Test drive Citroen Traction Avant: avant-garde

Self-supporting and front-wheel drive, 1934 Citroen Traction Avant is at the forefront of the automotive industry. François Lecco proved extraordinary building possibilities in 1936, covering 400 kilometers in a year. auto motor und sport follows in the footsteps of a glorious past.

Near freezing temperatures, overcast skies and flying snowflakes, there are probably days when it's best to drive out of the museum in a 74-year-old car. But when, on July 22, 1935, François Leko turned the ignition key and pressed the start button, the owner of the hotel knew perfectly well that he could not cope with natural disasters. Before him was a task comparable to the feat of Hercules - to drive 400 kilometers on a Citroen Traction Avant 000 AL in just one year.

More than a marathon

To achieve this goal, he had to overcome about 1200 kilometers every day. That's what he did - he maintained an average speed of 65 km / h, and the speedometer never showed more than 90. Given the then road network, this was an outstanding achievement. Moreover, in Lyon, Lecco spent the night in his own bed every time. As a result, daily trips followed the route from Lyon to Paris and back, and sometimes, just for fun, to Monte Carlo. For each day, the innkeeper allowed himself only four hours of sleep, plus exactly two minutes of sleep on the road.

Soon, a black car with white advertising sponsors and a French tricolor on the doors became widely known. People living along National Highways 6 and 7 could set their watches to look like Leko. Ordinary trips were interrupted only by participation in the Monte Carlo Rally, which started in 1936 in Portugal, as well as several trips to Berlin, Brussels, Amsterdam, Turin, Rome, Madrid and Vienna. On July 26, 1936, the speedometer showed 400 km - the record run was completed, eloquently proving the endurance of the Traction Avant, later known as the "gangster car". With the exception of a few mechanical problems and two traffic accidents, the marathon went surprisingly smoothly.

A replica without a duplicate

The record car is a worthy exhibit for any museum, but it was lost in the chaos of the war. Thus, the Traction Avant, exhibited in the hall of the Museum Henri Malater in the Lyon district of Rosteil-sur-Saone, where Lecco lived in 1935, is just a copy. However, it closely resembles the original. Even the year of manufacture (1935) is correct, only the mileage is much less. It is impossible to accurately determine their number due to a faulty Art Deco dashboard meter. But the rest of the equipment is in excellent condition. Before we went for a walk in a black Citroen, two employees of the museum had only to check the pressure in the tires.

With its compact front-wheel drive, self-supporting body and hydraulic drum brakes, this Citroen made a sensation in 1934. Even today, many connoisseurs consider it a car of the thirties, which, even according to modern concepts, can be driven without problems. This is exactly what we are going to test.

Move the old bones

It starts with a starting ritual: turn the ignition key, pull out the vacuum cleaner and activate the starter. The 1911 cc four-cylinder engine starts immediately and the car starts to vibrate, but only slightly. Feels like the 46bhp drive unit The settlement is fixed "floating" on rubber blocks. The two frog metal covers, located on the left and right ends of the dashboard, begin to hum with a metallic sound, indicating the absence of the former rubber seals. Otherwise, not many things could be damaged.

Squeezing the clutch requires an incredible amount of effort from a calf used to modern cars. Apparently, in the 30s, the French had much fewer steps. To properly press the pedal, you need to bend your leg to the side. Then carefully shift into first (unsynchronized) gear with the right lever bent to the right, release the clutch, increase speed and ... Traction Avant is moving!

After some acceleration, it's time to change gears. “Just shift slowly and carefully, then there will be no need for an intermediate gas,” the museum worker advised us when handing over the car. And in fact - the lever moves to the desired position without any protests from the mechanics, the gears turn on silently with each other. We give gas and continue.

At full speed

The black car behaves surprisingly well on the road. However, the comfort of the suspension in today's scale is out of the question. However, this Citroen has independent front suspension and a rigid axle with torsion springs at the rear (in the latest versions, Citroen uses the famous hydro-pneumatic balls in the Traction Avant rear suspension, which makes it a testing ground for the incredible DS19).

A steering wheel the size of a family pizza helps, albeit unsteadily, steer the car on the desired course. A sufficiently large free play encourages plucking the clearance with constant swaying in both directions, but you get used to it even after the first meters. Even the heavy traffic of morning trucks along the River Saone soon ceases to intimidate when you get behind the wheel of a French veteran - especially since other drivers treat him with due respect.

And this is welcome, because no matter how every day an old Citroen with sensational brakes and road behavior, if you want to stop, you have to press the pedal quite hard - because of course there is no servo, not to mention the electronic assistant when braking. And if you stopped on a slope, you need to keep the pedal pressed as long as possible.

Drop by drop

Unpleasant winter weather heralds another leap in the development of automotive devices that occurred after 1935. The Traction Avant wipers, activated by a hard button above the interior mirror, only work as long as you hold it down. Soon we give up and leave drops of water in place. However, the horizontally split windshield provides a constant supply of cool air and, as a result, does not sweat and does not restrict the view ahead. With the air, tiny drops of rain fall on the faces of travelers, but we accept this inconvenience with calm understanding. We're already sitting in comfortable front seats - stuffed tightly, as the heating doesn't stand a chance against the airflow.

All the time it seems to you that the windows are open. Compared to modern cars, soundproofing is extremely poor, and as you wait at a traffic light, you can hear passersby talking surprisingly clearly.

But enough of the city traffic, let's go along the road - along which Leko drove his record kilometers. Here the car is in its element. A black Citroen flies down a winding road, and if you don't push the over-deserved veteran, you can experience a feeling of calm and pleasant driving, which even in bad weather cannot overshadow. However, it is not necessary to drive 1200 kilometers a day or 400 kilometers a year.

text: Rene Olma

a photo: Dino Ezel, Thierry Dubois