Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Citroën Traction Avant
Citroën's Traction Avant, or simply Traction, was the name of a very innovative car produced in the 1930s by Citroën. Traction Avant, French for pull from the front, is a general term referring to any front wheel drive car, of which the Citroën was one of the most famous examples. It was available in 7 cv, 11 cv and 15 cv variants. 22 cv prototypes featuring a V8 engine were built but none is known to have survived
Traction Avant was designed by André Lefèbvre in late 1933/early 1934. In addition to front-wheel-drive, the car also introduced the use of an arc-welded monocoque frame, independently sprung front wheels, and a torsion bar suspension. It was considerably lighter than "conventional" designs of the era, allowing it to reach 100 km/h (62.6 Mph), very fast for the era, and use only 10 litres of petrol per 100 km.
The cars were built in three European factories:
The English cars were built in a right-hand drive version.
The original models were a small sedan with a 1303 cc engine. Later models had a 4 cylinder 1911 cc engine with the "big six" having a 2867 cc six cylinder.
Michelin owned the Citroën company from 1934 until 1976, so it is not surprising that they used the Traction Avant as the test bed for their radial tyres.
By 1955 Citroën had moved on to the DS, which initially used the same engine. Production of the Traction ended in July 1957. 760,000 were built.
The Traction is generally associated in movie iconography with the Second World War: the cliché is that of Gestapo agents, clad in black, driving around in black Tractions.
External links
| Preceded by: Citroën Type C | Succeeded by: Citroën DS |
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