We will be taking part in the Peking to Paris Rally in a Citroen Traction Avant from the year 1955.
The main reason Mario chose the Traction Avant was because of its steel monocoque. This gives the car a relatively large crumple zone, which is vital in the event of an accident and makes it safer than many cars of its era.
The Traction Avant’s flat underbelly will also come in handy in the Gobi Desert. It helps us to glide over sand and minimizes our chances of getting stuck. The car also has more than enough space for us to fit the tent and all the spare parts which we have to bring with us.
The car is best known for being Inspector Maigret’s favorite form of transportation.
Citroen first launched the model in 1934, but our Traction Avant was built in one of the final years of production. This means that even though the car’s technology is Pre-War, we will be racing in the Post-War category and will be up against the much quicker Porsches, Jaguars and also the Ferrari 208 GT4.
Whilst we don’t think our driving ability will help us much, maybe the extra 30 horsepower which the engine somehow found will.
We will be detailing some of the changes we made to get the car race ready in a later post.
Photo Credit: Gerard Brown