1951 Citroen Traction Avant Saloon

The Traction Avant, French for 'front wheel drive,' was designed by Andre Lefebvre and Flaminio Bertoni in late 1933 and early 1934. It was the world's first front-wheel drive steel monocoque production car. Its development costs, along with factory retooling, forced Citroen into bankruptcy in 1934. Creditor and tire manufacturer Michelin took over and owned Citroen until 1976. Michelin used Citroen as a research laboratory, testing radial tires and new automotive technologies; this particular car featured radial tires from the factory as new.

The Traction Avan had a welded steel unibody, when most other cars were based on a separate frame on which the body was built. This results in a lighter vehicle, and is now used for virtually all car construction, with body -on -frame remaining for trucks. This car was very low -slung relative to its contemporaries; it was novel upon introduction in 1934, but somewhat dated by the mid-1950s.

The suspension was advanced for the era, with front wheels independently sprung, using a torsion bar and wishbone arrangement. The rear suspension was a steel beam axle and Panhard rod, trailing arms and torsion bars attached to a steel tube, which was bolted to the body. The TA's lightweight design allowed speeds of 62 mph and fuel economy of 24 mpg.

The car features a 1.9L four-cylinder engine, along with a lightweight, cast-aluminum transaxle. It was available in many variants over its production life, and was built in five countries. As a mid-size luxury car, it saw frequent use as a taxi, and also as a limousine. Until 1953, it was only available in black.