Saleofcar.com :Citroen

Citroen Other (1956)
for sale

Price: US $4,999.00

Description:

The 11 stands for the legal horse power of 11 Chevaux (horses) and the model is a B. The L stands for légere (or Light in French). It is the smallest of the Traction Avant series.
This car has been fully restored, down to bare metal and rebuilt with either original restored parts or conform new parts. There are no noticeable defects. The paint is new. The engine is fully rebuilt to original specs and all moving parts have been restored. The car has 101, xxx KM on the odometer and 2, 000 KM since restoration.
The Traction Avant was built in France, Belgium and the UK from 1934 until 1957 (with an interruption during WW2). It was full of innovations for the time, including the first mass produced front wheel drive, the first uni-body car, the first car with independent suspensions, etc… a total of 760, 000 were made, although very few survived.
In the US, there are only a handful of these cars, and almost none fully restored.
This car was originally purchased from the estate of the original owner in 2012. It had been sitting in a garage in the California desert since 1976. The body was in great shape, with no rust, but the engine was seized and all non metal parts were destroyed.
The car was originally bought by the original owner in France, in 1956, driven for 3 months in Europe then shipped to Los Angeles. It was used mostly on a Navy Base by his wife for all of its life, until the engine died in 1976 and they could not find parts. Most original paperwork, including most of the registration cards have survived.
This car was completely disassembled, down to the last nut and bolt, it was sand blasted and the body was completely restored in California. The engine and absolutely all parts were completely stripped and rebuilt to original specs. As much as possible, the original fasteners were restored, threads cleaned and re-used in their original place. All rubber, leather boots, seals and gaskets are new. The wire harness is completely new and so are all the lights and turn signals. The car sports its original black license plates from California and it is currently registered in California. The car has been in New Hampshire with me since June 2014 and it is stored in a climate controlled facility.
This car runs like a charm, starts right up and idles very well. There is the usual oil drip at the crank shaft seal system, as it uses a counter thread system to throw the oil back when the engine runs. when the engine stops, a bit of oil may escape through a capillary process. It is normal and amounts to about 2 to 3 dime size drips every time the engine stops.
Total invested in the restoration is well over $60, 000 not counting the thousands of hours of labor I put in, cleaning and restoring all the original parts, nuts and bolts.
The only “upgrades” or non-original parts are: A new Diaphragm Clutch to replace the original pressure plates and a modern set of Homokinetic sealed drive shafts to replace the original cardans.
The interior is completely new, with original trim and colors. The seats were stuffed with the original horse hair stuffing and the carpet is entirely new, in the right color and shape.The windshield and rear window are new (the originals were too scratched) but the side windows are original. (original windows were saved and available)
I used Dynomat on the entire interior of the car, to replace the original tar and fiber insulation material. It brings additional sound and temperature insulation which is welcomed in this vintage car.
The car was presented in 2014 at the Misselwood Concours D’Elegance and won second place in it’s category at the Boston Cup Concours D’Elegance 2014.
The car is currently stored in a climate controlled facility in New Hampshire. The registration is current.

_{update: 2015-09-13}