Citroen Traction Avant: The First Mass-Produced Front-Wheel-Drive Car

The Citroen Traction Avant is remembered as an early mass-produced car with front-wheel drive and a body that did away with a separate chassis. Built between 1934 and 1957, it reached a total of 759,111 cars, and its unitary construction is now used for virtually all cars.

Where did the Traction Avant come from?

The Traction Avant was designed by Andre Lefebvre and Flaminio Bertoni in late 1933 and early 1934. The name means front traction, but it was never the official name, which came from the French fiscal horsepower rating. That is why the models carried numbers such as 7 and 11.

The car entered a crowded market. Its rivals were DKW F2 and Adler Trumpf, both already known in the market, and the Traction Avant joined several other entrants at around the same time.

Front-wheel drive had appeared earlier through luxury makers. Alvis put out a 1928 Racing FWD in Britain, and Cord made the L29 in America.

Auto Union had already established front-wheel drive and independent suspension in production cars. Citroen's achievement was to combine those ideas with a crash-resistant unitary body in a mass-produced car.

A front-wheel-drive car with a welded body that cost its maker dearly, then carried its ideas into motor racing and the record books.

How much did Citroen invest in the factory?

Citroen built a new factory for the car. Demolition of the existing plant started on 15 March 1933, and by the end of August the new building's shell had been erected. The new building was four times the size of the old one, and it used 5,000 t of steel.

Production of the old models carried on during the work. The plant kept building several hundred Rosalies every day while the new site took shape.

Andre Citroen hosted 6,000 people, largely dealers and sales staff, at a banquet in the unfinished factory on 8 October 1933.

The gesture later looked hubristic. The months that followed became a race against time to finish development and tool up before the investors lost patience.

When did the Traction Avant go on sale?

The first car was presented at Citroen's Paris showroom on 18 April 1934, after dealers held their own private showing on 23 March. Full output began on 19 April 1934, and details had been kept quiet until then. That made April 1934 the start of the car's public life.

Problems with transmission joints and hydraulic brakes did appear at launch. The rushed schedule reflected the pressure to get the car into production quickly.

The unitary body and its doubters

A welded unitary body formed the Traction Avant's structure. Most other cars of the era sat on a separate frame, onto which the coachwork was built, and the unitary design made the car lighter.

The unitary body saved 70 kg (150 lb) of steel per car. The process used technology bought from the Budd Company, and weight reduction was a motivation that American manufacturers of the time did not share.

Many people doubted the strength of the method. Citroen conceived a crash test that involved driving a car off a cliff, to demonstrate its inherent resilience.

The low, unitary body made the car look rakish in 1934, while by 1955 it had come to seem familiar and rather old-fashioned.

How did the suspension and steering work?

The front wheels were independently sprung on torsion bars and wishbones, while most rivals used live axles and leaf springs. The rear used a beam axle located by a Panhard rod, with trailing arms and torsion bars. Rack-and-pinion steering was added in May 1936, in the middle of the car's run.

Its lighter build meant the car could reach 100 km/h (62 mph) and use fuel at 10 L/100 km, or 28 mpg-imp and 24 mpg-US. Its engine sat well within the wheelbase, which gave a favourable weight distribution and aided handling.

What was it like to drive and ride in?

The gear lever sat in the dashboard, working through an H-shaped gate, and the layout left a flat, unobstructed floor. Pendant pedals, an umbrella-type handbrake and front bench seats added to the spacious feel, and the low-slung body removed the need for running boards.

A lock tied the gear shift to the clutch. It engaged with the mechanical clutch and let go when the pedal was pressed, which protected against the car dropping out of gear.

These features made the car popular as limousines and taxis, and drivers and passengers alike valued the roomy cabin.

Which models and engines were built?

The original 7A used a 1,303 cc engine, and the 7B followed in June 1934 with a larger, more powerful unit. The 7C arrived in October 1934 with a 1,628 cc engine, and the 11 CV launched in November 1934 with a 1,911 cc four-cylinder.

Production of the 7B had reached 15,620 by September 1934, before the 7C arrived.

The 11 came in two forms, the 11 B-light and the longer 11 B-normal, which had a 3,090 mm (122 in) wheelbase.

How did the car fare in the war years?

Production of the 7C reached 8,120 in 1939, the last normal year. It fell to 1,133 in 1940, after bomb damage to the plant on 3 June 1940, and production was suspended in June 1941. The 11 B-light, the larger-engined model, fell from 27,473 in 1939 to 4,415 in 1940.

