{"id":173453,"date":"2026-04-20T20:04:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T01:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velocetoday.com\/?p=173453"},"modified":"2026-04-20T20:04:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T01:04:18","slug":"the-most-famous-citroen-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/velocetoday.com\/the-most-famous-citroen-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Famous Citro\u00ebn…Ever!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Traction Forward!<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Philippe H. Defechereux<\/em>
\nFrom the VeloceToday Archives, June, 2017<\/p>\n

The year 1934 was to be Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn\u2019s finest yet, the highest summit in a vast range of accomplishments already marked by several impressive peaks in his two preceding decades. And the year 1934 did start well for great French industrialist. After turning 56 on February 5, in mid-April he witnessed his life\u2019s two grandest industrial creations come to life together, for they were entwined from conception: His new and thoroughly revolutionary Traction-Avant sedan began to come out fully formed and by the hundreds daily. This from his just-completed car production plant in Paris by the Seine, then by far the biggest, most modern and integrated mass-production automobile facility in Europe. <\/p>\n

The company\u2019s 300 dealers and agents, who a month earlier had been treated to a formal \u201cBanquet Preview\u201d of the new Citro\u00ebn 7, as the car was first officially called based on the complex French fiscal horsepower rating, were filled with of enthusiasm. Immediately, they started selling the new low-slung wonder en-masse, in spite of serious early mechanical problems popping up in many spots on the new vehicle, due to the rushed concept-to-production schedule. But the basic design would prove flawless. Most defects were corrected before year-end, while the early buyers were financially protected, as Citro\u00ebn had also pioneered a full customer guarantee policy.<\/p>\n

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The 1934 Citro\u00ebn \u201c7C\u201d, best of the three new standard versions (A, B and C) of that first year. In-line four-cylinder 1,628cc ohv engine delivering 36 HP. [There was also the \u201cModel 7S\u201d in 1934.] Photo by Brandes Elitch<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Dreadful Economic Winds<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, 1934 was not a good time to have flown too close to the sun in Europe. In the middle of that year, France, like the United States and much of Europe, was still mired in the endless aftershocks of the global 1929 economic crash triggered in Wall Street. The French political system had become consistently volatile \u2013 16 different PMs of diverse parties between late October 1929 and October 1934, or more than three new PMs per year, had succeeded one-another. Unemployment was still high and money was tight. Car sales were deeply affected. Peugeot unit sales for example, dropped by 40% between 1930 and 1932 alone.<\/p>\n

As a result of this economic morass and his gigantic financial bet, Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn did not get to enjoy this fast and promising take-off for very long. Always more of a great visionary than a good accountant, he had bet and borrowed too much, too quickly, to bring his grand plan beyond birth on safe financial footing. By the middle of May, 1934, the Banque de France \u2013 France\u2019s Central Bank -published a report indicating that Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn now faced losses amounting to 200 million Francs (roughly $450 million in 2015 US dollars!). <\/p>\n

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The Citro\u00ebn 7C version did not change much between 1934 and 1939. The cheapest of the growing model range, it became the staple and most seen \u201cTraction-Avant\u201d in Europe. It was also built in England (Slough), Belgium (Forest), Germany (Cologne) and even Denmark (Copenhagen). That in itself is remarkable for a pre WW II car. Photo by Roy Smith.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

That official news almost immediately stopped all further credits to the already-heavily leveraged company. Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn had been his own man since early adulthood, with several ambitious initiatives having led to successful, often impressive results. In fact, he became an \u201cIndustrial Hero\u201d during World War I, which earned him the highest civilian medals France could offer (see sidebar, below). Though Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn immediately threw himself full-power into the fray to save his company, seeking new creditors in endless meetings, even exploring talks with Henry Ford\u2019s French representative, Maurice Dollfuss; it was all to no avail. The French government, itself weak, would not provide credit guarantees. In the early days of December, Citro\u00ebn suddenly confronted formal overnight legal bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

