April 18, 2014: 80th Anniversary Date of the Traction Avant

In just 7 days – April 18, 2014 will mark the 80th anniversary date of one of a landmark date in automotive history – the introduction of Citroën’s Traction Avant.

citroen-traction-20987   Traction Cinema Shot

The Traction was not only a milestone achievement for Citroën, it set the standard for modern cars produced today.  When it was introduced it featured; front wheel drive, rack and pinion steering, torsion bar suspension, removable cylinder liners, hydraulic brakes and a moncoque all-steel unitary step-down body,  What cars today don’t have at least two of these?   And it was the first car to be styled using a clay scale model.  Flaminio Bertoni literally sculpted the shape.   A practice still common today.

Traction - Moteur Flottant  Sheep getting into Traction Avant 11 Commerciale

More than three quarters of a million Traction Avants were produced from 1934 until 1957, – an achievement that made it the first large-scale mass production modern automobile.  Even when it went out of production it was still pointing the way to where we are now.

1952_TA_gamyba  2012.traction-avant-fin-production-ds-usines-javel.12

On April 18 the Traction owners in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area are getting together to parade their cars in honour of the anniversary.   And Traction enthusiasts around the globe will be doing the same.  If you have a Traction take the time to commemorate the anniversary.  And if you don’t, still take a moment reflect upon the car that André Citroën bet the company on.  In doing so he took an unparalleled course that set the stage for Citroën (the company) to make a series of astounding automobiles.

WWII Traction in harbour  Traction being unloaded

CITROËN HERITAGE, responsible for the preservation of the outstanding history of the brand, has provided us with a timeline poster of the most important dates related to the history of the Traction.   We are happy to share this with you:

Download: Citroën Poster – 80 Years of Traction Avant (text: english/french)

 

UPDATE:  Here is a photo gallery of the Traction Outing to Niagara Falls the Citroën Autoclub Canada held to commemorate its 80th anniversary:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/62790594@N03/sets/72157644180978035/

And here are a few video clips from the event:
https://youtu.be/SDLXDt2sY4o
https://youtu.be/xnGSmB8-Z5Y
https://youtu.be/1Mtal1mK6rg
https://youtu.be/VuV_vTILE_o
https://youtu.be/q-aI5AEEloE

 

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