1972 Citroën SM
The goal of this restoration is not to get a new SM or a “concourse condition” one, my budget is not big enough for that, but to get a nice looking car, which runs and drives well, and which I will be able to use on a regular basis without troubles. And to achieve this goal, I plan many years of work, often very exciting but also boring some times.
Here is the picture presenting this car in a classified add I saw on the web site of a local antique car club in May 2003. The car seems pretty nice on this picture but, in fact, she’s in very bad shape.
Septembre 2024 update:
I don’t have enough motivation to continue this restoration project so I’m selling this car. The body work has been done and very well done by an experimented professionnal so this is a key element that could accelerate a lot your SM restoration project. The engine has been checked (but not rebuilt to new condition), a lot of parts have been restored, a lot of other parts are brand new, and everything is included in the sale. However, note that the resin wheels are instaled on my other SM so they are not part of the sale.
The asked price is 40 000 $ (canadian dollars).
If you are interested in taking over this project, contact me using the email address indicated on the home page of this site.
Main characteristics
- Manufacturing date : May 1972
- Version : SM, Canada
- Serial number : 00SB9282 + 00SB5923 (2 bodies)
- Mileage : Unknown!
- Body color : “Sable métallisé”
- Upholstery : Black leather
- Engine : Maserati V6, 2.7 liters
- Engine type : C114/1
- Engine serial number : 200.406
- Supply : 3 Weber 42DCNF carburetors
- Gearbox : 5-speed manual
- Options : Michelin RR (Résine Renforcée) rims, air conditioning, tinted windows, radio
Color codes
- Body : “Sable métallisé” AC 318
- Body, base color : grey AC 092
- Hydraulic parts : green AC 502
- Front grill : “Gris nacré” AC 095
- Various metal sheet parts : “Brun chocolat” RAL 8017 or black AC 200 / RAL 9005
The car in its initial condition
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The car globally doesn’t look too bad but there is some rust
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Dots visible on this picture are tree leafs stuck onto the paint!
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The car stayed here for a few years, and the canadian winter did his job
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A reasonable person should run away when seeing that!
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It’s globally not too bad
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Leather seats are in pretty good shape, even if they seem not very nice on these pictures
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The interior of the trunk is in pretty good shape but the spare tire cover is missing
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Steering wheel, dashboard and center console are in good shape
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It’s not beautiful, but not too bad either
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The car has not been used for years but it seems not too rusty
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It’s oily everywhere, that’s good, it’s supposed to protect against rust
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A lot of tree leafs!
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The visible hydraulic devices seem in descent condition
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There is still hydraulic fluid but it’s more black than green!
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That’s almost all we can see from the underbody when the hydraulic system is not operational
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Hydraulic leak, water leak or both? Probably both, and even more 😉
Posts related to this car
SM: The body work is DONE!
FINALLY! The body work is done. The car stayed at the body shop for 3 years. Well, I already told you, I didn't push a lot to speed-up the process because the faster it goes, the faster the bills come too 🙂 I went to the body shop during fall 2021, it was done....
SM: The body work is progressing well
More than one year since the last publication about this body work so a lot of things happened and we made good progress. You'll understand that my the body shop doesn't work exclusively on the SM so it's not progressing very fast but this is better that way because...
SM: Restoration restarts !
Restoration restarts, after a pause of more than 6 years! I'm hearing you saying "it's about time" and you are absolutely right 😉 In 2018 I called again the specialist who made the previous body work on this car, Gilles Lemay (www.garagegilleslemay.com), because I'm...
SM: The body is back
I finally picked-up the car in April because I had to wait for clean and dry roads because in Canada we don't have a choice, we have to deal with the winter conditions. I'm very happy with the result of this work but of course I'm also disappointed that it was not...
SM: End of the body work session
In February 2011, work is almost done, I just have to put the wheels back onto the body and get it back home. This time it was mainly about finishing work. Here are some pictures:Here is the end of an important step in this restoration but unfortunately everything has...
SM: New body work session, continued
In September 2009, I went to the "Art and the automobile" event in Here is more progress, at the end of the year 2010. This is about sandblasting and metal work. I' happy with the progress and I'm also happy to have decided to have the body sandblasted because, as...
SM: New body work session
Time after time, I have discovered more and more defects on the body. I had to admit the truth, the work done previously on this body is bad: bad preparation before painting, bad paint, rust marks and metal work not trustable. During summer of 2010, I call a new body...
SM: Bad news from the body shop
During April 2008, as planned, my sheet metal specialist calls me but not to tell me that both fenders and the door are ready, he rather tells me that he did almost nothing on these parts and he will not be able to do anything in the future. Cool! He just took time to...
SM: Preparation for the body work
2007 has been pretty calm for this restoration because I've been mainly busy on my other SM. But I gave the fenders and the driver side door to a sheet metal specialist and he offered me to find other fenders and doors, which he did. I don't have pictures for now, but...
SM: Engine conditioning
At the end of 2007, I decide to close every possible circuit and put oil everywhere to keep the engine in good condition, because I'm far to be ready to put it back in the car 😉
SM: New parts
Here is my stock of new parts, ordered mainly from the french SM Club and from Western Hemispheres, an american supplier specialized in parts for old european cars. Some parts have also been bought during the Saratoga Springs Rendezvous in 2006.
SM: Zinc plating
When you spend hours browsing over web sites from amateurs or professional car restorers, you get some very useful information. One of this information is about zinc-plating. Many parts are originally "yellow" zinc-plated on the SM, even if on my particular car, the...
SM: The engine is back
By January 2007, I bring back the engine to my garage, the mechanical work is completed.It's a big step forward for this restoration. The engine was supposed to be in good shape and it's now pretty much confirmed, I didn't have so much bad news. I was lucky to know...
SM: Engine checkout
By December 2006, mechanical work on the engine finally begins. Here are the only pictures I had the opportunity to take during this work, engine heads have been removed and sent to a specialist.As planned, there were some bad news: 2 camshafts, 6 valve tappets and 3...
SM: A brand new door
During September 2006, I see someone having 2 fenders and 2 doors, but they are not in better shape than mine. Here is a first track to forget. During November 2006, I do a very interesting finding, a brand new door! I didn't think I would find such a rare part here...
SM: Status of the body work
During summer 2006, I didn't work so much on the car but I did a lot of thinking and I took an important decision! Because there are some defects on the body, I decided to give it to a professional body shop. The important decision is that while having the body in a...
SM: Status of parts
Here is the result of my paint and restoration work for the past months. It gives an idea of the overall progress.
SM: Bad sights on the new body
Before reassembling, I do a general cleaning. Unfortunately, it's the occasion to discover some defects:So this body still needs some work, mainly on the engine compartment. I don't know yet if I'll do some touch up or if I'll decide to repaint the whole engine...
SM: Arrival of the new body
An important step is done, the body arrives in Montreal. It's now in my garage. This restoration is supposed to be now in the reassembling phase. I say "supposed" because I still have a lot of work to do on parts to reassemble.
SM: Final preparation of the body for transportation
The body is waiting for a container. It's brought to a shipping company in Marseille. Again a few waiting days, the container should be in Montreal on March 1st.
SM: Body preparation for transportation
When the body shop completes its work, the body is brought back to my father's home. It will stay here to wait for its shipping over the Atlantic ocean. Front and rear half axles still have to be back to obtain a rolling body. My father works on these half axles and...