24 Nov 05
Prices for the C6 in the UK, where it was known as the Twenty, started from £190 in 1931 for a basic short-wheelbase chassis; saloons were from £260 and the range-topping Town Car limousine was £450.
This wasn't quite in the same league as, for example, Daimler - whose prices began at over £500 before even a body was added - or Mercedes-Benz (from £595) and Rolls-Royce (from £1,185), but put the C6 in a price bracket alongside similarly-sized and powered offerings from the likes of Wolseley, Vauxhall, Sunbeam, Rover, Renault, Fiat and Austin.
However, the Depression hit hard, Andre Citroen lost a fortune gambling and his firm fell further into debt. One of its largest creditors, Michelin, took ownership, forcing Andre Citroen to "retire"; he declined into poor health and later died of cancer in July 1935.
Besides debt and a line-up of increasingly dated middle-market vehicles, however, Michelin inherited the design and engineering for a revolutionary new model to replace the C6: the front-wheel-drive Fifteen, the Traction Avant.
It's the later DS-series which is usually hailed as one of the most revolutionary cars of all time, but much of the DS's impact was down to its exterior styling. In many ways, the Traction Avant was Citroen's most adventurous launch; while its design was certainly modern for 1934, underneath the surface were a number of engineering and structural features a world away from the C6.
Its single-piece steel monocoque body was rigid and cleanly-designed, with aerodynamic angles and no side running boards. It sat on all-independent suspension with double wishbones and torsion beams front and rear - a basic layout still used today - and, crucially, the engine drove the front, rather than the rear, axle.
Front-wheel-drive was by no means a new idea; American firm Christie had produced FWD cars as early as 1904, Cord's L29 (1929) did much to publicise the concept and, in Europe, both Alvis and Tracta had made front-wheel drive cars in the late 20s, with DKW (Audi) following in 1931.
However, it was Citroen that really took such drivetrains into the mainstream. Rack-and-pinion steering followed in 1936, again a basic principle still followed today.
