Jump to content

Citroën SM


Recommended Posts

The Citroën SM; one of those top iconic cars of the early 70's; built to eat the mileage over the continent  in good speed with superb comfort, using advanced French hydraulic technique with Italian V6 power from Maserati, all packed in that fantastic styling from the pen of Robert Opron. A glorious concept in its own right and well worth a good model to be built!

 

If you haven't met a Citroën SM, here is a youtube video from Ian Tyrrell.

 

Luckily Ukrainian maker USCP provided us with a very nice looking resin kit of the Citroën SM only a few years ago. Even better is that USCP now seems to be back in work, despite the ongoing despicable aggressions by their neighbour. Slava Ukraini!

 

SM1.jpg

 

I have two of these in my stash and it's time to get one built now. It will probably be finished in the gold-beige metallic paint with brown interior, and registered on Kyiv plates, just because. Here we have the content of the box.

 

SM2.jpg

 

All the resin parts are very nicely cast and the option of the standard steel wheels with hub caps or the Michelin composite plastic wheels are included. The steering wheel is completely circular though, which will need a bit of attention

 

SM3.jpg

 

We get a sheet of photo etch, nicely printed instruments and very clear vac formed windows.

 

SM4.jpg

 

The roof is very thin, and the temporary reinforcements are well needed to make it survive in the box. The edges around the front and rear windows are extremely thin, and must be treated with great care to survive cleaning up and paint preparation.

 

SM5.jpg

 

The small instruction booklet is a nice colour print. The set of parts also come with options for the manual transmission or the rarer automatic, manual or powered windows, all well pointed out.

 

SM6.jpg

 

I have made a small start cleaning up the bodyshell. A couple of imperfections, mainly on the roof, needed cleaning out and filling. Also some minor filling and sanding at the bottom edge was needed. The window edges and roof pillars are thin and fragile and will need to be handled with care during the process.

 

SM7.jpg

 

SM8.jpg

 

  • Like 23
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

A blast from the past one of my former employers brother had one of these (they were Citroen dealers) but we were never allowed near it!

Looking forward to seeing this come together and thanks for the memories - great days

 

      Stay safe           Roger

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Niiice! That looks like a very good casting, it looks gorgeous. I'm sure you'll have another beauty in the making. I saw one in the French car museum in Mulhouse last month, next to another one of those beautiful Citroën classsics. 

 

20220826080632-00c492f1-me.jpg

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very interesting, I had two Citroen BX's, my favourite at the time was the DS, who a friend had the estate version, but SM was just too expensive but the top in design and performance.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beautiful car, I have had the pleasure of driving one of these, as well as doing quite a bit of metalwork on it. The colour was a slightly tweaked version of the gold with a little more warmth to it.

 

Looking forward to see what you do with this beast!

 

Andy

 

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is there room for me on the train following this build?  The moulding quality looks very impressive, the vehicle itself is a fascinating subject for a model and it'll be interesting to watch it develop.  I can imagine how fragile the roof pillars are going to be - it'll make building very tricky but the end result should make it worth all the heart-stopping bits when you're sweating fractured pillars.

 

I came very close to ordering it's successor the XM before being tempted away by a SAAB 9000 back in the '90s.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice, Jörgen. I remember that at the time Johan Cruijff had one of these. Citroën made sure that this was widely known.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, keefr22 said:

 

That's a great idea! :) 🇺🇦

 

Looking forward to this one Jörgen, really nice looking kit !

 

Keith

 

Good to hear Keith! The kit is a very nice effort indeed.

 

21 hours ago, Anteater said:

Oooh, this has my attention. Great to hear USCP are back at work too. 

You're most welcome! Yes, it's very hopeful to see new activity there, can't imagine how difficult is must be.

 

19 hours ago, Mark_C said:

Definitely following this one!

Happy to hear that!

 

11 hours ago, Hamden said:

 

A blast from the past one of my former employers brother had one of these (they were Citroen dealers) but we were never allowed near it!

Looking forward to seeing this come together and thanks for the memories - great days

 

      Stay safe           Roger

Nice memories indeed Roger! I hope I can do the justice.

 

11 hours ago, JeroenS said:

Niiice! That looks like a very good casting, it looks gorgeous. I'm sure you'll have another beauty in the making. I saw one in the French car museum in Mulhouse last month, next to another one of those beautiful Citroën classsics. 

 

20220826080632-00c492f1-me.jpg

Thanks a lot Jeroen! Actually "7858 ST 68" is represented on the photo etch sheet.

 

11 hours ago, PatW said:

Very interesting, I had two Citroen BX's, my favourite at the time was the DS, who a friend had the estate version, but SM was just too expensive but the top in design and performance.

The DS is forever the Godess. I have two Ebbro kits in the stash I must get done before too long. The BX is quite under rated, even if it's in a different league of course, the design is growing as the years go on.

 

10 hours ago, klubman01 said:

Here's one I spotted in December '20.

 

spacer.png

 

Great looking car.

Trevor

That's lovely Trevor, so nice to see these cars being driven and enjoyed!

