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121-480: In Portugal it became popularly known as "arrastadeira", which translates to "dragging machine". Whilst front-wheel drive and four-wheel independent suspension had been established in production cars by Auto Union , and subsequently by others a few years prior – the Traction Avant pioneered integrating these into a mass-production car with a crash resistant, largely unitary, monocoque body. Additionally,

242-473: A Panhard rod , trailing arms and torsion bars attached to a 75-millimetre (3 in) steel tube, which in turn was bolted to the main platform. Since it was considerably lighter than conventional designs of the era, it was capable of 100 km/h (62 mph), and consumed fuel only at the rate of 10 L/100 km (28 mpg ‑imp ; 24 mpg ‑US ). The scale of investment in production capacity reflected André Citroën 's ambitions for

363-472: A longitudinal, front-wheel drive layout , with the engine set well within the wheelbase, resulting in a very favourable weight distribution, aiding the car's advanced handling characteristics. The gearbox was placed at the front of the vehicle with the engine behind it and the differential between them, a layout shared with the later Renault 4 and 16 and first generation Renault 5 , but the opposite way round to many longitudinal front-wheel drive cars, such as

484-660: A Victoria Combination won its class in the Paris-Rambouillet-Paris event, covering the 100-kilometre course at 26 km/h (16 mph). In 1900 it completed 240 kilometres (150 mi) non-stop at 29 km/h (18 mph). When production ceased in mid-1901, over 400 units had been sold for 3,000 Francs (circa $ 600) each. A different concept was the Lohner–Porsche of 1897 with an electric motor in each front wheel, produced by Lohner-Werke in Vienna. It

605-562: A cheaper, and even more successful Trumpf Junior model, which sold over 100,000 in August 1939, and in the same year Citroën introduced the very successful Traction Avant models in France, over time selling them in the hundred thousands. Hupmobile made 2 experimental models with front-wheel drive in 1932 and 1934, but neither came into production In the late 1930s, the Cord 810/812 of

726-437: A claimed 120 km/h (75 mph) top speed. For berline/sedan versions the claimed maximum speed was 115 km/h (71 mph). For the last four model years, the 8 and 10 were replaced by the 7UA and 11UA, both called "MI" for Moteur Inversé ("reversed engine") as the engines, shared with Citroën's recently launched and much more strongly promoted front-wheel drive Traction models, were turned through 180 degrees to fit

847-419: A claimed maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). At 4.57 metres (179.9 in) long it was larger than its four-cylinder sibling. In most other respects it was mechanically identical to the 8CV. Commercially, however, it enjoyed greater success, possibly because of a wider range of available versions which included the lighter (and implicitly therefore faster) Rosalie 10 Légère. The larger Rosalie featured

968-465: A desperate shortage of raw materials for civilian industry and of petrol, but these factors were not apparent instantly. The Paris Motor Show scheduled for October 1939 was cancelled at short notice; Citroën's own planned announcements had involved the forthcoming 2CV model rather than any significant changes to the Traction. For the Traction Avant, the last "normal" year in terms of production levels

1089-456: A flexibly located electronically controlled cooling fan. This configuration was pioneered by Dante Giacosa in the 1964 Autobianchi Primula and popularized with the Fiat 128 . Fiat promoted in its advertising that mechanical features consumed only 20% of the vehicle's volume and that Enzo Ferrari drove a 128 as his personal vehicle. The 1959 Mini used a substantially different arrangement with

1210-402: A level of financial discipline that the company had hitherto heroically failed to apply. The prototype 22CVs were probably all destroyed. According to some sources they were fitted with the standard front and the ordinary four-cylinder engines and were sold as 11CVs. The 22CVs sometimes shown today are recreations, usually powered by Ford flathead engines . In addition to the 4-door body, before

1331-402: A lever in the boot to permit the ride height to be modified. A dashboard-mounted override control was fitted to allow the rear suspension to be locked in normal ride height when parked, so the car did not drop in response to loading and unloading. It automatically released when the clutch was operated when driving off. A belt driven high-pressure pump was added and an under-bonnet reservoir to hold

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1452-441: A massive increase in grip and handling over all but the most expensive cars on the market. It initially used flexing rubber instead of needle rollers at the inboard universal joints of the driveshafts but later changed to needle rollers, and GKN designed constant-velocity joint at each outboard end of the drive shafts to allow for steering movement. The Mini revived the use of front-wheel drive which had been largely abandoned since

1573-471: A more powerful transverse engine: accordingly, faster versions featured longitudinally mounted (north–south) engines. Despite these developments, however, by the end of the 1980s, almost all major European and Japanese manufacturers had converged around the Fiat-pioneered system of a transversely mounted engine with an "end-on" transmission with unequal length driveshafts. For example, Renault dropped

1694-466: A move upmarket for the entire business, since during the early 1930s Citroën appeared for a time to lose interest in the smaller cars which had filled their dealerships during the 1920s. The Rosalies, especially the larger 15CV versions, were offered with range of different body types: this was normal practice at the time. Though not radical in terms of subsequent Citroën launches, the look of the Rosalies

1815-479: A similar drop in sales volumes between 1939 and 1941, with just 341 cars produced during the first seven months of 1941. After the war, a single 11 B-normal was produced in 1946, in time to be presented at the October 1946 Paris Motor Show : production built up during 1947, but during the car's ten-year post-war production period, the shorter 11 B-light would, in France, continue to outsell the 11 B-normal. Initially

1936-411: A six-cylinder engine of 2,650  cc, the cylinders themselves being the same size as those of the 10CV. The length of the engine block required a lengthened bonnet/hood: the total length of the vehicle was 4.72 metres (185.8 in). Various body types and configurations were available, including a 15 Légère - effectively a 15CV with the shorter passenger cabin length of the 10CV - which was capable of