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The \u201cQuai de Javel\u201d plant\u2019s fa\u00e7ade, facing the Seine River. Even when the factory was vastly enlarged in 1933, the historical fa\u00e7ade was kept unchanged. Finally demolished in 1984, the vast space occupied by the famous plant was wisely turned into a splendid city park by the Seine, and officially named \u201cParc Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn.\u201d Citro\u00ebn Communications photo.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Saved by Michelin<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Fate would have it, a new man had just appeared onto the stage in Paris on November 8, exactly a month before Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn\u2019s deadline. That was the day when the French Parliament had agreed to endorse Pierre-\u00c9tienne Flandin as the the 17th French PM since the 1929 crash. The new Government\u2019s leader, soon enough frightened by the prospect of further massive job losses sure to follow a Citro\u00ebn plant closing, took little time to find a solution, one that in the end would prove excellent for his country\u2019s car industry. PM Flandin helped convince Citro\u00ebn\u2019s biggest creditor, Michelin & Cie, to take over ownership of Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn as part of the car company\u2019s bankruptcy agreement.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1889 by brothers Edouard and Andr\u00e9 Michelin, the tire company from Clermont-Ferrand was financially solid in 1934. Fewer cars were being sold, but tires still wore out. They certainly were familiar with the car industry and Citro\u00ebn. And so they agreed if their conditions were met. Pierre Michelin, son of Edouard, would take over as co-president of Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn, with Citro\u00ebn carrying the same title. This, however, would only be after the Citro\u00ebn founder had handed over the 60 percent of his shares to Michelin & Cie, thus losing control of his cherished industrial creation.<\/p>\n

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And so it proceeded. But still Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn had reasons for hope. When a full production count of the new model was completed in mid-January, 1935, almost 20,000 Citro\u00ebn 7s had been manufactured and were in the hands of customers or dealers, a mere nine months after production start. And within that same time span, two sets of significant technical improvements\/enhancements (7B and 7C) had also been fully integrated into the production models, solving all the early defects to a large extent.<\/p>\n

If the 20,000-unit count is annualized, that would represent a yearly output rate of over 27,000 Model 7s, even discounting the inherent slow start of a revolutionary model in an entirely new plant. Meanwhile, production of the Traction-Avant\u2019s predecessor, the Citro\u00ebn Rosalie, now equipped with the more modern Model 7\u2019s ohv engine, had continued at healthy levels of over 100\/day. Henry Ford used to close his highly efficient plants for months at a time when a model change-over was taking place.<\/p>\n

A Fatal Blow<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though this forced take-over of Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn was a smart move for France, it proved a crushing blow for its creator. Even those very hopeful signs would not be enough of a salve for the great Parisian pioneer and industrialist. On February 18, 1935, the heretofore hyper-energetic visionary engineer and carmaker fell ill and had to be hospitalized. Within a few weeks, stomach cancer was diagnosed. Despite an operation in May, Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn died on July 3, 1935, at age 57.<\/p>\n

He left behind his grieving wife Georgina and the three children they had raised together; but also a breakthrough new car and production facility that would change the industry in profound technological and historical ways.<\/p>\n

A few days after the passing of Le Patron, Pierre Michelin was named sole president of Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn. An era had passed, but the name still lives brightly throughout Europe to this day.<\/p>\n

A Revolutionary Legacy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Had the masterful French industrialist lived a normal lifetime for his era, say to age 75, he would likely have become the single greatest engineer\/car manufacturer in European history.<\/p>\n

How revolutionary was the Citro\u00ebn Traction-Avant? Let us start with a quote from a remarkable book: \u201cCar of the Century \u2013 The 100 Candidates\u201d (Amsterdam BV, 1998), to which 135 veteran automotive journalists from 52 countries and five continents contributed significantly:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe model \u2026was a car that broke new grounds in almost every aspect of its design. Its forward-looking styling set a pattern of individual, timeless design that was to be a Citro\u00ebn specialty for five decades. \u2026 In almost every aspect of its design, the Traction-Avant was years ahead of its time. \u2026The Traction-Avant was one of the greatest success stories in the history of the automobile.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Citro\u00ebn 7S (\u201cS\u201d for Sport) was also launched in 1934. It was powered by a 1,911 cc version (46 HP) of the model 7 engine, the largest yet. This attractive two-door Coup\u00e9 is a 1937 production. Wiki Commons image by Lars-G\u00f6ran Lindgren Sweden<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

As we shall see, the Traction-Avant was also an eminently adaptable car, and it was manufactured in countless versions over its 22-year lifetime, up to a grand total of a fraction below 760,000 units. It was also actively deployed in wars \u2013 by bad guys and good guys alike, featured in countless movies and even used effectively by an infamous Parisian posse of killer-gangsters for its fast getaways.<\/p>\n

Before we count the ways Citro\u00ebn and his team brought together a dozen innovative technologies in perfect harmony into a revolutionary new model, we need to give credit to the other brilliant minds who indelibly contributed to the final result.<\/p>\n

The Great Andr\u00e8 Lef\u00e8bvre<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The 1923 C6 \u201cLaboratoire\u201d racer, designed by Andr\u00e9 Lef\u00e8bvre (here at the wheel) by request of Gabriel Voisin. The latter asked his brilliant engineer to compensate for its low-performance engine \u2013 still using sleeve valves \u2013 by creating a very light racing car with emphasis on refined aerodynamics. This sleek racer, the first featuring an aluminum unibody, unfortunately did not perform well in the 1923 French Grand Prix due to its poor power output. This led Voisin to abandon racing, leaving the later Silver Arrows without any seriously innovative French competition. Courtesy Sporting Magazine.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

