ID car on TV Show

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Can anyone identify the car in the background of the screenshot that looks like an updated version of the 1970s Citroen where you could take one of the rear wheels off and the car could still be driven. The screen shot was taken off the show McDonald and Dodds Series 2 Episode 3 The War of the Rose at the 1:24:03 minute mark. The car did appear a couple of times earlier in the show. Accessed via Seven Plus which screened on Seven 2 on Thursday night..

Kind regards
Lionel

[V8Ian]

Citroen SM, Lionel.

[JDNSW]

Undoubtedly an SM. As far as i know, the only six headlight car.

[Lionelgee]

Hello Ian and John,

Thank you for identifying the car. I did not realise that the SM also dated back to the 1970s. I thought it might have been one of those VW and Mini modernised versions of a classic car. Neither of which have the character of the cars they were originally modelled off.

Kind regards
Lionel

[DoubleChevron]

Hello Ian and John,

Thank you for identifying the car. I did not realise that the SM also dated back to the 1970s. I thought it might have been one of those VW and Mini modernised versions of a classic car. Neither of which have the character of the cars they were originally modelled off.

Kind regards
Lionel

Look it up .... Citroen purchased maserati and had them build a quad cam, triple carby V6 ... that was fitted into the equivelant of a "DS" coupe. Sadly starting to be worth big $$$ so waaaaayyyyy out of my price range :(

The maserati Khansim and merak have quite a bit of "citroen" in them as they were owned by citroen at the time.

[JDNSW]

At the time the SM was introduced I was a regular customer of New Deal Motors in Melbourne with my !D wagon, and discussed it with him. At one stage he had one in the workshop that I looked at.

Unfortunately they were introduced just in time for the 1973 oil shock, and especially in France, their home market, high performance cars abruptly ceased to be seen as desirable. As I remember it, one of the issues with selling them in Australia was that the engine bay layout made RHD almost impossible. Hardly surprising when you shoehorn a V6 into an engine bay designed for a four.

The result was that their production were very short lived.

[DoubleChevron]

At the time the SM was introduced I was a regular customer of New Deal Motors in Melbourne with my !D wagon, and discussed it with him. At one stage he had one in the workshop that I looked at.

Unfortunately they were introduced just in time for the 1973 oil shock, and especially in France, their home market, high performance cars abruptly ceased to be seen as desirable. As I remember it, one of the issues with selling them in Australia was that the engine bay layout made RHD almost impossible. Hardly surprising when you shoehorn a V6 into an engine bay designed for a four.

The result was that their production were very short lived.

For a quite a few years we had a specialised "Citroen SM" restoration company in australia. So there is a decent number of really nicely restored Citroen SMs in Australia. They did really high end restorations (most seemed to be american imports ... so didn't have the turning headlights and automatics).

carsales.com.au (https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1973-citroen-sm-manual/SSE-AD-13197826/?Cr=0)

they sure are spectacularly out of my price range.

[V8Ian]

A mate of mine did his apprenticeship at the Brisbane dealership, the owner also being the Australian distributor.
The DS and SM did not comply with our ADRs.
Part of my mate's job was to make them compliant. This involved changing the headlight bulbs and fitting anti-intrusion bars to the doors, amongst other things.

[Don 130]

For a quite a few years we had a specialised "Citroen SM" restoration company in australia. So there is a decent number of really nicely restored Citroen SMs in Australia. They did really high end restorations (most seemed to be american imports ... so didn't have the turning headlights and automatics).

carsales.com.au (https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1973-citroen-sm-manual/SSE-AD-13197826/?Cr=0)

they sure are spectacularly out of my price range.

1973 and still looks spectacular.
Don

[V8Ian]

1973 and still looks spectacular.
Don
As did the futuristic ID, on its release.

[JDNSW]

A mate of mine did his apprenticeship at the Brisbane dealership, the owner also being the Australian distributor.
The DS and SM did not comply with our ADRs.
Part of my mate's job was to make them compliant. This involved changing the headlight bulbs and fitting anti-intrusion bars to the doors, amongst other things.

For a design that hit the market in 1955 the modifications to meet the mid 1970s design rules were minimal. The only structural changes were the side intrusion bars. Headlight bulbs would have been changed to dip left I expect. (In the 1960s the DS had better headlights than any other car on the Australian market, and by late 1960s low beam was self-levelling and high beam turned into corners.)

It would have been necessary to fit ADR compliant seat belts - the English or french ones would not have been approved. And probably the unique Australian child restraints.

The DS was, as far as I know, the first car sold in Australia (and probably the first in the world) with a steering column which collapsed when the driver hit it, and the first with a deliberately designed controlled collapse rat front end.

They would also have been the first Australian built car with dual circuit disc brakes. (Many may not be aware that the DS and its variants were assembled in Australia in the 1960s.)

