1952 Citroen Traction Avante

"The Traction Avant, designed by André Lefèbvre and Flaminio Bertoni in late 1933 / early 1934, was the first front wheel drive car in large scale production.[citation needed] (Traction Avant is French for front wheel drive, literally meaning ""frontal traction""). Previously Cord had released the front wheel drive L29 from 1929 to 1932. Its total production was of 4,400 Cord L29 in 1932. The car introduced the use of an arc-welded monocoque frame, where other cars of the era were based on a frame onto which the body (""coachwork"") was built. Monocoque construction (also called Unit Body or ""Unibody"" today) results in a lighter vehicle, and is now used for virtually all car construction, although body-on-frame construction is still suitable for larger vehicles such as trucks. This method of construction was viewed with great suspicion in many quarters, with doubts about its strength. A type of crash test was developed, taking the form of driving the car off a cliff, to illustrate its great inherent resilience. The novel design made the car seem very low-slung relative to its contemporaries — the Traction Avant always possessed a unique look, which went from appearing rakish in 1934 to familiar and somewhat old fashioned by 1955."