 

10 hours ago, ElectricLightAndy said:

Beautiful car, I have had the pleasure of driving one of these, as well as doing quite a bit of metalwork on it. The colour was a slightly tweaked version of the gold with a little more warmth to it.

 

Looking forward to see what you do with this beast!

 

Andy

I'm sure the driving was a much nicer experience than doing the metal work (usually meaning rust repairs...). Good to have you along Andy!

 

7 hours ago, Marco F. said:

Great!! I will follow this WIP. 

The SM  was a fantastic  Grand  Tourer 

sadly  most owner/garages were not able to treat them as they should 

Good to hear USCP is back again.

Marco F 

Welcome Marco! Yes, crossing Europe in one of these...!

It's good indeed, I hope they can keep the business going all the way until the agressors are thrown back home and beyond.

 

1 hour ago, Neddy said:

Is there room for me on the train following this build?  The moulding quality looks very impressive, the vehicle itself is a fascinating subject for a model and it'll be interesting to watch it develop.  I can imagine how fragile the roof pillars are going to be - it'll make building very tricky but the end result should make it worth all the heart-stopping bits when you're sweating fractured pillars.

 

I came very close to ordering it's successor the XM before being tempted away by a SAAB 9000 back in the '90s.

There's all the room we need on this train, you're most welcome!

The XM would have been a great choise, especially a V6, although as much as I hate to admit it the SAAB might have been slightly easier to keep reliably on the road. Officially I have never written that...

1 hour ago, Pouln said:

Very nice, Jörgen. I remember that at the time Johan Cruijff had one of these. Citroën made sure that this was widely known.

Thanks a lot! I well remember that name, he was obviously also a man of very good taste!

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had to do a bit of paid work again today so not that much progress. The front and rear sections need a bit of trimming to obtain a good fit. Thin pieces of Evergreen strips were glued to widen the rear hatch slightly.

 

SM9.jpg

 

The low front end parts were easy work. There's more work ahead with the lights and bumper section.

 

SM10.jpg

 

There are some pretty good detailing of the underside. The screw will be hidden by the engine oil pan.

 

SM11.jpg

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

Nice work Juergen: USCP make some lovely kits :)

Thanks a lot. They sure do, all I have seen looks lovely in the box, but this is my first real build.

20 hours ago, Vesa Jussila said:

Nice work! I hope I have next week time to start to follow these projects and continue my own ones.

Many thanks Vesa! Looking forward to see new progress in your builds.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a little issue here. The nose piece is too wide for the bodyshell, or the other way around. I checked my other kit and it's the same, but I have seen earlier builds that appear to not have this issue. I suppose it might have to do with different resin shrinkage, or I don't know. I'll find some solution.

 

SM12.jpg

 

SM13.jpg

 

The chrome wing corners also need to be rounded a little, the centre section needs to be cut so it raises with the bonnet (imaginary) and I need to add the little joint cover at the centre of the bumper, so I have to do a little work anyway.

 

SM14.jpg

 

I felt this might be easier than it first looked. I made a careful cut exactly at the centre line.

 

SM15.jpg

 

Then I sanded off material at both sides of the cut until I had the desired fit and CA glued the joint with the pieces held in position. Some CA and sanding later I had this much better situation.

 

SM16.jpg

 

With the chrome corners rounded off and the insides adjusted for the glass to fit, the chrome strip cut for the bonnet, the rubber side sections slightly thinned down and the centre joint piece added from thin sheet styrene I had this solution. So far very promising.

 

SM17.jpg

 

SM18.jpg

 

The bottom panel is just held with blue tac here and is falling off, but I had to see the parts together like this.

 

SM19.jpg

  • Like 19
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very interesting build, @Bengalensis and a good start on it 👍

It's a shame USCP kits never come  with engine 🙄

In this particular case, it had a V6 Maserati, and it would have been a real challenge to detail it, and to get it fit entirely and correctly in the engine bay :)

 

52315307474_3f9ca471ea_c.jpg   52314884371_2fd0f08f47_c.jpg

 

The Citroen brand is known for having bulky engines, which take up all the space under the bonnet, making it difficult for the mechanics to carry out any work, and adding to the bill for the customer. 
(Of course there were some exceptions to this rule: Citroen Traction Avant 11 CV and 15 / 15-6, Citroen 2CV 5 ("La Dodoche"), the AMI 6 and 8... )
 

  • Like 7
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, CrazyCrank said:

making it difficult for the mechanics to carry out any work

 

Difficult? Looks like a nightmare...!! 🤣

 

Nice solution on the front panel fitting Jörgen, very neat.

 

Keith

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the DS was a flying saucer, and compared to anything else on the road back then it looked it, Then the SM was a Starship!

A fascinating design (and as @keefr22 says) a nightmare under the bonnet.

Well done on the cutting. I'll keep an eye on this build. It has great promise.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, CrazyCrank said:

 making it difficult for the mechanics to carry out any work, and adding to the bill for the customer.

 

A while back, my father told me that his father nearly bought an SM when they were new.  However he said that there was something relatively mundane (I think it may have been just changing spark plugs or the battery) which required so much dismantling, possibly even engine out, that it made him walk away and buy something less complex!

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...