Rear View Mirror: Andre's GIANT sucess

Sunday Mirror, Mar 14, 2004 by Brian Twomey

ANDRE Citroen had a background in armaments and industrial gear manufacture before setting up his own company in 1919 producing the first Citroen, the Model A.

It was a huge success because it was affordable and yet came with luxuries such as a removable hood and electric lighting.

In 1934 Citroen rose to prominence by producing the first front wheel drive car for sale, the infamous Traction Avant. Sadly, Andre died shortly after this car, a huge risk, went on sale.

Such was the success of the Traction Avant that it remained in production for 21 years.

Another huge success story was the 2CV, launched in 1948 and only ceased production in 1990!

The 1955 DS also had a long lifespan, helped by its technical innovation with its gas and fluid suspension, semi-automatic gearboxes and powered disc brakes. 1,455,746 of these were built until 1975.

When not producing cars for the people, Citroen indulged in a little exotica. The SM of 1970 had a Maserati engine and hydropneumatic suspension. The 2.8 (later 3.0) Maserati V6 gave the SM 140mph performance in 1970.

The CX of 1974 was one of the company's most innovative models, still cutting edge when production ended in 1991 after over a million were built.