Jump to content

Citroen: 100th Birthday, 2019


Recommended Posts

2019 marks Citroen's 100th anniversary. Andre Citroen was an interesting person. He began by purchasing the rights to manufacture a "herringbone" (double helical) gear which had very little lash (play) in the tooth design. This gears teeth inspired the logo still used today. After improving the manufacture of French artillery shells in WWI, he was able to convert the factory to the manufacture of cars; a fairly ordinary line of sedans called the "Type A" (designed by Jules Soloman). Thanks to Citroen's manufacturing expertise, the car proved dependable and less expensive then the older makers like Renault and Peugeot. His inspiration was Henry Ford (whom he met several times), and Citroen adapted Ford's assembly line ideas. In 1921, the Type A was replaced by the B2, another success. His first "iconic" car was the 5HP (named for it's French tax status, not the actual horsepower), better known as le petit citron (the "little lemon", since it was at first painted yellow), an 856cc boat-tail, electric-start economy car with style. The line continued with numerous other great cars like the Traction Avant in 1934, the first mass-produced FWD, unit-body car. Citroen licensed the Budd Company of Philadelphia's technology to stamp out the steel body of this advanced automobile. Alas, Citroen lost control of his firm in 1934 to Michelin and he died in 1935 at only 57. The Citroen name continued with even stronger innovation like the legendary 2CV deux cheveaux ("two horses"), an economy car equivalent to a French Volkwagen; the DS with it's unique hydraulic suspension system, etc. Anyway, the history is worth reading about, and worth celebrating in 2019, a great car's hundredth anniversaire

 

Phil

 

Andre Citroen (left)

 

andre-citroen-europes-henry-ford.jpg

Edited by MochetVelo (see edit history)
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Thank you very much and very beautiful summary of the history Citroen :).
In fact this year 2019 marks the 100 years of Citroen, and in my village in France  at the beginning of the year we will celebrate the 100 years of citroen, all weekend there will be a big exhibition of car Citroen, with old poster, ...
If you want to come you will be welcome and you will see rare models of citroen as well as other old models ;) 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Perhaps it should be explained that the French CV (Cheval Vapeur) translates very broadly as "Horses of Steam". These French Horses are bigger and more powerful than the British HP. (Horse power). i.e.:- It takes approximately 7 English horses to match 5 French ones.

 

Le cheval-vapeur est une unité de puissance ne faisant pas partie du Système international d'unités, qui exprime une équivalence entre la puissance fournie par un cheval tirant une charge et celle fournie par une machine de propulsion à vapeur ou un moteur à combustion.

 

Bj.

Edited by oldcar (see edit history)
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Unknown-1.jpeg.a4397d2dac94de72da117273e9df5328.jpeg

Of course also greatly mis-understood was Citroens use of the two inverted chevrons as his signature trade mark. There is no great mystery or connection to Corporals in the French army but an extremely simple explanation. Along with the people behind ENV (en v) Andre Citroen started out as a gear cutter and an early exponent of cutting Double-helical gears. These can be seen in such places as the rear axle assembly of his early cars. The 5CV in  particular features this form of gears used for the crown wheel and pinion. These are also sometimes referred to as "Herringbone" gears.

Bj.

Edited by oldcar (see edit history)
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...