Citroën m35

The car was completely decorated with double headlights, spoilers and a souped-up X2 engine with fast camshafts and a tuned flywheel. I even experimented with 4! 2CV carburettors. It was a monster and the tachometer regularly went far into the red without any problems. I lent the car to my brother who had just gotten his driver's license and parked her against a pole in the first bend. Exit baby blue GS.

In the street where I lived she suddenly appeared, out of nowhere... fresh from France and smelling of heat and burnt oil, a GS Birotor! I had to have that. We have worn out many happy and unhappy kilometers much faster than my baby blue and above all much thirstier.

I met a collector at a fair; rumor had it that he had a whole collection of GS Birotors and especially M35s! After a bit of nagging he let me buy one, a running copy, and after some tinkering and a lot of nagging at the RDW I was able to drive No.419. What a party!

At that time I often visited a garage friend in the north of the country who also had an M35 on a platform with a fixed engine, No.414.

His plan to completely restore her had not come to fruition and he asked me to take her over.
What should I do with two M35s? so i said no. A month later he called me again and asked me again to take over the M35. The price had dropped significantly and I got the idea to rebuild the X2 engine and install it in that car and I said yes.

I have had great pleasure rebuilding the X2 engine with a 1130 crankshaft that can have more rpm.
Initially I thought I would just convert the M35, but that turned out to be a mistake. I had decided not to weld, drill or do other non-reversible things to the M35, as it had to be able to be built back into a real M35.

The GS engine is a lot wider than the Wankel engine, so first we looked for Ami Super inner screens and mounted manifolds from an Axel. They are a lot smaller, an exhaust was made because the one on the Ami Super does not fit due to the hydraulic lines. A 2nd type GS gearbox because of the larger brakes and a clutch housing from an Ami Super to save some length.

The Wankel engine is mounted on the chassis just like a 2CV engine, the GS is supported in the middle under the clutch housing, so a support had to be made for it without welding or screwing. In the end I clamped two beams between the chassis and attached the engine mounts to them.
A shifting mechanism made by bending a piece of rebar into the correct shape and welding it to the existing shifting lever of the GS box.

Other exhaust clamps mounted on the hotspot pipes because they rattled against the inner screens and many smaller adjustments. When it was finally done the hood couldn't close, the engine was too high! It couldn't be lower because even with the Axel exhaust manifolds the engine doesn't fit between the chassis. I milled a few centimeters away from the inlet hotspot and then it could just be closed. Off to the RDW for much more whining, getting angry, writing to the RDW director with the other M35, and by God's grace I got a license plate. Driving is a pleasure, especially because the X2 hangs so well on the gas, but the noise of the GS engine is significantly more than the Wankel engine.

So when I feel like being a youngster I roar in the M Super and when I want to enjoy an M in a timid manner I take the 35!