Presented a year after the Mylord convertible at the Paris salon in 1972 this 4-door SM is another Henri Chapron creation. These cars where constructed starting from a complete SM which was cut in two parts. Then the body was stretched and a new rear end attached. The painting and interior where also done by Chapron.
The Opéra was first shown at the 1972 Paris Motor Show. It was based on the French government commission for two SM-based long-wheelbase Présidentielle convertible limousines to serve as President Georges Pompidou’s official cars. Citroën always produced just one SM body style — a LHD two-door fastback fixed head coupé. The order left coachbuilder Henri Chapron with the tooling for future four-door SM’s.
Only eight Opéras were produced between 1972 and 1974, of which 4 went to Spain. The extremely limited production of this exceptionally refined model made it one of the most exclusive and desirable of post-war Citroëns. The project was killed off because of Citroën’s bankruptcy in 1974. Each car was equipped with a Maserati V6 3.0 Liter engine that produced approx. 200 hp and a maximum speed of 200 km/h. (jalopnik.com, supercars.net, users.skynet.be)
Production version of the Citroën SM
The Opéra was first shown at the 1972 Paris Motor Show. It was based on the French government commission for two SM-based long-wheelbase Présidentielle convertible limousines to serve as President Georges Pompidou’s official cars. Citroën always produced just one SM body style — a LHD two-door fastback fixed head coupé. The order left coachbuilder Henri Chapron with the tooling for future four-door SM’s.
Only eight Opéras were produced between 1972 and 1974, of which 4 went to Spain. The extremely limited production of this exceptionally refined model made it one of the most exclusive and desirable of post-war Citroëns. The project was killed off because of Citroën’s bankruptcy in 1974. Each car was equipped with a Maserati V6 3.0 Liter engine that produced approx. 200 hp and a maximum speed of 200 km/h. (jalopnik.com, supercars.net, users.skynet.be)
Production version of the Citroën SM
(Photos from bonhams.com, flickr.com, supercars.net,
boldride.com, commons.wikimedia.org & yo.spc.free.fr)
boldride.com, commons.wikimedia.org & yo.spc.free.fr)