 3 wheels.

The suspension is automatically leveling thus balancing out the car with uneven loads in it, or going around lots of tight corners.

Due to the hydraulic suspension you do not need a jack to remove any of the wheels.

It can do 149 miles an hour with 4 full grown adults in it.

It has headlights that rotate with the steering wheel when turning - European version.

The car's shape was designed in a wind tunnel thus giving it about the same drag coefficient of a Lamborghini Diablo.

I have NEVER got this car stuck in the snow and I live in Colorado. I have even got up hills I saw 4 wheel drive cars unable to get up.

This car may seem to other people that it is labor intensive, and by today’s car standards it may be, but I can tell you it is easier to work on than a Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW or Triumph because I have owned all 4 of those. If properly maintained, it is not unheard of to get more than 300k miles out of this car.