The Citroën SM is sleek, beautiful, a little bit bonkers and, with a raucous Maserati engine under the bonnet, undeniably very cool. The fact the example that’s set to go under the hammer at Bonhams’ Festival of Speed auction on 26 June currently belongs to founding member and bassist of the Rolling Stones, Bill Wyman, makes it doubly so. It’s expected to sell for between £35-45,000, and it isn’t the only prize from the rocker's collection to be put up for sale: the SM is joined by a 1966 Mercedes-Benz 250S, which is estimated at £20-25,000.
Both cars were used extensively by the musician in period, being driven to international recording studios during the making of the albums Beggars Banquet, Exile on Main Street, Let it Bleed and Tattoo You.
“I had the very first Mercedes that featured blacked-out windows,” said Wyman. “Everyone was getting black windows: Mick Jagger and Brian Jones did on their Minis. Mercedes has never done black windows though, so I had to contribute to the research on how to make them. It cost me about £350. Then of course, I got stopped all the time. The police usually just wanted to see who was in it.
“From 1966 to 1969 I used the car to travel around London and to Olympic Studios where we were recording Beggars Banquet and Let it Bleed. When we weren’t in the studio or touring, I drove it around England with my camera, taking photos.
