Introduced in 1934, the pioneering Citroën Traction Avant was designed by André Lefèbvre and Flaminio Bertoni. With a welded unitary body and front-wheel drive, the Traction Avant, was technologically decades ahead of its competitors, but this combined with a number of manufacturing miscues nearly spelled disaster for the venerable French manufacturer. In the end, 760,000 examples were made between 1934 and 1957.