Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: johannes May 25 2012, 02:39 AM

Drove this time machine on 100 miles yesterday. This was a great motoring experience.

This is a 100% original unrestored Citroën Traction Avant with 500 000 miles on it.
The patina is fantastic and despite it is a late 1955 built, this time machine brings you strait in the thirties when it was initialy designed.

Three manual gears with only two synchronized...
2 liters engine with 56 hp... where are those hidden ?
Drum brakes ...
You have to relearn driving.



...

Posted by: billh1963 May 25 2012, 04:46 AM

Very cool. I drove a Ford Model A one time.... What a work out! Brakes, clutch, steering, etc.were all very primitive by today's standards.

Posted by: markyb May 25 2012, 04:49 AM

A beautiful car, excellent condition considering 500k miles. It looks like it has semaphores? It would be interesting to compare the mechanical components to our 1930's US cars.

Posted by: veltror May 26 2012, 03:15 AM

My dad used to have one of these, he thought it had fantastic road-hoalding..., he also had one of the first DS 19 in the UK...

Posted by: johannes May 26 2012, 03:33 AM

This car had very advanced technology and features for it's time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Traction_Avant

From the first built in 1934 it already had:

- Monocoque structure (no subframe) this means the car is light and has very low center of gravity.
- Front wheel drive,
- Independant suspension with torsion bars all around
- Hydraulic brakes
- suspended engine
Car had excellent handling and was later available with a more powerfull six cylinder engine.
The only thing that was outdated was the gearbox. They wanted to put an automatic but didn't had time to finish the developpement.

Posted by: 914Sixer May 26 2012, 07:28 AM

Reminds me of the 1952 Renualt 4CV I had in high school in Kaiserslautern, Germany in 1963. Dad stuffed a Gordini R8 engine in it. It was fun sucking up VW Bugs.

Posted by: Valy May 26 2012, 11:15 AM

I admit: I'm a Citroen fun and love this car. Somehow, Citroen manages to distinct their cars in every generation. My grandfather had a Traction Avant back when he was fighting in French resistance. My cousin still has his 1973 DS. I had a ZX Vulcan, a Xantia, a C5, a Visa. My folks have a C3 now.

Posted by: 1970 Neun vierzehn May 26 2012, 09:38 PM

Neat car, indeed.

Whenever I see one, I am afraid that all the stereotypes that I associate with it come to mind......Gauloises, berets, the resistance.

It must have been a fun trip to have driven one.

Paul


Attached image(s)