ID car on TV Show

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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.)

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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!

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

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

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.

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Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

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

they sure are spectacularly out of my price range.

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Here is another one.:eek2:
Citroen SM 3.0 V6 Coupe (LHD) Auctions - Lot 177 - Shannons

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Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

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!

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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.

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.

Would that be Maxims at Bowen Hills?

Yep, Maxim Motors owned by Jimmy Rediex.