The Citroën Traction Avant (tʁaksjɔ̃ aˈvɑ̃) is an automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 which was produced by the French manufacturer Citroën

Citroën

Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...

 from 1934 to 1957. About 760,000 units were produced.
The Traction Avant, French for "front wheel drive", was design

Design

Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...

ed by André Lefèbvre

André Lefèbvre

André Lefèbvre was a French automobile engineer.André, René Lefèbvre was born in Louvres, France . He began his career as an aviation engineer working to Gabriel Voisin Company...

 and Flaminio Bertoni

Flaminio Bertoni

Flaminio Bertoni was an automobile designer, responsible for some of the most radical reconceptualisations of automobiles ever. He worked in the years preceding World War II until his death in 1964...

 in late 1933 / early 1934. While not the first production front wheel drive car – Alvis

Alvis Cars

Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd was a British manufacturing company that existed in Coventry, England from 19191967. In addition to automobiles designed for the civilian market, the company also produced racing cars, aircraft engines, armoured cars and other armoured fighting vehicles, the...

 built the 1928 FWD in the UK, Cord produced the L29 from 1929 to 1932 in the United States and DKW

DKW

DKW is a historic German car and motorcycle marque. The name derives from Dampf-Kraft-Wagen .In 1916, the Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen founded a factory in Zschopau, Saxony, Germany, to produce steam fittings. In the same year, he attempted to produce a steam-driven car, called the DKW...

 the F1 in 1931 in Germany – it was the world's first front-wheel drive

Front-wheel drive

Front-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...

 steel monocoque production car.