(Thu 11 Mar 10)

Forty years ago today, at the Geneva Show on 11 March 1970, Citroen unveiled one of the most dramatic cars in its history.

Like that of the earlier DS, the SM's design was so futuristic that it still looks radical today (just compare it with other cars introduced round about 1970). It was also, for its time, very powerful, thanks to the presence under the bonnet of a V6 engine designed by Maserati, which had come under Citroen ownership two years earlier. In three-litre form (though it was introduced as a 2.7) this engine produced 180bhp - that does not seem exceptional now, but it was not until the XM 3.0 V6 24v was introduced that Citroen put a more powerful car on sale.

As well as being a very fast road car, the SM had a competition history. It won the 1971 Moroccan Rally, and a shortened version was developed for circuit racing.

Citroen went bankrupt in 1974 and was saved by Peugeot, which divested itself of Maserati and canned production of the SM after around 12,000 examples had been built.

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