Citroen SM

It is white but the original leather has been replaced at some stage with a hideous velour interior.

The car runs nicely but has been neglected inside and does have a little body rust in some spots.

However the engine is robust & despite a recent scare two weeks ago has been given the all-clear by the mechanic who has been looking after the engine since the early seventies.

That scare happened when I drove the car over to a friend's house to show it off.

Suddenly smoke started spouting from underneath the bonnet and something went bang.

Liquid flooded the driver footwell and the tow truck was called.

Turns out that the radiator had not exploded but the pipes to the heater had come loose which leaked across the engine and into the cabin.

A close call that has forced me to decide to get a complete engine review completed by the grumpy but original mechanic.

He has warned that I have "got myself a headache" with the car but driving it home through downtown Fort Lauderdale the number of people shouting their admiration & giving the "thumbs up" at traffic lights convinces me that there is more to life than reliability.

The car is a mass of contradictions, a futuristic throwback, a French courtesan with the passionate heart of an Italian.

Gorgeous, expensive, and very possibly possibly ruinous but with an enduring ability to bring grown men to their knees, move them to tears with her beauty & remember that sensible will never give the same kind of feeling.

The good news about this kind of affair is that you can show off your guilty pleasure.

Now all I have to do is source replacement leather trim for the entire inside of the car; front & rear seats, doors, ceiling and carpet for the floor plus some new seatbelts.

In the meantime, the bodywork will have to be corrected and then the SM will be repainted. Hopefully, by then I'll source the above-mentioned interior supplies.

All suggestions & recommendations are welcome. I wish you all well!