Traction Avant -Build It And They Will Copy

French trailblazer left an enduring legacy in car construction

- Michael Stahl

Citroën has a long history of producing cars that were fearlessly innovative and financially irresponsible. First to mind is the achingly gorgeous DS of 1955-’75, but the car that preceded it was, for its time, even more advanced.

The Traction Avant of 1934, officially known as the 7CV, 11CV, Light 15 (in Anglophone countries) and Big 15, also drove its manufacturer to bankruptcy and its creator to an early grave.

The Traction Avant introduced a number of features that would become commonplace 20 or more years later. However, within months of its 1934 launch, the carmaker would surrender to its debtor Michelin, while André Citroën, broke, would die from stomach cancer, aged 57. His piece de resistance revolutionised mass-produced cars and had a production run of 23 years.

In 1932, Citroën launched a new 8-10-15 ‘Rosalie’. Outwardly just a conventional front-engined, rear-drive model, its novel construction married body panels to fabricated steel chassis rails.