Citroën was founded in 1919 by French industrialist Andre-Gustave Citroën. Within eight years, Citroën had become Europe’s largest car manufacturer and the fourth largest in the world. In 1934, Citroën secured its reputation for innovation with its Traction Avant. The new Citroën was Europe’s first massproduced, front-wheel drive automobile and, additionally, it was one of the first production cars to feature a monocoque body. Achieving swift development of the Traction Avant and increasing its production facilities at the same time was too costly and overly ambitious for Citroën, and caused the financial ruin of the company. In December 1934, despite assistance from the Michelin company, Citroën filed for bankruptcy. Within the month, Michelin – already the car manufacturer’s largest creditor – became its principal shareholder. Fortunately for Michelin, the technologically advanced Traction Avant met with market acceptance, and the basic philosophy of innovation that had led to this design, continued along with the company’s success.

While this Traction Avant’s early history is not known, it was registered to Luc Paucot in Belgium by 1994. The Mullin Collection acquired this Traction Avant in 2012, and since then it has been on display at the Mullin Automotive Museum. Citroën built 14,076 Traction Avants in 1935, of which only 450 were convertibles. This highly attractive and rarely seen cabriolet variant of the Citroën 7C would make an interesting addition to any French automobile or Citroën collection.