2057-399: A top speed of 72.6 mph (116.8 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 29.7 seconds. A fuel consumption of 25.2 miles per imperial gallon (11.2 L/100 km; 21.0 mpg ‑US ) was recorded. The test car cost £812 including taxes. A 2,866 cc (174.9 cu in) six-cylinder model was tested by the same magazine in 1954 and for this car

2178-576: A transverse-mounted engine behind the front axle. This design would continue for 3 decades in Germany. Buckminster Fuller adopted rear-engine, front-wheel drive for his three Dymaxion Car prototypes. Other German car producers followed: Stoewer offered a car with front-wheel drive in 1931, Adler in 1932 and Audi in 1933. Versions of the Adler Trumpf sold five-figure numbers from 1932 to 1938, totalling over 25,600 units. In 1934, Adler added

2299-758: A transversely installed engine was the Suzuki Suzulight , which was a small "city" car, called a kei car in Japanese. In 1955, the Polish producer FSO in Warsaw introduced the front-wheel-driven Syrena of its own design. In 1959 Austin Mini was launched by the British Motor Corporation , designed by Alec Issigonis as a response to the first oil crisis, the 1956 Suez Crisis , and

2420-438: A troubled and prolonged birth process, however, and was part of an ambitious investment programme which involved, also in 1934, the bankruptcy of the business, and its acquisition by Citroën's principal creditor . The patron himself died in 1935. In this troubled situation, availability of the larger Rosalies (although re-engined with a turned-around version of the new Traction's OHV four-cylinder engines) continued until 1938: it

2541-560: A walnut dash board with Jaeger instruments, Connolly Leather seats and door panels and a wool headlining. The exterior was fitted with United Kingdom bumpers and over-riders and a chrome grille, with the Citroën chevrons mounted behind. Some were fitted with a sunroof. Most of the Slough-built cars were right-hand drive, although a small number of British specification, left-hand drive cars were also built. The Traction Avant used

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2662-491: Is near the centre of the car, making the main component of its moment of inertia relatively low). Another result of this design is a lengthened chassis. Except for Citroën, after the 1930s, front-wheel drive would largely be abandoned for the following twenty years. Save the interruption of World War II , Citroën built some 3 ⁄ 4 million Traction Avants through 1957; adding their cheap 2CV people's car in 1948, and introducing an equally front-wheel driven successor for

2783-441: Is only through the distorting prism of subsequent events that its reputation has been diminished when set against the technical brilliance of its successor. All in all, 88,090 four-cylinder and 7,230 six-cylinder Rosalies were built (38,840 small 7/8's, and 49,250 bigger 10/11's). Of the total produced 8,400 were of the short-lived, facelifted B-series (NH) and around 15,000 were of the latter "MI" cars. The smallest Rosalie, like

2904-443: The 15/6 (launched June 1938), with a 2,867 cc (175.0 cu in) six. The 11 was an 11 CV, but curiously the 15/6 was in the 16 CV tax band. The 11 was built in two versions, the 11BL ( Légèr , or "light"), which was the same size as the 7 CV, and the 11B ( Normale , or "normal"), which had a longer wheelbase and wider track . For 1936, at the 29th Paris Motor Show in October 1935, various modifications were on show. At

3025-619: The 7 , unofficially the 7A . They continued calling the car 7 when the 7B model's larger engine pushed it into the 9 CV tax band. Other designations were 11 , 15/6 into the 16 CV tax band and 22 . In France, the Traction is known as "Reine de la Route" ("Queen of the Road"). In September 1939, France declared war on Germany, and in June 1940 the German Army rapidly invaded and occupied Northern France. The war years were characterised by

3146-415: The 7A was succeeded in June 1934 by the 7B which used a higher-power engine with its cylinders bored out by 6 mm to arrive at its limit of 78 mm of bore for 1,529  cc (93.3  cu in ) and provided two windscreen wipers in place of the single wiper on the original production cars. The manufacturer also took the opportunity to make a start on addressing some of the other initial "under

3267-475: The British Motor Corporation – moved over to the industry-standard solution for the Austin Maestro in 1983, and all its subsequent front-wheel-drive models. By reducing drivetrain weight and space needs, vehicles could be made smaller and more efficient without sacrificing acceleration. Integrating the powertrain with a transverse as opposed to a longitudinal layout, along with unibody construction and

3388-612: The Cadillac lineup) back to rear-wheel drive. There were relatively few rear-wheel-drive cars marketed in North America by the early 1990s; Chrysler 's car line-up was entirely front-wheel drive by 1990. GM followed suit in 1996 where its B-body line was phased out, where its sports cars (Camaro, Firebird, Corvette) were the only RWDs marketed; by the early 2000s, the Chevrolet Corvette and Cadillac Catera were

3509-483: The Citroën Type B of the first half of the 1920s, featured a four-cylinder motor of 1,452 cc , driving the rear wheels. The three-speed gear box featured synchromesh on the two higher ranges, and braking was provided by drum brakes on all four wheels. The car was 4.27 metres (168.1 in) long and offered a maximum speed of 90 km/h (56 mph). The 10CV offered a four-cylinder motor of 1,767 cc and

3630-492: The Douvrin engines used in the larger Renaults (20, 21, 25 and 30) used this longitudinal "forward" layout. The Saab Saab 99 , launched in 1968, also used a longitudinal engine with a transmission underneath with helical gears. The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado was the first U.S. front-wheel-drive car since the Cord 810 . It used a longitudinal engine placement for its V8, coupled with an unusual "split" transmission, which turned

3751-578: The Fiat 128 featured a transverse-mounted engine with unequal-length drive shafts and an innovative clutch release mechanism – an arrangement which Fiat had strategically tested on a previous production model, the Primula , from its less market-critical subsidiary, Autobianchi . Ready for production in 1964, the Primula featured a gear train offset from the differential and final drive with unequal length drive shafts . The layout enabled

