There are any number of cars associated with famous television or film detectives and policemen. Perhaps the most famous – at least in the UK – is the red and black Jaguar Mk 2 driven by John Thaw as Inspector Morse. Sticking with UK-based investigators, there’s John Nettles’ Triumph Roadster in Bergerac, or Simon Templar’s white Volvo P1800, made internationally famous by the late Sir Roger Moore.
From across the Atlantic there’s Tom Selleck’s Ferrari 308GTS in Magnum PI, or possibly the most glamorous police car in the history of policedom, Crockett and Stubbs Ferrari Daytona Spyder (in reality, a replica built on a Chevy Corvette chassis and dropped after complaints from Ferrari), or Starsky and Hutch’s red and white Ford Torino, and many more.
In France, however, perhaps the most famous of all detectives was Chief Inspector or Commissaire Maigret, who featured in a series of books by Georges Simenon; I’m afraid I have to confess to not having read a single one, though I have seen a couple of episodes of the recently made series starring Rowan Atkinson as the Inspector, in a role very far removed from Mr. Bean, and Maigret was inextricably linked to the Citroen Traction Avant.
While researching this piece, I discovered that Simenon wrote no fewer than 75 novels and 28 short stories (or 84 and 18, depending on who you believe) featuring the pipe-smoking Maigret, between 1931 and 1972. There have also been numerous stage, film and particularly television adaptations of the Maigret stories, with the Inspector played by luminaries including Bruno Cremer (who played the part for 54 episodes), Michael Gambon, Richard Harris and most recently, the aforementioned Rowan Atkinson. There have even been Russian and Japanese portrayals of the character.
I also discovered that, despite his association with the Citroën, or its association with him, Maigret does not actually drive; indeed he doesn’t even have a licence. He’s either driven everywhere or travels by train or bus.
The Traction Avant (literally, Front Drive) was introduced to the world three years after Simenon’s first Maigret novel was published and endured for almost as long, manufactured as it was until 1957 when it was superseded by a car that shook the motoring world, the DS.
Like the DS, the Traction Avant was – for it’s time – full of advanced features, front wheel drive being just one of them, though it was far from the first to adopt the layout. It was the first car Citroën built with a weight-saving unitary body, though again, not the first to be built this way. This enabled it to be lower, faster and yet more economical than most cars of its day, with a top speed of 100kmh.
The first Traction Avant was actually known as the 7, with a 1303cc four-cylinder engine. Later versions featured engines of 1529cc, 1628cc, 1911cc – the most common unit – and right up to a 2867cc in-line six-cylinder in June 1938.
Over such a long production run, there were of course many changes and improvements, one of the most innovative being the addition of a hatchback model, the Commerciale, featuring a split tailgate amended to a single tailgate after the war. A 2-door coupe and a convertible were also added to the range, and towards the end of its life, the TA was used as a test bed for the forthcoming DS, with hydro-pneumatic suspension fitted to the six-cylinder model in 1954. There was even a 9-seater Familiale version, with three rows of seats.
Unfortunately for Citroën, the high development costs of the Traction Avant resulted in the company’s bankruptcy in 1934, and to it being taken over by its major creditor, Michelin, who ran the business until it’s sale to Peugeot in 1974.
Over three-quarters of a million examples were built by the time production ended in July 1957, and not all of them in France. Citroën also built cars in Slough, England, among them, 26,400 Traction Avant’s – others were built in factories in Cologne, Brussels and even a few hundred in Copenhagen.
This brings us very neatly to our Prime Find this week, which is a Slough-built 1950 example of the Traction Avant, with a 1911cc engine capable of pushing – or pulling, if you prefer – the car to a maximum speed of 117kmh, with o-60mph/97kmh taking a fraction under 30 seconds, according to The Motor magazine.
Built on the Slough Trading Estate – now claimed to be Europe’s largest such estate – these were the 11L variant, named Light Fifteen in the UK, with the long wheelbase version being called the Big Fifteen. All Slough-built cars had to have at least 51% British-made components in order to avoid punitive import duties, meaning electrics were supplied by Lucas, instruments by Jaeger, leather seats by Connolly, and so on.
Our car is up for auction with Historics at their Ascot sale on September 25th. It looks from the photographs we have borrowed to be in pretty decent shape, and according to the lot entry, has been “maintained to a high standard throughout its life”. The engine was rebuilt a decade ago, and there has been “considerable work” done through the last 20 years. It’s spent most of its time with the vendor dry-stored when not in use.
Finished in black with deep red upholstery, the car is claimed to present, run and drive very well. It is also described as a “small boot” model, meaning that the spare wheel is mounted outside the boot, which apparently makes it more desirable, though I’m not sure why – perhaps one of our clever readers could explain?
The deep red leather interior wears its age well and seems to be free of tears or holes. Indeed, the car looks to be generally very sound. This Traction Avant is an eye-catching car, and according to the Traction Avant Owners Club, less difficult to run and maintain than might be supposed if you’re reasonably handy with a set of spanners and screwdrivers, which rules me out…
In any case, with an estimate range of between £12,000 and £15,000, it sits well below our theoretical budget, and at that money seems to represent good value. The full lot entry can be seen here, and as usual, we recommend an inspection be arranged if you are interested in this very Gallic classic.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.