Sacré Metal, Sacred Metal

AA series of articles on the SM compared to other GT's

Gran Turismo, in Italian, is probably the origin of the shortening GT. Very likely even, since it is generally believed that the Lancia Aurelia is the first true GT and that is an Italian car.
Wikipedia also states that the term Gran Turismo is of Italian origin. Well, Italian is a Latin language and then it can happen that in another Latin language the words are almost the same.
So in French it is Grand Tourisme. As the French were later with the concept, I think it is unlikely that the term was coined in France. It may just be that the French have a different look on the matter.
In English, GT stands for Grand Tourer. That expresses also just fine what a GT is about: more for fun than functional.

The Citroën SM Club is supporting the idea to write reviews of the SM against other GT's. Robin Visser started the series, Jan van Ekris is taking over now and in the future other club-members can add their reviews. It has to be a GT of the seventies, but exceptions can be made. Like for the early GT's that were already there in the sixties.

Furthermore, most GT's are hatchback coupes. A hatchback is a body shape where the driver's compartment is in 'open' connection with the trunk. The luggage compartment in these cars is not a separate enclosed trunk like in a sedan. in the definition is going too far. After all, there are quite a few GTs with a trunk anyway. Too many cars are typical GT's in other respects. One can think of a handful of cars with a Pininfarina body design that were actually angular and perhaps therefore have a real trunk.

We received a suggestion from one of the participants to include the Reliant Scimitar / Volvo 1800ES and the link or the De Tomaso Longchamps / Maserati Kyalami in the series. The former is more of a 'shooting brake' a, the latter a 'muscle car'. These are different concepts , but who knows we include them one day.

Car

1. AC 428

2. Alfa Romeo 2600 sprint Bertone

3. Alfa Romeo 2600 Zagato

4. Alfa Romeo Montreal

5. Alfa Romeo GTV 6

6. Aston Martin DBS/Vantage

7. BMW 3.0 CSI

8. Facel Vega II

9. Ferrari 365 GTC/4

10. Ferrari 400

11. Fiat Dino