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3872-535: The French Army lacked enthusiasm for the Traction Avant, believing it offered insufficient ground clearance for their needs. Nevertheless, by September 1939, roughly 250 had found their way into military service. With losses of cars at the frontier mounting, Citroën supplied a further 570 to the Army between February and May 1940, and subsequent deliveries probably took place before military defeat intervened. During

3993-617: The Great Depression , by 1932 the Cord L-29 was discontinued, with just 4,400 sold. The 1929 Ruxton sold just 200 cars built that year. The first successful consumer application came in 1929. The BSA (Birmingham Small Arms Company) produced the unique front-wheel-drive BSA three-wheeler. Production continued until 1936 during which time sports and touring models were available. In 1931 the DKW F1 from Germany made its debut, with

4114-620: The Prince Motor Company also developed a transmission-in-sump type layout for its first front wheel drive model, which after the company's takeover by Nissan , emerged as the Datsun 100A (Cherry) in 1971. In 1960 Lancia could evolve the project CemsaF11 of Antonio Fessia with the innovative Lancia Flavia for first time with motor Boxer on auxiliary frame for low centre of gravity. This scheme continued in Lancia until 1984 with

4235-466: The Saab 96 , Renault 12 and 18 and most Audi models. The gear change was set in the dashboard, with the lever protruding through a vertical, H-shaped gate. Because this vertical orientation could have resulted in the car dropping out of gear when the lever was in the upper positions (i.e. second or reverse gears), the gear-shift mechanism was locked when the mechanical clutch was engaged and released when

4356-458: The Taunus   P4 . The 1965 Triumph 1300 was designed for a longitudinal engine with the transmission underneath. Audi has also used a longitudinally mounted engine overhung over the front wheels since the 1970s. Audi is one of the few manufacturers which still uses this particular configuration. It allows the use of equal-length half shafts and the easy addition of all-wheel drive , but has

4477-839: The Tracta constant-velocity joint in 1926. In October 1928 a sensation at the 22nd Paris Motor Show was the Bucciali TAV-6. Six years before the appearance of the Citroën Traction Avant and more than two years before the launch of the DKW F1, the Bucciali TAV-6 featured front-wheel drive. Both German makers DKW in 1931 and Adler in 1933 bought Tracta licenses for their first front-wheel-drive cars. Imperia in Belgium and Rosengart in France manufactured

4598-964: The "15/6 H" – a variant of the 6-cylinder model 15/6 with a self-leveling , height-adjustable rear suspension, a field trial for the DS released the following year. Directly after the introduction of the Citroën ID, a simplified and more competitively priced version of the expensive DS model, production of the Traction Avant ended in July 1957. Over 23 years, 759,111 had been built, including 26,400 assembled in Slough in England, 31,750 assembled in Forest near Brussels, 1,823 assembled at Cologne in Germany, and 550 built in Copenhagen, Denmark. The total reflects

4719-509: The "LHS" hydraulic fluid. Many of the hydraulic parts were interchangeable with the early DS 19 models (which also had hydraulic disk brakes, hydraulically assisted steering and a hydraulically operated "semi-automatic" gearbox). These other hydraulic features were not fitted to the 15/6 H, which ceased production in 1956, one year after the arrival of the DS. Right-hand drive cars were built at Slough Trading Estate , England. The Slough version of

4840-671: The 11L was called the Light Fifteen and the long wheelbase 11 was called the Big Fifteen. This confusing terminology referred to the British fiscal tax rating of the time, which was higher than the French, so the 11CV engine was 15HP in England. The 15/6 model was called Big Six in reference to its 6-cylinder engine . A 1,911 cc (116.6 cu in) Light Fifteen tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1951 had

4961-660: The 1928 Racing FWD in the UK, and Cord , which produced the L29 from 1929 to 1932 in the United States. Ultimately, the inline engine front wheel drive layout of cars like the Citroën Avant was to be a dead end and virtually all modern mass-produced front wheel drive cars use the transverse engine layout, as pioneered by DKW from 1931. The Traction Avant's structure was a welded unitary body / chassis . Most other cars of

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5082-443: The 1930s. The transversely mounted engine combined with front-wheel drive was popularized by the 1959 Mini ; there the transmission was built into the sump of the engine, and drive was transferred to it via a set of primary gears . Another variant transmission concept was used by Simca in the 1960s keeping the engine and transmission in line, but transverse mounted and with unequal length driveshafts. This has proven itself to be

5203-459: The 1941 cars except that headlight surrounds were now painted rather than finished in chrome. By the end of December 1945, the year's production had reached 1,525. Currency depreciation is evident from the car's listed price, which had been 26,800 francs in January 1940, and had risen to 110,670 francs in October 1945. In 1945, the car was the only model available from Citroën, and as another sign of

5324-596: The 1948 Saab 92 . In 1946, English car company Lloyd cars produced the Lloyd 650 , a front-wheel-drive roadster. The two-stroke, two-cylinder motor was mounted transversely in the front and connected to the front wheels through a four-speed synchronised gearbox. The high price and lacklustre performance doomed its production. Only 600 units were produced from 1946 to 1950. In 1946 in Italy, Antonio Fessia created his Cemsa Caproni F11 , with 7 examples produced. His innovation

5445-420: The 1986 Ford Taurus . By the mid-1980s, most formerly rear-wheel-drive Japanese models were front-wheel drive, and by the mid-1990s, most American brands only sold a handful of rear-wheel-drive models. The vast majority of front-wheel-drive vehicles today use a transversely mounted engine with "end-on" mounted transmission, driving the front wheels via driveshafts linked via constant velocity (CV) joints , and

