When we think historically of front wheel drives in Australia we generally bring to mind the ubiquitous Mini.

With one exception. In 1934 French maker Citroen released the Traction Avant. It was a squat looking car unlike anything else on the road and evolved over the years until being phased out in 1957. Citroen has a long, distinguished history of innovation. It was, and is, a company that looks outside the square for solutions to automobile challenges.

The challenge to achieve this same result was what prompted the unique design all those years ago. Citroen was not the first company to pioneer front wheel drive, but sales of more than 750,000 Traction Avants is evidence enough that it was easily the most successful of the early makes. They included Alvis in the UK with the 1928 FWD, Cord in the US with the L29 from 1929-32 and DKW with the F1 in Germany in 1931.

Avant means front so the vehicle's name is essentially what it does: front traction. The car was designed by Andre' Lefebvre and Flaminio Bertoni in 1933-34. It was a car loaded with innovation including the fact the car was based on a monocoque frame – no ladder chassis – greatly reducing its weight. The allowed the car to sit lower to the ground giving it the squat appearance. The Avant's front suspension was independently sprung, highly unusual in this period, using a torsion bar and wishbone system. The engine was placed north-south or longitudinally, with the gearbox in front of the engine.

With the extraordinary number of innovations the Traction Avant was an expensive development exercise. It brought Citroen to its knees. The largest creditor was Michelin, which took over the company and ran it until 1976. We found our featured car at the Macleans Bridge, Queensland, classic car meet earlier this year. It's a 1952 model fitted with a four cylinder engine and the distinctive out-of-dash H- pattern gear shift.

As a visual exercise the Avant is quite art deco. It is a complex car. In 1952 Citroen extended the boot, which until then had the spare wheel mounted externally. In addition Citroen retained the free-standing headlights on the front mudguards and of course, the front suicide doors.

Underneath the skin though is where the Traction Avant shines. In its era it was a class leader in technology. These days most – but not all - cars are front wheel drive. Most have independent front suspension. Most have monocoque body construction. For these reasons the Traction Avant is an important vehicle in the history of the automobile. It is also worth noting the Traction Avant celebrates it's 75th birthday in July 2009.