Citroen cars history & images

Citroen cars

Citroen cars

Citroen cars

Citroen cars

Citroen cars

Citroen cars

Andr� Citro�n built armaments for France during World War I and after the war he had a factory and no product. In 1919, the business started to produce automobiles, beginning with the conventional Type A. The Type A was designed by Jules Salomon, Chief Design Officer from Le Z�bre.

Citro�n was a keen marketer�he used the Eiffel Tower as the world's largest advertising sign, as recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. He also sponsored expeditions in Asia (Croisi�re Jaune) and Africa (Croisi�re Noire), intended to demonstrate the potential for motor vehicles equipped with the K�gresse track system to cross inhospitable regions. The expeditions conveyed scientists and journalists.

In 1924, Citro�n began a business relationship with American engineer Edward G. Budd. From 1899, Budd had worked to develop stainless steel bodies for railroad cars, for the Pullman in particular. Budd went on to manufacture steel bodies for many automakers, Dodge being his first big auto client. At the Paris Motor Show in October 1924, Citro�n introduced the Citro�n B10, the first all-steel body in Europe.

The cars were initially successful in the marketplace, but soon competitors (who were still using a wooden structure for their bodies), introduced new body designs. Citro�n did not redesign the bodies of his cars. Citro�ns still sold in large quantities in spite of not changing the body design, but the car's low price was the main selling point and Citro�n experienced heavy losses.

In an attempt to remedy the situation, Citro�n developed the Traction Avant. The Traction Avant had three revolutionary features: a unitary body with no separate frame, front wheel independent suspension, and front wheel drive. Citro�n commissioned Budd to create a prototype, which evolved into the 7 horsepower (CV), 32 hp (24 kW) Traction Avant of 1934.

In 1933, Citro�n also introduced the Rosalie, a passenger car with the world�s first commercially available diesel engine, developed with Harry Ricardo.