5566-575: The Adler under the licenses using the Tracta CV joints. During the second World War, all British vehicles, U.S. Jeeps made by Ford and Dodge command cars used Tracta CV joints. Russia and Germany also used the Tracta CV joints, but without the licensing. The United States only saw a few limited production experiments like the Cord L-29 of 1929, the first American front-wheel-drive car to be offered to

5687-447: The French manufacturer Société Parisienne patented their front-wheel-drive articulated vehicle concept which they manufactured as a Victoria Combination . It was variously powered by 1.75 or 2.5 horsepower (1.30 or 1.86 kW) De Dion-Bouton engine or a water cooled 3.5 horsepower (2.6 kW) Aster engine. The engine was mounted on the front axle and so was rotated by the tiller steering. The name Victoria Combination described

5808-543: The GP World Championship in 1959. Unlike the Volkswagen alloy case used by Hewland , the Traction Avant case could not be used upside down, as the input shaft height was much higher in relation to the output shaft axis so that the oil level needed to lubricate the gears would exceed the then unreliable input shaft oil seal height if used upside down. So the engine needed to sit high above the ground with

5929-596: The Rosalies received a facelift which involved applying a gently raked angle to the front grill. The post facelift versions that appeared were known as the NH versions, or also as the B-series. NH stood for "Nouvel Habillage" (literally " New Clothing "). 1934 was also the year that saw the introduction of the Rosalie's mould-shattering successor, the front-wheel-drive semi-monocoque Citroën Traction Avant . The Traction endured

6050-891: The Sydney motoring industry and invented a system that used a "spherical radial gear" that was fitted to what is believed to have been a Standard (built by the Standard Motor Company of England). A photo of the car with the system fitted is available from the Mitchell Library and the patent design drawing is still available from the Australian Patent Office. reference; "Gilltraps Australian Cars from 1879 – A history of cars built in Australia" (authors Gilltrap T and M) ISBN 0 85558 936 1 (Golden Press Pty Ltd) The next application of front-wheel drive

6171-472: The TA, the DS model, in 1955. Front-wheel drive continued with the 1948 Citroën 2CV , where the air-cooled lightweight aluminium flat twin engine was mounted ahead of the front wheels, but used Hooke type universal joint driveshaft joints, and 1955 Citroën DS , featuring the mid-engine layout. Panhard of France, DKW of Germany and Saab of Sweden offered exclusively front-wheel-drive cars, starting with

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6292-463: The Traction Avant unit was about the only candidate, as the Volkswagen magnesium alloy transaxle was much smaller and lacked the space needed to house heftier gears needed for Formula One . The Traction Avant transaxle was used on Cooper T43 , which won a F1 championship race as the first mid-mounted engine car to do so in 1958, and on its successors Cooper T45 , T51 and T53 . Cooper T51 won

6413-399: The Traction Avant went from appearing rakish in 1934 to familiar and somewhat old fashioned by 1955. The suspension was very advanced for the car's era. The front wheels were independently sprung , using a torsion bar and wishbone suspension arrangement, where most contemporaries used live axle and cart-type leaf spring designs. The rear suspension was a simple steel beam axle and

6534-549: The United States managed a bit better than its predecessor one decade earlier. These vehicles featured a layout that places the engine behind the transmission, running "backwards," (save for the Cord, which drove the transmission from the front of the engine). The basic front-wheel-drive layout provides sharp turning, and better weight distribution creates "positive handling characteristics" due to its low polar inertia and relatively favourable weight distribution. (The heaviest component

6655-557: The United States, and even competed in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup and the French Grand Prix . In 1912 he began manufacturing a line of wheeled fire engine tractors which used his front-wheel-drive system, but due to lack of sales this venture failed. In Australia in 1915 G.J. Hoskins designed and was granted a patent for his front-wheel-drive system. Based in Burwood NSW Mr Hoskins was a prominent member of

6776-554: The approximate engine size of each model. After the introduction of the new Traction Avant , the lineup was modified and at the 1934 Paris Salon the two smaller models became the 7UA and the 11UA, now with the overhead-valve engines from the Traction. Starting with the 1933 model year Citroen offered the 1,766 cc 11UD diesel engine option. At introduction, the larger Rosalies replaced the Citroëns C4 and C6, themselves launched respectively in 1928 and 1929. They also represented

6897-465: The bellhousing spacer (engine to transaxle adapter) suggested by Ron Tauranac , named for Jack Knight who designed the modification and made the straight-cut gears. The height offset created by the spur gear set enabled the engine to sit lower, and became the reason why Cooper T53 was called the 'Lowline', which not only made Brabham the World Champion in 1960 but also became the precursor to

7018-429: The boom in bubble cars that followed. It was the first production front-wheel-drive car with a watercooled inline four-cylinder engine mounted transversely. This allowed eighty percent of the floor plan for the use of passengers and luggage. The majority of modern cars use this configuration. Its progressive rate rubber sprung independent suspension, low centre of gravity, and wheel at each corner with radial tyres, gave

7139-508: The car had been kept remarkably quiet outside the walls of the Quai de Javel plant . Volume production formally started on 19 April 1934. Although the revolutionary unitary bodyshell was, according to most reports, not affected by the rushed launch schedule, problems with transmission joints and the hydraulic brakes – another "first" in a volume car in Europe – reflected the financial pressure to get

7260-419: The car into production as quickly as possible. Traction Avant, which translates as "front wheel drive", is not the official name. The car was named according to the French fiscal horsepower rating, or CV, used to determine annual car tax levels. However, manufacturers did not change the model name every time a change of engine size caused a change in fiscal horsepower. For example, in 1934, Citroën introduced

7381-494: The car was also an early adopter of rack and pinion steering . Although the car's name emphasized its front-wheel drive power delivery ("Traction Avant" literally means "front traction"), the car stood out at least as much by its much lower profile and stance – made possible by the absence of a separate vehicle frame or chassis under the car's mostly unitary body – sharply distinguishing it visually from its taller contemporaries. The Traction Avant, French for front-wheel drive ,

