Citroën Traction Avant
Born: 1934 Died: 1957.
In May of 1934, a Citroën car was deliberately driven over a cliff in what may have been the first organised 'crash test'. The car was the new Traction Avant, which was innovative in a number of ways. It was the first mass production front-wheel-drive car, it had a monocoque body construction instead of the traditional separate chassis, its independent front and torsion-bar rear suspension was ahead of its time, and it was destined to become an enduring French icon.
The over-the-cliff trip was an answer to critics of monocoque that the latter was unsafe. The test was such a success that the company used it the same year in its advertising, though the illustration was a drawing rather than a photograph.
Among the advantages of the car's construction was the ability to have the bodywork closer to the ground and the Traction Avant was streamlined and rakish. It was also light, and therefore faster than contemporary competitors with similar 32bhp engines to the 1.3-litre with which it began its life. That said, halfway through its launch year it got a 1.5-litre power unit that added just 3bhp but pushed the top speed to the magic 100km/h mark. A 1.6-litre version was also offered.
Part of the success of the concept was the layout of the running gear: the gearbox was in front of the engine, which was itself set far back from the front wheels. Thus the Traction Avant acquired that long bonnet which gave it its rakish look, and also really balanced handling.
The car's launch did more than make a name for Citroën, though. The development costs had also left the company so financially unstable that it declared bankruptcy, and was taken over by Michelin, the tyremaker that was one of its biggest creditors. The problems were also responsible for the inability to produce a V8 version which had reached prototype in the launch year.
A gearbox set into the dashboard was also innovative, as was the similarly-mounted handbrake, which gave the front of the car a lot of room and a wide bench seat. Produced in saloon, coupé and convertible formats, the car was steadily upgraded in the years up to the second World War, including a 46bhp Sport version in 1934 and 1935 with a 1.9-litre engine and a 2.9-litre in 1938 with 77bhp on tap. During the war, production was almost all for military use, and the 1.9-litre engine was boosted in power to 56bhp. Most people watching movies set in France during the war will recall that the 'baddy' occupying Germans and their co-operating local police are almost always depicted as driving black Traction Avants. The image is a truism, because both groups were keen on the speed, handling and ability of the car to hold six beefy 'flics'.
With the end of the conflict, the Traction Avant was back in the private consumer business, and with very few differences from its pre-war version it once more became a favourite of many. The dark side of its reputation was also retained, literally; black was the only available colour until 1953, and even after that the option was grey.
The post-war engines were still the 1.9- and 2.9-litre old faithfuls, the former only getting a minor power boost of 2bhp in 1955, two years before production ended. In the meantime, Michelin's development of innovative suspension with its car company resulted in the first hydropneumatic rear suspension, fitted to a 1954 version of the six-cylinder car. The arrival of its replacement DS 19 a year later, with an all-wheel version of that suspension, heralded the Traction Avant's demise. Its successor cars may have been much more advanced than the one which had been driven over that cliff, but none of them have ever evoked the classic 'Frenchness' that is even today as strong a part of that country's image as the Gauloise cigarette or the black beret.