No registration document

- Interesting history
- Extremely rare prototype
- Nice state of preservation

In the 1960s, Citroën, a major French manufacturer, wanted to establish its dominance. In 1965 the historic firm of the "quai de Javel" took control of Panhard, in the hope of using its skills and, above all, its industrial tool, since the oldest of the French brands disappeared two years later. In 1968, the firm with the “double chevrons” bought the Italian sports car manufacturer Maserati, and produced the SM, which arrived in a bad economic climate. The Trident brand was sold to Alejandro de Tomaso in 1975. But in 1967, Citroën's finances were still good, so its managers signed a partnership with the German NSU to build rotor Wankel engines. In 1969, NSU went bankrupt and was bought by Volkswagen for a few marks, and the French manufacturer was forced to continue the Wankel adventure alone. To confirm its strategic choices, Citroën decided to fit its 995 cc, 49 bhp Comotor engine in a prototype built on the basis of the Ami 8 by the coachbuilder Heuliez, with a very futuristic 2-door coupé body with a fastback rear end and an in-house hydropneumatic suspension. Citroën decided to build 500 prototypes, and to entrust them to its most loyal customers for long-term testing, in order to test this engine in real use and decide on its mass production. The rotary engine proved to be very efficient, revving up so easily that it was necessary to install an alarm when the engine speed exceeded 7,000 rpm. On the other hand, it is unreliable and difficult to start. The result was so disappointing that Citroën recalled the M35s to destroy them and avoid bad publicity. Of the 500 M35s that Citroën claimed to have built (each car had a number written on the wing to validate this figure), it would seem that only 267 were actually built. And only about thirty of them would have survived until today, having miraculously escaped the scrap heap.
The M35, chassis number 00 EA 0061, was offered to Mr H., a very good customer of the brand, in the early 1970's, perhaps at the very moment when the cars were recalled for destruction, as he took delivery of it at the Citroën factory in Aulnay, and was given it... without a registration document. He was even stopped by the maréchaussée, more intrigued by the vehicle than by its papers, when he returned to his native Maine-et-Loire. When he arrived at his destination, Mr. H. put the M35 back in a shed, where it was not brought out until May 2021, after fifty years of sleep. The car, although stored in less than optimal conditions, reveals itself to us in a rather incredible state, with a particularly sound body (in its own metallic grey colour), chassis and interior (including the superb seats, reminiscent of the SM). The car was placed on the ground because of a non-functioning hydropneumatic suspension, and some parts, including the exhaust, have suffered from the ravages of time. The specific sticker stating that " Ce prototype M35 à moteur à piston rotatif est en essai longue durée entre les mains d’un client Citroën " is still present on the rear window. For practical purposes, new tyres have been fitted since the catalogue photos, and the car cleaned.

This car will be sold by auction by AGUTTES Auction House, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, on June the 20th, 2021.
The digital catalog is available by the following link
https://www.aguttes.com/en/catalog/113642?

Please contact us for any further details.
[email protected]
+33 147 459 301
+ 33 668 362 622