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7502-434: The car. Site preparation began during the winter of 1932/33, and on 15 March 1933 demolition of the existing 30,000 m (320,000 sq ft) factory started. Construction of the new factory started on 21 April, and by the end of August the building's shell had been erected, four times the size of the factory that it replaced, and using 5,000 t (4,900 long tons; 5,500 short tons) of structural iron and steel. All this

7623-440: The cars were known as favourites among gangsters such as Pierrot le Fou and his Traction gang . The original model was a small saloon with a 2,910 mm (115 in) wheelbase, and a 1,303  cc (79.5  cu in ) engine :from a 72 × 80 mm bore and stroke, this model was called the 7A . All the models have front suicide doors with rear conventional doors. After just 2 months, with about 7,000 cars produced,

7744-462: The clutch pedal was depressed. The result of this layout, along with pendant pedals, umbrella-type handbrake control and front bench seats, was a very spacious interior, with a flat and unobstructed floor. The low-slung arrangement also eliminated the need for running boards to step into or out of the vehicle. These features made them ideal for use as limousines and taxi cabs, and they were quite popular among drivers and passengers alike. Until 1953, black

7865-442: The disadvantage that it makes it difficult to achieve 50/50 weight distribution (although they remedy this in four-wheel-drive models by mounting the gearbox at the rear of the transaxle ). The Subaru 1000 appeared in 1966 using front-wheel drive mated to a flat-4 engine, with the driveshafts of equal length extending from the transmission, which addressed some of the issues of the powertrain being somewhat complex and unbalanced in

7986-557: The end production of Lancia Gamma and successfully cloned until today by Subaru . Lancia, however also made front-wheel drive its flagship even in sport cars as the winner of the Rally, Lancia Fulvia , and then with large-scale models with excellent road qualities and performances including Lancia Beta , Lancia Delta , Lancia Thema including the powerful Lancia Thema 8.32 with engine Ferrari and all subsequent models. Ford introduced front-wheel drive to its European customers in 1962 with

8107-439: The engine and gearbox to be located side by side without sharing lubricating fluid while orienting the cooling fan toward fresh air flow. By using the Primula as a test-bed, Fiat was able to sufficiently resolve the layout's disadvantages, including uneven side-to-side power transmission, uneven tire wear and potential torque steer , the tendency for the power of the engine alone to steer the car under heavy acceleration. The problem

8228-807: The engine compartment – the Alfa Romeo Alfasud (and its replacement, the 1983 Alfa 33 as well as the Alfa 145/146 up to the late 1990s) also used the same layout. Honda also introduced several small front-wheel drive vehicles, with the N360 and N600 , the Z360 and Z600 in 1967, the Honda 1300 in 1969, followed by the Honda Civic in 1972 and the Honda Accord in 1976. Also in the 1970s and 1980s,

8349-412: The engine driving the front wheels through an offset final drive and unequal-length driveshafts, combined with MacPherson struts and an independently located radiator – subsequently became common with competitors and arguably an industry standard. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard drove a mass changeover of cars in the U.S. to front-wheel drive. The change began in 1978, with

8470-517: The engine power 180 degrees. Power then went to a differential mounted to the transmission case, from which half-shafts took it to the wheels. The driveline was set fairly at centre-point of the wheels for better weight distribution, though this raised the engine, requiring lowered intake systems. Little known outside of Italy, the Primula is today primarily known for innovating the modern economy-car layout. – Hemmings Motor News , August 2011 Front-wheel-drive layout had been highly impacted by

8591-533: The engine. The layout often required the engine be removed to service the clutch. This Active Tourer MPV wants to be more stable than a BMW M3, and using the Dante Giacosa-pattern front-wheel-drive layout compacts the mechanicals and saves space for people in the reduced overall length of what will surely become a production 1-series tall-sedan crossover. – Robert Cumberford , Automobile Magazine , March 2013 As engineered by Dante Giacosa ,

8712-409: The ensuing months became a race against time to finish the development of the car and tool up for its production before his investors lost patience. In the end, the first car was presented at Citroën's huge Paris showroom on 18 April 1934, by which time principal dealers had already had their own private unveiling on 23 March. There had been much chatter and speculation; before April 1934 the details of

8833-551: The era were based on a separate frame (chassis) onto which the non-structural body (" coachwork ") was built. Unitary construction (also called Unit Body or "Unibody" in the US) results in a lighter vehicle, and is now used for virtually all car construction. This unitary body saved 70 kg (150 lb) in steel per car. It was mass-produced, using innovative technology purchased from the American firm Budd Company . Weight reduction

8954-522: The establishment of Brabham as a Formula One constructor. The development costs of the Traction Avant, combined with the redevelopment of its factory, were very high and Citroën declared bankruptcy in late 1934. The largest creditor was Michelin , who then owned Citroën from 1934 until 1976 . Under Michelin, Citroën was run as a research laboratory, a test bed for their radial tires and new automotive technologies. In 1954, Citroën's experiments with hydropneumatic technology produced its first result,

9075-563: The factory's output. To expand the customer base, the car was made as an extended length Familiale (family) model with three rows of seats, seating 9 adults. The middle row could be folded away when not in use, making for cavernous rear legroom when configured with two rows. This layout was carried forward to 1991 with the Citroën DS Familiale and the Citroën CX Familiale. The first hatchback automobile

9196-618: The first front-wheel-drive car in the world. Henry's car was reported in the English press at the time and featured in the English magazine Autocar , after which the car was named. Two prototypes of the Autocar were built and the Austral Otis Company was going to go into business with Henry to manufacture Henry's car but the cost of the car was too prohibitive as it could not compete with the cost of imported cars. In 1898–99,

