1974 Citroën SM V8: A Mystery No More Read more: http://www

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From Autoweek:

By: Marc Sonnery on 9/28/2010
The one-off SM V8 has been a historical mystery for Citroën enthusiasts. That is, until the answer came when interviewing Belgian race driver and journalist Paul Frère six months before he died. Once he said it all took place in Modena at Mas-erati and not in Paris at Citroën--then its mother company, something Citroën historians never considered--off to Modena it was to interview the old-timers of that era.

The 1973 oil crisis disastrously lowered sales of Maseratis and Citroën SMs, which had a 177-hp, 2.7-liter V6 initially, then a 3.0-liter, all assembled at Maserati, so the Modenese plant had to react quickly and cost-effectively. Enter the Bertone-designed Quattroporte II, befitting the era's Euro-pean social unrest. Essentially an SM platform with a sedan body, it was heavier than the SM and too slow for a Maserati. So in spring 1974, Citroën requested that Maserati develop a new engine with more oomph. Factory manager Guy Malleret, deeming the old V8 obsolete, ordered a new prototype V8. It was born from a Merak 3.0-liter V6 plus two cylinders--more precisely 2.5 cylinders from one block plus 1.5 cylinders from another identical block (per bank) welded to it, a 3,953-cc jewel.

As only a dozen QPIIs existed by then, the 10-centimeter-longer finished engine was shoehorned into an SM, in Rio red. It saw 11,000-plus miles of hard testing at the Modena and Monza autodromes, in a trip to Rome and in commuter use by engineer Giulio Alfieri, who, initially skeptical, really liked it. Then, in May 1975, came bankruptcy. Exit Citroën, enter Alejandro De Tomaso, who canceled the QPII and ordered the SM V8 prototype scrapped but its engine stored. Twenty-three years later, new Maserati management sold it to the Panini collection, which resold it to Ger-man collector Hermann Postert. In 2009, enthusiast Philip Kantor bought the engine as a tribute to his SM-loving late father.

In winter 2009, the engine was refitted, with difficulty, into an SM (also Rio red) by French SM guru Frédéric Daunat. After its premiere at Rétromobile, it was sorted, and a test drive was done. Fresh out of a normal SM, it felt like swapping the Orient Express for France's TGV bullet train. Power is up dramatically, to an estimated 270 to 280 hp, and torque is up from 170 to 250 lb-ft. The hydraulic sphere valves were adjusted, hardening the hydropneumatic suspension, and, driven smoothly, sacré bleu, it is superb, efficient and comfortable. Overtaking is a breeze, its hydraulic brakes easily coping.

Without the energy crisis, France, land of small engines, might have seen the SM V8 reach production and would again have had a bespoke grand tourisme to take on the world. This story is from Marc Sonnery's book Maserati: The Citroen Years 1968-1975, Parker House Publishing, due out in 2011.