First introduced by Citroen in 1934, the Traction Avant (French for front drive) was very advanced for it's day, and set a trend for building technically advanced cars which continued with the DS, CX and SM. The Traction Avant as it's name suggests had front wheel drive (unusual in it's day) and had a choice of four and six cylinder engines. It had a manual 3 speed transmission with the gear lever on the dashboard. Post war cars had the large boot as seen on this model, greatly increasing luggage capacity.
The Traction Avant is synonymous with film images of the French Resistance in occupied France during World War II (it appeared to be their vehicle of choice, and had other TV roles such as the transport of TV detective "Inspector Maigret". The Family Von Trapp used one to escape the Nazi's in the movie "The Sound of Music".
The car cost Citroen so much to develop that company founder Andre Citroen had to sell out to Michelin. It remained in production until 1957, and was also made in England (in Citroen's Slough factory) from 1939-1940 and again from 1948-1955.
Maisto make this model, and it is not bad for a budget priced 1:18th car. They make it in several colour schemes but my favourite is this red and black two tone combination. All four doors open, the front doors being "suicide" doors as they are hinged from the B-pillar and open backwards. The boot opens too, and the hood is hinged along the midline of the car, and both halves open to reveal a poorly detailed engine. The interior is fairly basic, but appears accurate. A weak point I feel are the wheels, as the red main body of each wheel is unpainted red plastic, which doesn't match the body colour. Perhaps if I ever find the time I'll paint them a nice gloss red!
Overall I give this model 5/10.
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