9317-402: The front axles of almost every four-wheel or all-wheel drive vehicle. Neither automobile was particularly successful in the open market. In spite of the Cord's hallmark innovation, using CV joints, and being competitively priced against contemporaneous alternatives, the buyers demographic were expecting more than the car's 80 mph (130 km/h) top speed, and combined with the effect of

9438-419: The front of the vehicle, powering the front axle . It is possibly the world's first front-wheel-drive automobile, but it never saw series production, with just one prototype made. In 1898, Latil , in France, devised a front-wheel-drive system for motorising horse-drawn carts. In 1899 the inventor Henry Sutton designed and built one of Australia's first cars, called The Sutton Autocar. This car may have been

9559-452: The front, painted front grilles replaced chrome ones and the headlight covers were restyled. The changes at the back were more practical and involved an opening luggage hatch/lid: it was no longer necessary to clamber over the back seats to get at the luggage space at the rear of the passenger cabin (although the overall size of the luggage locker remained at this stage rather restricted). The opening boot/trunk lid made it necessary to reposition

9680-549: The introduction of the first American-built transverse-engined cars, the Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni (based on the European designed Simca Horizon ), followed by the 1980 Chevrolet Citation and numerous other vehicles. Meanwhile, European car makers, that had moved to front-wheel drive decades before, began to homogenize their engine arrangement only in this decade, leaving Saab , Audi (and Volkswagen ) as

9801-470: The lightweight, two-seater trailer commonly known as a Victoria, combined with the rear axle and drive mechanism from a motor tricycle that was placed in front to achieve front wheel drive. It also known as the Eureka . By 1899 Victoria Combinations were participating in motoring events such as the 371 km (231 mi) Paris– St Malo race, finishing 23rd overall and second(last) in the class. In October

9922-527: The model on which almost all modern FWD vehicles are now based. Peugeot and Renault on their jointly developed small car engine of the 1970s where the 4-cylinder block was canted over to reduce the overall height of the engine with the transmission mounted on the side of the crankcase in what became popularly known as the "suitcase" arrangement ( PSA X engine ). The tendency of this layout to generate unwanted transmission "whine" has seen it fall out of favour. Also, clutch changes required engine removal. In Japan,

10043-481: The most common layout for a front-wheel-drive car is with the engine and transmission at the front of the car, mounted transversely. Other layouts of front-wheel drive that have been occasionally produced are a front-engine mounted longitudinally, a mid-engine layout and a rear-engine layout. Experiments with front-wheel-drive cars date to the early days of the automobile. The world's first self-propelled vehicle, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot 's 1769/1770 "fardier à vapeur" ,

10164-522: The oil sump space below, which was not needed by dry-sump racing engines. But the French transaxle was used by several racing car constructors in the late 1950s to 60s with various levels of success. In the case of Jack Brabham , who personally visited the ERSA foundry in Paris to discuss a possibility to strengthen the case, the transaxle became known as "ERSA Knight" with an additional spur-gear set mounted in

10285-662: The only RWD cars offered by General Motors until the introduction of the Sigma platform . After the phaseout of the Ford Panther platform (except for the Mustang), Ford automobiles (including the Transit Connect van) manufactured for the 2012 model year to present are front-wheel drive; its D3 platform (based on a Volvo platform) has optional all-wheel drive. Citro%C3%ABn Rosalie The original Citroën Rosalie

10406-551: The only manufacturers offering a front-drive longitudinal engine layout. Years before this was the most common layout in Europe, with examples like Citroën DS , Renault 12 , Renault 5 , Renault 25 (a Chrysler LH ancestor) Alfa Romeo 33 , Volkswagen Passat , etc. This transition can be exemplified in the Renault 21 that was offered with disparate engine configurations. The 1.7-litre version featured an "east–west" (transversely) mounted engine, but Renault had no gearbox suitable for

10527-963: The pre-war DKW F8 and F9 reappeared as the IFA F8 and IFA F9 in 1949, followed by the AWZ P70 in 1955, the Wartburg 311 in 1956 and the Trabant in 1958, all with front-wheel drive. The P70 and Trabant had Duroplast bodies, and the Trabant had both a monocoque body and a transversely mounted engine, a modern design in some ways. In 1950 West German makers also reintroduced front-wheel-drive cars: DKW had lost its production facilities in Eisenach (now in DDR) and reestablished itself in Ingolstadt. A version of

10648-570: The pre-war F9 was introduced as the DKW F89. Borgward introduced 2 new makes with front-wheel drive, the Goliath and the Lloyd in 1950. Gutbrod also came with a car in 1950; the Superior, but withdrew the car in 1954 and concentrated on other products. This car is best remembered for its Bosch fuel-injection . In 1955, one of the first Japanese manufacturers to utilize front-wheel drive with

10769-440: The production stoppage during World War II. Front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive ( FWD ) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature a transverse engine , rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive vehicles. By far

10890-725: The public, and a few months later the Ruxton automobile . The Cord L-29's drive system was again inspired by racing, copying from the Indianapolis 500 -dominating racers, using the same de Dion layout and inboard brakes. Moreover, the Auburn (Indiana) built Cord was the first ever front-wheel drive production car to use constant-velocity joints . These very specific components allow motive power to be delivered to steered wheels more seamlessly than universal joints , and have become common on almost every front-wheel-drive car, including on

11011-501: The radical "Pausodyne" suspension was modified, now incorporating conical rubber rings at the front. In May 1936, recently developed new technology was added - rack and pinion steering replaced the relatively imprecise "worm and roller" steering system. Despite Citroën's attention to the perceived shortcomings of the earlier Tractions, significant numbers of customers still opted for the manufacturer's old rear-wheel drive models which, in 1936, still accounted for more than 10 per cent of

