Citroën SM ‘The Rig’: 1972 Citroën SM land speed record car 1973 Citroën

Citroën SM ‘The Rig’: 1972 Citroën SM land speed record car 1973 Citroën SM pick-up and trailer - An exceptional trio, technically unrivalled and quite unique - The fastest SM in the world: 325.58km/h (202.31mph)! - The star of any classic car meeting - A unique set of vehicles of great historic value Citroën SM ‘The Rig’: 1972 Citroën SM land speed record car 1973 Citroën SM pick-up and trailer Jerry Hathaway became famous throughout the world for the records he set with a Citroën SM, and it is the actual combination of the record-setting car and the trailer he built to transport it, known as ‘The Rig’, that we are offering for sale. A suspension specialist employed at the start of the 1970s by a Buick dealer in California, Hathaway was fascinated by the Citroën SM from the day it came out, with its sophisticated engineering, extraordinary streamlined shape and Maserati engine. The SM enjoyed decent sales in the United States and in 1976 (three years after sales of the model came to an end in the US), Hathaway decided to devote himself entirely to the SM and set up the company SM World Ltd, after buying the stock of parts from the Citroën dealer he had been working for. He thus became the American specialist for the SM, whose owners came to him for parts, repairs or modifications. One of his friends, John McKibben, formerly a regular visitor to the Bonneville Salt Flats and the record meetings held there, remarked one day that the SM, with its particularly efficient aerodynamics, would surely make an excellent record car. Hathaway was persuaded and set about building a special SM, starting from a damaged example. The car was repaired, stripped of everything unnecessary and lowered, while the Maserati engine was tuned to produce about 250bhp. With this first prototype, Hathaway reached a speed of 151.2mph (243.33km/h) at Bonneville in 1979, setting the new record in the F/ALT class, followed in 1980 by the record in the F/GC class. But that was not enough for Hathaway, who decided to fit a Garrett turbocharger to the Maserati V6, and on 19 August 1985, he broke the 200mph barrier, with a speed of 200.002mph (321.87km/h). Two years later, on 29 August 1987, his wife Sylvia did even better, at 202.31mph (325.58km/h), making Jerry and Sylvia Hathaway one of only three married couples to exceed 200mph. To transport his car, Hathaway used a conventional pick-up and flatbed trailer, and one day these were stolen. To replace them, he decided to build a unique rig that would be worthy of his special SM. He converted an SM into a pick-up by modifying the rear of the car, then built a twin-axle trailer from scratch, which he fitted with Citroën hydropneumatic suspension, allowing the bed to be lowered to make it easier to load and unload. To do so, he used a system with nine spheres and a hydraulic pump controlled by an electric motor, and connected the trailer to the pick-up by means of a rigid drawbar. It made for a spectacular combination, successful in appearance and genuinely effective technically. Given the name ‘The Rig’, this amazing set-up was subsequently displayed to the public on several occasions, including at the Petersen and Mullin museums in the US and even – just for the land speed record car – at Rétromobile in Paris in 2003. Hathaway also received a special award from Citroën for his exceptional contribution to the marque. So when, in January 2021, ‘The Rig’ came up for sale at auction, Thierry Dehaeck, who shared with Hathaway a true passion for Citroën, jumped at the opportunity to buy it. The different vehicles were in running order, although the trailer needed a complete restoration, and the trio could then join Dehaeck’s collection of exceptional SMs and special-bodied models – the Mylord cabriolet, Espace convertible and Opéra saloon – before taking part in various concours events, including Villa d’Este. ‘The Rig’ will be supplied with a huge history file containing a wealth of documents, including many period photographs, the speed record certificates, a FIVA ID card, numerous articles in the international press, the multiple awards it received at international concours and archive videos from the salt flats. An exceptionally coherent ensemble, with the three vehicles sharing the same technology, ‘The Rig’ was built by a man with a passion for Citroën and a complete understanding of the marque. The doors of any historic event will be thrown open to it, where it is sure to be one of the undisputed stars. Citroën SM Pick-up: We invite potential bidders to contact the relevant authorities in the country of destination to find out about the possibilities for registering this vehicle

Estimate:£210,797

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