First was Andr\u00e8 Lef\u00e8bvre (see Pete\u2019s book review of July 7, 2010). Born in 1894, his early passions were mathematics and engineering, particularly as applied to that latest magical invention: flying machines. During World War I, in 1916, he had already gained a bright enough reputation to be hired by Gabriel Voisin, a famous aviation pioneer whose company was now building bomber aircrafts for France. Once the global conflict had ended, horrified by the human wreckage wrought by war machines, Voisin switched to making high-end automobiles in 1919, under the brand name Avions Voisin.<\/p>\n

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1934 Voisin C27 Aerodyne two-door Coup\u00e9. The Coup\u00e9 has a wheelbase of 122\u201d, shorter than the C25 sedan of the same year by 7\u201d. The 1934 Aerodyne is one of the most desirable of Voisin\u2019s cars. Photo by Hugues Vanhoolandt.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Lef\u00e8bvre went along and perchance found himself absorbing with fervor the most modern techniques applicable to small-series automobiles from Gabriel Voisin and his chief designer, Andr\u00e9 Noel. All Voisin automobiles (1919-1939) were exceptionally well-designed, remarkably advanced and fully idiosyncratic. Avions Voisin pioneered or emphasized lightness and the use of light metals, especially aluminum; unibody chassis construction, central weight distribution and low-slung suspension. All tagged with a price only the wealthy could afford.<\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn must have been an attentive admirer of his high-end colleague\u2019s entire design philosophy. And likely intent on applying all he could to his planned revolutionary mass-production new model. So when the French economy went south in 1931, luxury cars stopped selling; Gabriel Voisin was forced to dismiss many people, including Lef\u00e8bvre, who soon was hired by Louis Renault. The two men never did see eye to eye in the least. Early in 1933, Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn was only too pleased to offer the 39-year-old star engineer the job of chief designer for his \u201cModel 7 Traction-Avant.\u201d Citro\u00ebn\u2019s bright new recruit would have excellent help, le Patron having previously hired the young but already recognized body designer Flaminio Bertoni \u2013 then 30 and having left Italy for France only two years earlier.<\/p>\n

Polishing the Precious Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michelin & Cie indeed inherited a jewel of, well, massive proportion. To their credit, the owners of the famed tire company did a superb job at taking their \u201cdiamond-in-the-rough\u201d and turning it into the brilliant piece of automotive jewelry that the new car, soon to be re-named \u201cTraction-Avant\u201d by popular acclaim, would become.<\/p>\n

Their first steps were to successfully insure that Lef\u00e8bvre would stay with the company, then to bring in a highly competent and entrepreneurial leader by the name of Pierre-Jules Boulanger. That man and his team would nurse the new Citro\u00ebn to full maturity before the German Blitzkrieg attack on France in May, 1940. After the war, still along with Lef\u00e8bvre and Flaminio Bertoni, the team would further evolve the Traction-Avant, then help bring about new breakthrough models for Citro\u00ebn especially the 2CV and Traction-Avant\u2019s successor, the incredible DS.<\/p>\n

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A beautifully restored Citro\u00ebn 7 Traction-Avant custom Cabriolet. Photo by Alessandro Gerelli.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

The unimaginably harmonious integration of a dozen technical advances into a single new model meant for mass production will be detailed and illustrated in our next article. So will its crowning version launched in 1938, the Citro\u00ebn \u201c15-6,\u201d with widened and lengthened body and powered by a new 2.6 liter six-cylinder. It would justifiably be named \u201cQueen of the Road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sidebar: Citro\u00ebn, World War I Hero<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn\u2019s most remarkable contribution prior to becoming a car manufacturer in 1919 had been made on behalf of his country during World War I. After the sudden declaration of war by Germany on August 4, 1914, the French army soon found itself barely capable of containing the massive German onslaught towards Paris. By October, it also discovered its gunners were desperately low on shells, especially of critical heavy artillery shells. The dated French manufacturing rates were just inadequate for the \u201cindustrial war\u201d it now confronted.<\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn, mobilized in August and serving on the front as Captain of an artillery regiment, observed this shortage first-hand and with despair. But the former Parisian socialite had always been a man of initiative and was no stranger to mass-production engineering. <\/p>\n

As early as 1912, then in charge of turning around the struggling Automobile Mors company based in Paris, he had taken it upon himself to travel to America and visit the Ford Highland Park plant in Dearborn, at the time the only mass-production facility for any heavy, complex product in the world. There, Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn studied \u201cFordism\u201d and came back to France a passionate convert.<\/p>\n