11132-403: The rear number plate, previously under most circumstances centrally mounted just above the bumper, and now mounted on the rear-wing on the left side. On the original cars, it had been possible to access the fuel tank using capped filler openings on either side, but now the left fuel filler cap was removed, and filling the fuel tank had to be done using the filler on the right side. Two months later,

11253-423: The rear-wheel drive Rosalies. While "7" usually referred to tax horsepower in the French market, the Traction 7C's 1,628 cc engine was actually a 9 CV unit - it had had to be made larger and more powerful, in order to reach the design parameter of a 100 km/h (62 mph) top speed. In addition to the three official models/engines of 8 CV , 10 CV and 15 CV, listed above, the 7 CV and 11 CV engines of

11374-520: The same transverse-mounted, forward-motor layout as modern front-wheel-drive automobiles. It even resembled the smaller version of its popular Alfa Romeo Giulia . However, due to the financial difficulties in post-war Italy, the 33 never saw production. Had Alfa-Romeo succeed in producing 33, it would have preceded the Mini as the first "modern" European front-wheel-drive compact car. The German car industry resumed from WW2 in 1949/1950. In East Germany (DDR),

11495-482: The skin" teething problems. By September 1934, 15,620 7Bs had been produced before it, in turn, was succeeded in October 1934 by the 7C with an even higher-output 1,628 cc (99.3 cu in) from a 72 × 100 mm bore and stroke engine. Later models were the 11CV (launched in November 1934), which had a 78 × 100 mm bore and stroke of 1,911 cc (116.6 cu in) four-cylinder engine , and

11616-471: The success of small, inexpensive cars, especially the British Mini . As engineered by Alec Issigonis , the compact arrangement located the transmission and engine sharing a single oil sump – despite disparate lubricating requirements – and had the engine's radiator mounted to the side of the engine, away from the flow of fresh air and drawing heated rather than cool air over

11737-445: The times, customers not able to supply their own tires were charged an additional 9,455 francs for a set of five. In May 1946, presumably reflecting an easing of the war-time tire shortage, the car could at last be purchased with tires at no extra cost, but by now the overall price of an 11 B-light had risen to 121,180 francs. The 11 B-normal model, differentiated from the 11 B-light by its 3,090 mm (122 in) wheelbase, underwent

11858-574: The top speed found was 81.1 mph (130.5 km/h), acceleration from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) 21.2 seconds and fuel consumption 18.6 miles per imperial gallon (15.2 L/100 km; 15.5 mpg ‑US ). The test car cost £1,349 including taxes. Models assembled in Slough had to consist of 51 per cent UK parts to make them exempt from the import taxes imposed by the UK government to protect British vehicle manufacturers from foreign competition. The Slough-built cars used 12-volt Lucas electrics, headlights, dynamo and starter. The interior had

11979-580: The torque-converter alone to match engine revolutions to the drivetrain revolutions, much like the Dynaflow Transmission introduced later in the US. The car was supposed to have a less spartan interior than the other Traction Avants and it was to feature Citroën's own new V8 engine . About twenty prototypes were made, but the project was canceled at the start of 1935 after the company's bankruptcy and resulting Michelin takeover, which rapidly led to

12100-473: The transmission in the sump, and the cooling fan drawing hot air from its side-facing location. Volvo Cars has switched its entire lineup after the 900 series to front-wheel drive. Swedish engineers at the company have said that transversely mounted engines allow for more crumple zone area in a head-on collision. American auto manufacturers are now shifting larger models (such as the Chrysler 300 and most of

12221-586: The transmission-in-sump " Suitcase " engine that it had co-developed with Peugeot in the 1970s for its compact models, starting with the Renault 9 in 1982. Peugeot-Citroen themselves also moved over to the end-on gearbox solution when it phased out the Suitcase unit in favour of the TU-series engine in 1986. Nissan also abandoned the transmission-in-sump concept for its N12-series Cherry/Pulsar in 1982. Perhaps symbolically, British Leyland themselves, heirs to

12342-473: The use of constant velocity jointed drive axles, along with front wheel drive has evolved into the modern-day mass-market automobile. Some suggest that the introduction of the modern Volkswagen Golf in 1974, from a traditional U.S. competitor, and the introduction of the 1973 Honda Civic , and the 1976 Honda Accord served as a wake-up call for the "Big Three" (only Chrysler already produced front-wheel-drive vehicles in their operations outside North America). GM

12463-551: The war many of the cars were reregistered with "WH..." (Wehrmacht Heer/Army command) license plates, having been requisitioned by the German Army . These gave reliable service both in France and further afield, notably in Libya and Stalingrad . Traction Avants were also favoured by the Resistance , and as occupation gave way to Liberation they turned up all over France with FFI inscribed proudly on their doors. Less gloriously,

12584-478: The war, the factory also produced a 2-door coupé with a rumble seat , and a convertible also with a rumble seat . The six-cylinder, 2876 cc model was used as a "Test Bed" for the introduction of the hydropneumatic suspension that underpinned the revolutionary Citroën DS 19 that was launched at the Paris Motor Show in 1955. The suspension was fitted to the rear suspension of the 15/6 H with

12705-484: Was designed by André Lefèbvre and Flaminio Bertoni in late 1933 / early 1934. The Traction Avant was a late entrant into the growing front-wheel drive market in Europe, competing with the well established DKW and Adler models and joining other entrants at around the same time such as the BSA Scout . Front-wheel drive had appeared in the previous decade through luxury vehicle manufacturers Alvis , which built

12826-591: Was 1939, and 8,120 of the 7C model, with 2,910 mm (115 in) wheelbase and 1,628 cc (99.3 cu in), were produced. This fell to 1,133 in 1940, which was the first year when the plant suffered serious bomb damage – on this occasion caused by a German air attack – on 3 June 1940. Production of the cars was suspended in June 1941; by then a further 154 had been produced in the previous six-month period. The 7C continued to appear in Citroën price-lists until March 1944, but production of this smaller engined 7CV

