Wednesday 18th April 1934

The Citroen Traction Avant (French for ‘front-wheel drive’) was shown to an astonished public in Paris. Capable of 62 mph (100 km/h), it consumed fuel at 28 mpg. It had a welded monocoque whilst most other cars of the era had a chassis onto which the “coachwork” was built. The front wheels were independently sprung, using a torsion bar and wishbone suspension arrangement whilst rear suspension was a simple steel beam axle and a Panhard rod, trailing arms and torsion bars attached to a 3-inch (76 mm) steel tube, which in turn was bolted to the monocoque. The car remained in production until 1957, at which point it was still in advance of most of its contemporaries in most areas apart from styling. About 760,000 units were produced.