Here we present a SM that is the standard to be judged by. Located in Cannes, France it was advertised for sale on October 12, 2021 at an asking price of 170.000 € and sold within 1 day! (We had the inside track that it was coming up for sale.)
This SM was restored over a rust free donor by Crescia SA in Switzerland in 2019. Crescia has restored only 6 SM Coupes, some SM Opera & SM Mylord and is noted for making the third SM Présidentielle that you can see here on Citroënvie. Crescia SA has won 3 cups at Pebble Beach Concours with restored Chapron models.
As Crescia only restores strong rust-free and untouched cars, the owner had to first find the right one. He spent a long time and many visits to France before buying a 109,300 km original SM IE 5-speed, built in 03/1975, for 40.000 €. Then the Crescia restoration cost 152.000 CHFrancs (about 140.000€ today).
The engine was rebuilt to new specs. A new interior was fitted, (with the right type of leather for DS & SM — so many interiors are redone with wrong leather). And a very high quality paint job was executed on a body that is perfectly straight and with zero gap errors! A stainless steel exhaust system was installed and the SM was fitted with the correct (and expensive) Michelin XWX tires.
Since restoration was completed at the end of 2019, it has traveled just 1.500 km and gone for its first service in July 2021. (The car traveled from Cannes to Crescia and back in an enclosed trailer.)
Original SM booklets also come with the car as well as previous French paperwork from both owners. (It’s always better to have car full history and original booklets.)
Although the restoration seems to be very well executed, there are a few things that caught our eye;
- A 3.00 € plug to cover the lower left front fender guide is missing You can see that in the photo where the driver’s door is open.
- The under-spray sealant was done to the bottom on the car, but not in the cavities above the rear suspension mounts. Something one could correct is 5 minutes (and properly weather seal) with the car on a hoist and a can of pick-up truck bed spray, but it makes us wonder why that was left exposed?
- The electric radio antenna is not the original type. (Original SM antenna’s were very fragile and get seized quickly without regular oil servicing.) The antenna on the car now was on the car when it was purchased for restoration.
Small points to quibble about, but noted as this may be a concours winning SM, but it is also a record price for a production model SM coupe as far as we know. And as the 2nd owner sought to have it be as original as possible, it does not have some of the modifications that go beyond original spec; such as doing mods in engine tuning, incorporating activa suspension, headlight enhancements (having an additional setting for all 6 operate simultaneously), new alloy/aluminum wheels that emulate the resin option rims originally offered, and so on.
All in all though, it is an impressive example and one that the new owner will no doubt be displaying at a few Concours shows.
If you would like to own an SM of exceptional calibre, contact us. We were instrumental in the sale of this restored one.
A 3.00 € plug to cover the lower left front fender guide is missing!
Shame on the person offering it 4 sale.