12947-478: Was a front-wheel-driven three-wheeled steam-tractor. It then took at least a century for the first experiments with mobile internal combustion engines to gain traction. Sometime between 1895 and 1898 the Austrian brothers and bicycle producers Franz, Heinrich and Karl Gräf (see Gräf & Stift ) commissioned the technician Josef Kainz to build a voiturette with a one-cylinder De Dion-Bouton engine fitted in

13068-473: Was a light-weight racing car that established a succession of records at the Montlhéry racing circuit . More generally the Rosalie was a range of three models/sizes of automobile that comprised the core of Citroën's model range between 1932 and 1938. The three models were originally designated respectively the 8CV, the 10CV and the 15CV, the numbers defining the cars' fiscal horsepower which in turn defined

13189-411: Was a motivation for Citroën that American manufacturers of that time did not have. This method of construction was viewed with great suspicion in many quarters, with doubts about its strength. A type of crash test was conceived, taking the form of driving the car off a cliff, to illustrate its great inherent resilience. The novel design made the car very low-slung relative to its contemporaries –

13310-414: Was achieved while continuing to produce several hundred Rosalies every day. With characteristic showmanship, André Citroën celebrated by inviting 6,000 guests – mostly dealers and agents and others who would be involved in selling and promoting the car – to a spectacular banquet in the new and, at this stage, still empty factory, on 8 October 1933. Citroën's gesture quickly came to be seen as hubristic , as

13431-814: Was called the 11 CV Commerciale (commercial), and was built on this same elongated chassis. On this model, the tailgate was in two halves, the lower of which folded down to form a platform, and carried the spare wheel. The upper opening cut into the roof level. A one-piece top-hinged tailgate was introduced when the Commerciale resumed production after World War II . This car was marketed to grocers, butchers, and other tradesmen. Left-hand drive versions were built in Paris and Forest , Belgium . 550 additional cars were built in Copenhagen , Denmark for tax purposes - special 2-door commercial vans. Citroën planned two variants that never entered production, since there

13552-415: Was developed by Ferdinand Porsche in 1897 based on a concept developed by American inventor Wellington Adams . Porsche also raced it in 1897. J. Walter Christie of the United States patented a design for a front-wheel-drive car, the first prototype of which he built in 1904. He promoted and demonstrated several such vehicles, notably with transversely mounted engines, by racing at various speedways in

13673-493: Was even later with the 1979 Vauxhall Astra / Opel Kadett . Captive imports were the US car makers initial response to the increased demand for economy cars . The popularity of front-wheel drive began to gain momentum, with the 1981 Ford Escort , the 1982 Nissan Sentra , and the 1983 Toyota Corolla . Front-wheel drive became the norm for mid-sized cars starting with the 1982 Chevrolet Celebrity , 1982 Toyota Camry , 1983 Dodge 600 , 1985 Nissan Maxima , 1986 Honda Legend , and

13794-488: Was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, 30 May 1925. However, the idea of front-wheel drive languished outside the motor racing arena as few manufacturers attempted the same for production automobiles. Alvis Cars did introduce a commercial model of the front-wheel drive 12/50 racer in 1928, but it was not a success. In France, Jean-Albert Grégoire and Pierre Fenaille developed

13915-514: Was insufficient funding to develop them, except as running prototype vehicles. One was an automatic transmission -equipped model, based on the Sensaud de Lavaud automatic transmission, the other a 22 CV model with a 3.8 litre V8 (bore: 78 mm, stroke: 100 mm, 3822.7 cc). The transmission (which was actually originally designed for the Citroën) was a "gearless" automatic , using

14036-486: Was largely solved by making the shorter driveshaft solid, and the longer one hollow, to ensure both shafts experienced elastic twist which was roughly the same. After the 128, Fiat further demonstrated the layout's flexibility, re-configurating the 128 drive train as a mid-engined layout for the Fiat X1/9 . The compact, efficient Giacosa layout – a transversely-mounted engine with transmission mounted beside

14157-409: Was not resumed after the war. For the more powerful 1911 cc engined 11 B-light models, the equivalent figures were 27,473 units produced in 1939, 4,415 in 1940 and 2,032 for 1941, though for this model production in 1941 ended only in November 1941 so the figure for that year represents 11 months of production. In 1945, production restarted only slowly: the 11 B-light reappeared very little changed from

14278-532: Was significantly more modern than that of the earlier C4 and C6 models. However, the real revolution at Citroën during these years involved production technology. André Citroën had drawn practical inspiration from his 1912 visit to Henry Ford's then new Highland Park Ford Plant in Michigan , and in 1932 Citroën was still a European leader in the application of assembly line manufacturing. Rosalies were competitively but apparently profitably priced. In 1934 all

14399-424: Was the only colour available. Another technical significance of Traction Avant was the cast aluminium alloy transaxle , which was quite radical at the time. As well as being a considerable part of the weight savings, the manufacturing facility for this transaxle contributed to the below mentioned financial crisis. But when John Cooper looked for a light transaxle case for Formula One rear engine revolution ,

14520-669: Was the supercharged Alvis 12/50 racing car designed by George Thomas Smith-Clarke and William M. Dunn of Alvis Cars of the United Kingdom. This vehicle was entered in the 1925 Kop Hill Climb in Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire on 28 March 1925. Harry Arminius Miller of Menomonie, Wisconsin designed the Miller 122 front-wheel drive race-car that was entered in the 1925 Indianapolis 500 , which

14641-401: Was to create the happy combination of a low centre of gravity boxer engine (flat four) with a special frame. Due to post-war financial problems Cemsa could not continue production, but the project was resumed when taken on by Lancia in the 50s. In 1954, Alfa-Romeo had experimented with its first front-wheel-drive compact car named "33" (not related to the sports car similarly named "33"). It had

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