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French 75 gun battery at Cape Helles, 1915,
\n Wiki photo.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

So in December, 1914, as he watched his own gunners daily running short of shells against the onrushing enemy, Citro\u00ebn quickly decided to contact the French War Ministry, with a plan. He proposed to Louis Baquet, the General in charge of France\u2019s artillery, to let him design and build a modern factory in Paris that would increase shell production rates significantly. Out of sheer despair, General Baquet gave him near-instant approval. Wasting no time, the French \u201cFordist,\u201d in just three months, financed and directed the building of a 40-acres, ultra-modern munition factory, sited next to the Mors plant at \u201cQuai de Javel\u201d by the Seine River.<\/p>\n

Before the end of 1915, his new factory was producing 10,000 heavy Type 75 shells per day, a phenomenal rate for the era. It may have helped save France from defeat. Based on that and many other accomplishments \u2013he invented the food ration card system- that deployed high-productivity engineering and other ambitious rationalizations for his country during the war, Citro\u00ebn was awarded his first L\u00e9gion d\u2019Honneur<\/em> in 1923, France\u2019s highest official recognition for civilian achievements. By 1931, he would receive his fourth and the highest: Grand Officier<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Chevrons Gears, Famous Logo<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The famous chevron gears. Courtesy Citro\u00ebn Communications.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Every part of Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn\u2019s life story is full of fascinating details. The origin of the famous \u201cDouble Chevron\u201d logo is a perfect example.<\/p>\n

In the year 1900, at the age of 23, Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn took an Easter vacation trip to Poland, his ancestors\u2019 country of origin. There, a distant family member introduced him to a customer of his, one who specialized in manufacturing small but cleverly engineered wooden reduction gears for use in the production of woven threads for the textile industry. Their V-shaped helicoid teeth offered two major advantages over straight-teeth gears: first, the large, smooth chevron-angled contact surfaces of two engaged gears allowed for much reduced torsional stress on the gears\u2019 axles, allowing for for much larger reduction ratios. Second, the chevron gears were almost completely noiseless during operation, a great advantage in large factories with hundreds of employees and countless gears in operation under one roof \u2013 if one day they were made of metal and much bigger. <\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn, already a graduate of Paris\u2019 Polytechnique School, immediately saw the potential for heavy industry. The latter was fast switching from steam power to electric motors to drive machinery. The much faster rotation speed of electric motors required large reduction ratios to power machinery. On the spot in Poland, he bought the patent, for future use. No company in Europe had the machines to produce such fine gearing in metal. But one day, who knows?<\/p>\n

It was during his trip to America in 1912, on behalf of Automobile Mors, that Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn finally saw the advanced industrial machine tools capable of the strength and high precision to cut his chevron gears through steel billets, the way he knew was inevitably required. With the help of his banker, plus his schoolmate Paul Hinstin, the \u201cCitro\u00ebn, Hinstin & Cie\u201d company was founded in Paris shortly after his return from Dearborn, and American machinery was purchased. Once the gears were manufactured in Paris, many patents were obtained for diverse uses, and the business grew fast. This caused his early partners, having their own business to care for, to sell him their shares. Soon, Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn moved the production facility near the Mors factory and the \u201cQuai de Javel,\u201d renaming it \u201cSoci\u00e9t\u00e9 Anomyme des Engrenages Citro\u00ebn\u201d (\u201cCitro\u00ebn Gearing Company\u201d).<\/p>\n

Sure enough, our hero chose the \u201cchevron design\u201d for his company\u2019s logo. Within four years, the company had become exceptionally successful, laying the basis for the Citro\u00ebn\u2019s fortune. Then World War I intervened, and you already know Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn\u2019s role in that conflict.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Traction Forward! By Philippe H. Defechereux From the VeloceToday Archives, June, 2017 The year 1934 was to be Andr\u00e9 Citro\u00ebn\u2019s finest yet, the highest summit in a vast range of accomplishments already marked by several impressive peaks in his two preceding decades. And the year 1934 did start well for great French industrialist. After turning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[7431,1437,7432,7435,7430,1440,7434,7436,7433],"class_list":{"0":"post-173453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-citroen-french","7":"tag-andre-citroen","8":"tag-andre-lefebvre","9":"tag-andre-michelin","10":"tag-chevron-gears","11":"tag-citroen-andre","12":"tag-citroen-ta","13":"tag-citroen-traction-avant","14":"tag-flaminio-bertoni","15":"tag-societe-citroen","16":"pmpro-has-access","17":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velocetoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velocetoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velocetoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velocetoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velocetoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velocetoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173454,"href":"https:\/\/velocetoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173453\/revisions\/173454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velocetoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velocetoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velocetoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}