And now for something Frenchly different, found and posted by Guillaume Vachey at the CC Cohort. It’s just the thing for those who need a car carrier and find a trailer set up just too common: A customized Citroën SM, prepared for auto carrier duty by French Carrosserie Pierre Tissier. The ultimate mix of French luxury, Italian power (via Maserati), and utility you probably didn’t know existed.
I would think that Citroën’s notorious high-performance luxury Grand Tourer of the early 1970s, the SM, needs no introduction. Like all things Citroën, the model was stuffed with the company’s renowned unconventional engineering solutions; great aerodynamics, hydro-pneumatic self-leveling suspension, extraordinarily efficient disc brakes, and variable assist steering power. That, and much more. No less relevant, power came via a 2.7L DOHC V6 Maserati engine. Output was 176HP, which, along with the car’s FWD setup, offered luxurious top-notch cruising.
All so impressive that, unusual for a foreign model, it won Motor Trend’s 1972 COTY award. Naturally, the SM’s ups and downs have been covered in far greater detail at CC before.
So, what’s the story with today’s car carrier?
Enter, at this point, Monsieur Pierre Tissier. A Panhard dealer and car salesman in late ’60s France, M. Tissier often carried vehicles across European borders for his auto dealings. Tired of the plain cabins of utility vehicles of the day, he eventually built a custom Citroën DS auto transport. The creation provided his ideal mix of comfort, speed, and utility.
The 1972 eight-wheeled creation was no mere hatch job, as he retained the DS’s hydro-pneumatic and braking power capabilities in the aft section. The upgrades got their own patents, and thus, M. Tissier started his own Carrosiere; ADTP (The Application Process Tissier). About 35 of the DS “centipedes” were eventually built, of which 33 are supposedly still around (!). That, along with other Citroën based adaptations based mostly on DS and CX models, from ambulances to other utility vehicles.
The 1977 SM adaptation is among the rarest. Originally built at the request of a special client, and for which an additional axle was needed. Unlike the DS adaptations, I didn’t manage to track down production figures for the SM transports, but they had to be in the single digits.
(Update: It was the only SM Tissier built. A one of a kind creation, abandoned for many years, rediscovered in 1996, and restored fully afterwards.)
Naturally, as car transport cruiser, the SM was even plusher than the earlier DS ones. Something easily seen in this Wiki sourced image of the SM cabin.
Numbers may be low for the SMs, but Tissiers have a devoted following. As they should; they embody the qualities that seem so fascinating about French cars. In the case of this carrier, that means a mix of comfort, innovation, and plain eccentricity.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1974 Citröen SM Automatique – Franco-Italian Sado-Masochism
Curbside Classic: 1972 Citröen SM – Grand Touring, Franco Italian Style
Perhaps official vehicles of the Ministry of Silly Walks?
Is it safe to Assume for an uneducated American that these are front wheel drive vehicles? I love the concept of these haulers as they are so low and streamlined.
It gets even better.
Nice. The gigantic truck guys here is the states would have their minds blown with a gooseneck citröen.
Most interesting but would not want to climb a slippery road while laden
Why?
Weight distribution?
Not only, this particular car is unique. It’s the only SM Tissier to have been built ! Abandoned for many years and rediscovered in 1996, it was entirely restored during more than 10 years and back on the road for the Epoqu’auto Auto show in 2021, where I took this picture. Thanks very much to post my pictures on Curbside, I really appreciate and I have still a ton to post on Flickr, from Europe but also from Japan.
Thanks for clearing that up. One of the sources I checked seemed to say that, but the Google translation was somewhat poor. I’ll add that detail to the post.
I’m most familiar with the CX based Loadrunner, which initially had a van body for newspaper delivery but was immediately available as a car carrier, and one mobile bordello of a camper sponsored by Hustler or Playboy.
An interesting feature is the ability to lower the load deck, since Tissier retained the hydropneumatic suspension system.
Very clever suspension in those cars, that Citroen never stopped upgrading
So strange
So very French and Italian
So unique
So Citroen!