Citroën Type A
Encyclopedia
The Citroën Type A was the first car produced by 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 June 1919 to December 1921 in Paris. The Type A reached a production number of 24,093 vehicles.

During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, André Citroën was producing munitions. As early as 1917, Citroën investigated the development of a light car of the medium range under the direction of Jules Salomon.

Under the designation 10 HP Type A the car had a water-cooled 1327 cc four-cylinder engine and an output of 18 hp. Its maximum speed was 65 km/h (40 mph). The chassis had inverted quarter ellipic springs at the front and double quarter elliptics at the rear. Braking was on the rear wheels only controlled by a hand lever with a foot pedal operated transmission brake.

The chassis was made in two lengths and carried a variety of coachwork. The long chassis was available as Torpedo (four-seat tourer), Torpedo Sport, Conduite Intérieure, Coupe de Ville and light truck and the short chassis with Torpedo (3-seat), Conduite Intérieure, Coupe de Ville and camionnette (van).

In its first year of production, the standard Type A cost 7,950 francs. One year later the selling price had been raised to 12,500 francs.

With a production rate of 100 vehicles a day, Citroën became the first mass production manufacturer in Europe.

Further reading

André Citroën -The man and the motor car. John Reynoolds. Sutton Publishing, Gloucestershire, UK. 1996. ISBN 0-905778-32-4
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