Shortages of raw materials and petrol built up slowly across the war years, and the effects were not felt all at once.

Production restarted only slowly after the liberation. By December 1945 the year's output had reached 1,525 cars, while the listed price had climbed from 26,800 francs in January 1940 to 110,670 francs in October 1945.

Military service and the Resistance

The French Army was initially lukewarm, feeling the car offered too little ground clearance. Even so, about 250 were in military service by September 1939.

The Resistance also favoured the Traction Avant, and after the liberation many were seen with FFI inscribed on their doors.

Gangsters were fond of the car too. Pierrot le Fou and his Traction gang are one example.

What did the Traction Avant contribute to motorsport?

John Cooper needed a light transaxle case for his rear-engined Formula One cars, and the Traction Avant unit was almost the only candidate. The Cooper T43 won an F1 championship race in 1958, becoming the first mid-engined car to take such a win.

The Volkswagen alloy transaxle was smaller and lacked room for the heavier gears Formula One needed. Cooper T45, T51 and T53 cars also used the Traction unit, and the T51 took the GP world title in 1959.

The Traction case could not run upside down, so the engine had to sit high above the ground. Racing engines with dry sumps did not need that height, but several constructors still used the unit during the Cooper years.

Jack Brabham went to the ERSA foundry in Paris to ask for a stronger case. The result was the ERSA Knight, a modified transaxle with an extra spur-gear set.

The spur-gear set lowered the engine, which is why the Cooper T53 earned the Lowline name. That car helped Brabham take the 1960 world title.

Why did Citroen end up with Michelin?

The development costs of the Traction Avant, together with the rebuilt factory, were very high. Citroen declared bankruptcy in late 1934, and its largest creditor, Michelin, took control of the company and kept it for many years. The debts left the company with little room to manoeuvre.

Michelin used Citroen as a research laboratory and a test bed for radial tyres. Hydropneumatic experiments on a six-cylinder 15/6 H produced a self-levelling rear suspension that served as a trial for the DS.

Which cars did Slough build for Britain?

Slough Trading Estate in England built right-hand-drive Traction Avants. The Slough 11L was sold as the Light Fifteen, the long-wheelbase 11 became the Big Fifteen, and the 15/6 was the Big Six. Models assembled there had to contain 51 per cent UK parts to avoid import taxes.

The Motor tested a Light Fifteen in 1951, recording 72.6 mph and a 0-60 mph time of 29.7 seconds.

Slough built 26,400 cars in total, a figure that sits alongside the output from Forest near Brussels and the small run in Copenhagen.

Cologne in Germany added 1,823 cars, and the total of 759,111 over 23 years includes the years of wartime disruption.

Which body styles and variants were offered?

The Familiale was an extended model with three rows of seats for 9 adults, and the 11 CV Commerciale was the first hatchback, with a tailgate in two halves. Both were built on longer chassis, which set them apart from the standard saloon.

The 11 B-normal had a longer 3,090 mm (122 in) wheelbase than its light sibling, and the 11 B-light outsold it in France.

Before the war the factory also built a two-door coupe and a convertible with rumble seats.

Left-hand-drive versions came from Paris and Forest in Belgium, and 550 special two-door commercial vans were built in Copenhagen for tax purposes.

Which ideas never reached production?

Two ideas never reached production. One was an automatic-transmission model, and the other was a 22 CV with a 3.8 litre V8. Both were planned as part of a more advanced range, but there was insufficient funding to develop them beyond running prototypes.

The automatic was a gearless design that used a torque converter alone to match engine speed to the drive. It never entered production, and the project was cancelled.

Where do the survivors stand today?

The oldest surviving 7A is displayed partly dismantled in the Citroen Museum in Paris, a status recorded in 2006. The car is fairly robust by modern standards, although it can leak water into the cabin. The oldest running 7A is now with an owner in Slovenia.

In 2002, more than 30 drove from Los Angeles to New York for an ICCCR event. Bond fans may recall From Russia with Love (1963), and The Sound of Music (1965) also features the car.

By one count, the Traction Avant has made more than 1,300 film and TV appearances. Army of Shadows (1969) and Diva (1981) are among the French films that used it.

In the Tintin book The Calculus Affair, Bordurian agents drive one in Geneva.

What are the Traction Avant specifications?

The table lists the core figures for the Traction Avant, including the years built, total output, engine sizes and the fuel and speed figures. Where a figure belongs to a specific model or plant, the table says so, which keeps the 7 and the 11 apart.