Close-up of the front grill of a Green, 1939, Citroen Traction Avant, on display at the 2023 British Motor Show
The Citroën Traction Avant is the world's first monocoque-bodied, front-wheel drive, mass-production car. A range of mostly 4-door saloons and executive cars, as well as longer wheelbased "Commerciale", and three row seating "Familiale" models, were produced with four- and six-cylinder engines, by French carmaker Citroën from 1934 to 1957. With some 760,000 units built, the Traction Avants were the first front-wheel drives made in such (six-figure) quantity. Whilst front-wheel drive and four-wheel independent suspension had been established in production cars by Auto Union,[citation needed] and subsequently by others a few years prior – the Traction Avant pioneered integrating these into a mass-production car with a crash resistant, largely unitary, monocoque body. Additionally, the car was also an early adopter of rack and pinion steering. Although the car's name emphasized its front-wheel drive power delivery ("Traction Avant" literally means "front traction"), the car stood out at least as much by its much lower profile and stance – made possible by the absence of a separate vehicle frame or chassis under the car's mostly unitary body – sharply distinguishing it visually from its taller contemporaries.
Size: 3744px × 5616px
Location: Farnborough International Expo Centre, Farnborough,
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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