[DoubleChevron]

A mate of mine did his apprenticeship at the Brisbane dealership, the owner also being the Australian distributor.
The DS and SM did not comply with our ADRs.
Part of my mate's job was to make them compliant. This involved changing the headlight bulbs and fitting anti-intrusion bars to the doors, amongst other things.

Probably CX. I can't remember ever seeing a DS door with an intrusion bar in it. There would be little point (much like a 2cv) as there isn't the strength in the pillars to take impact forces. The big box sections you step over to get into the car would offer considerable protection against cars of its era (not the modern jacked up 4wds obviously). There is nothing much in a DS's structure if pull it apart. All the strength is the "hull"/chassis unit. All the doors and panels just bolt on. If you remove the glass from a door, they weigh the best side of nothing!

[3toes]

Am wondering if there was some kind of rule where if your sales were under a threshold done safety requirements were waived?

Brother had a Lancia Hpe. (Spelling prediction had hope for Hpe and was insistent it was correct when changing it back). Yes even in Australia they rusted badly. Did they ship them out as deck cargo? Certainly seemed to be factory fit not an optional extra

When we had the door cards off chasing some fault could not see any side bars in the doors. Commented on it at the time as seemed to be missing

[V8Ian]

They probably were missing, afterall, it was just Fiat with a tertiary education. [wink11]

[JDNSW]

I think for some cars the side intrusion, and some other bits were grandfathered - i.e., existing models could be continued but not updated without meeting the new ADRs for a few years, but any update or new model had to meet them. Did not apply to things like lighting etc.

[Larry]

For a quite a few years we had a specialised "Citroen SM" restoration company in australia. So there is a decent number of really nicely restored Citroen SMs in Australia. They did really high end restorations (most seemed to be american imports ... so didn't have the turning headlights and automatics).

carsales.com.au (https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1973-citroen-sm-manual/SSE-AD-13197826/?Cr=0)

they sure are spectacularly out of my price range.

Here is another one.:eek2:
Citroen SM 3.0 V6 Coupe (LHD) Auctions - Lot 177 - Shannons (https://www.shannons.com.au/auctions/2022-shannons-spring-timed-online-auction/U25L76CF8VFFJBYF/)

[V8Ian]

Probably CX. I can't remember ever seeing a DS door with an intrusion bar in it. There would be little point (much like a 2cv) as there isn't the strength in the pillars to take impact forces. The big box sections you step over to get into the car would offer considerable protection against cars of its era (not the modern jacked up 4wds obviously). There is nothing much in a DS's structure if pull it apart. All the strength is the "hull"/chassis unit. All the doors and panels just bolt on. If you remove the glass from a door, they weigh the best side of nothing!
Following consultation with my mate, he has confirmed that you are right Shayne. Indeed, they were CXs; intrusion bars, yellow headlight globes and a handful of other items which he no longer recalls, were the items requiring modification to meet ADRs.

He also stated that no more than half a dozen SMs were officially imported, each of which were converted to RHD in Brisbane.
As an apprentice, he was involved in the conversions, the first of which he managed to make his name mud. During the first conversion, the engine had been removed and all the electrical, hydraulic and other connections had been tagged. My mate was tasked with cleaning the engine bay, in preparation for cutting and welding of the firewall. He did such a good job, with a steam cleaner, that he removed all identification from every tag.

[JDNSW]

Remind me the name of that company - I am sure I had dealings with them with my brother's ID19 Safari in the late sixties.

[3toes]

Would that be Maxims at Bowen Hills?

[V8Ian]

Yep, Maxim Motors owned by Jimmy Rediex.

[JDNSW]

Yes! Thanks for the reminder - and what was Jimmy's brother's name? And are they still going?

That was a long time ago - I left Brisbane in 1971, although I had not actually been there for more than a few days at a time from mid '69 to mid '70.

[V8Ian]

Yes! Thanks for the reminder - and what was Jimmy's brother's name? And are they still going?

That was a long time ago - I left Brisbane in 1971, although I had not actually been there for more than a few days at a time from mid '69 to mid '70.
Bob, he was in charge of the RHD conversions and did a lot of the work on the rally cars.

[V8Ian]

Just for you, Lionel.

https://youtu.be/4MtVkaJgc10

[Lionelgee]

Just for you, Lionel.

https://youtu.be/4MtVkaJgc10

Hello Ian,

Thank you for the very nice birthday present - a virtual ride in a very classy car! I just clocked 60 on the odometer today.

Kind regards
Lionel

[V8Ian]

Happy birthday, mate.

[Tins]

Always lusted after one of those things. Not to drive, you wouldn't drive it, but it's one of the greatest pieces of car porn ever made.

[Tins]

that the engine bay layout made RHD almost impossible. Hardly surprising when you shoehorn a V6 into an engine bay designed for a four.



Don't see why. After all, Lancia squeezed a Ferrari V8 into the Thema....

TIC. They weren't RHD either.