[adkol]

Originally Posted by vivriti

Wondering whether the 'PYP' registered car or any of the other black Citroen Traction Avant's were at one time in Chennai.

Used to see a black one during the late 70s to 80s' regularly used in Gandhi Nagar, Adyar area of Chennai when I studied at a nearby school.

Had become so enamored with that and got myself a scale model of it.

PYP number plate Citroens should have been common around you with Pondicherry ( Puducherry now) being a French colony.

In fact , from the photographs of the Citoren seen on Team BHP, I see a lot of MYM number plates around.

Cheers AK

[Sutripta]

Sparky, do you know what happened to Mr. Latif's car?

Regards
Sutripta

[IndrojitSircar]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Sparky, do you know what happened to Mr. Latif's car?

Regards
Sutripta

I asked my father about it, he said that Mr. Latif had two Citroen's. One was a 2cv and the other was a 4Cylinder Limousine. The Limousine was Red and white and was sold and then left Calcutta.

There was another car i just remembered that was the Green 15cv that was in Short Street that was scrapped. I am sure you remember that car.

[Sutripta]

^^^
If you are talking of Mr. Sen's car, yes, I do.

Regards
Sutripta

[adkol]

There is a Citroen 4 cly for sale in Indore, advertised in oxl.in, price has not been mentioned. Seller claims it s a 40's car.

Cheers
AK

[Philedonos]

Hello Citroen lovers.
Glad to tell you that you have a new Citroen Traction Avant owner amongst you in the Forum! I have owned mine (called Isotta) since I was 17, she is my first car and has been the longest relationship I have ever had, he he.
She's an 11 B Légére, 1953, hence first year with the standard big bootlid. The colour is not original, as she was supposed to be black, but the first owner had painted her two tone in the fifties, so I kept her that way. For the rest she is as in 1953.



The second Traction Avant I own is also a 11 B Légère, but with the "D" engine, that was used (in a slightly modified version) on the first Citroen DS. The difference between the 11 models with a "Perfò" engine (meaning all cars up to 1954) and the 11 with "D" engine is very litlle actually: the engines look alike, only the air filter and the oil intake change externally. There are quite a few changes inside the engine, though, which allow the car to be speedier and have a few BHP more.
Mine, called "Monsieur Raoul" dates back to 1955 and is in a remarkable original condition. Paint original although a bit scruffy, interiors and engine totallly original. It belonged to my father from whom I have inherited it last year. Yoou might notice the bumpers, which looked like the ones belonging to a 6 cylinder model: they were sold as "optionals" at the time to make the 4 cylinder models look more "important"! The 4 indicators are unfortunately not original (VWs) but I have the original white and red ones which I will put back on soon.


Last but not least, if there is someone who likes really old Citroens, I can post a picture of my 92 year old grandmother at the wheel of our 5CV, 1923 built. Fortunately that car is still with us too.

[Rosso Corsa]

Traction Avant at 2012 VCCCI Vintage Car Fiesta, Mumbai

Cheers !

[Philedonos]

Originally Posted by Rosso Corsa

Traction Avant at 2012 VCCCI Vintage Car Fiesta, Mumbai

Cheers !

Nice pre 1953 car! It is a post war model, recognisable by the bonnet louvres; a 11CV Légère (the short model), probably 1950-1952.
Seems to have all the original pieces in place, including the hubcaps, maybe the whipers aare missing. But would need a little bit of sprucing up for the body work.
Anyone knows the owner? Would love to meet him, maybe I could also help if he (or anyone else) needs Traction parts, as I am in France every summer.

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by Philedonos

Nice pre 1953 car! It is a post war model, recognisable by the bonnet louvres; a 11CV Légère (the short model), probably 1950-1952.
Seems to have all the original pieces in place, including the hubcaps, maybe the whipers aare missing. But would need a little bit of sprucing up for the body work.
Anyone knows the owner? Would love to meet him, maybe I could also help if he (or anyone else) needs Traction parts, as I am in France every summer.

According to the participation list the car was entered as a 1947 model by Harihar Chaudhry. They announced that he's had the car for ages. Its scruffy, but I love it.

Here is an ancient photo from my uncle of his Traction Avant cabriolet he owned many moons ago. I wonder if she is alive - I currently know of no convertible surviving in India, but never say never.

[harit]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

...........Here is an ancient photo from my uncle of his Traction Avant cabriolet he owned many moons ago. I wonder if she is alive ..............

About 1980 I was told by a person in Pune that a convertible Traction Avant was lying in a closed garage and that he himself was after it. Never heard anything further.
A friend in Hyderabad had an uncle who also had a convertible TA, I have even seen a picture of it.

Cheers harit

[Philedonos]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

According to the participation list the car was entered as a 1947 model by Harihar Chaudhry. (...)
Here is an ancient photo from my uncle of his Traction Avant cabriolet he owned many moons ago. I wonder if she is alive - I currently know of no convertible surviving in India, but never say never.

Attachment 912830

Originally Posted by harit

About 1980 I was told by a person in Pune that a convertible Traction Avant was lying in a closed garage and that he himself was after it. Never heard anything further.
A friend in Hyderabad had an uncle who also had a convertible TA, I have even seen a picture of it.

Cheers harit

Hello guys,

are you aware what you a doing with a poor Traction lover's hearth right now? This is mean! :-)
Don't tell me about convertible Tractions, I might become a researcher until I find one of them in India!!!

Ka you uncle's convertible isn't rare, it is UNIQUE! It is a Slough built model (as you recognise from the right hand drive and the Lucas headlamps and wingtop lights), with special modifications like the paint, the wheelhubs and the spats on the back wings. The bonnet corresponds to a post war car and the front bumper il post 1953, but they weren't built any longer at that time. I have to research now, grrr, another sleepless night! Ha ha.

Thanks a LOT!

[mbz180]

Originally Posted by karlosdeville

Here is an ancient photo from my uncle of his Traction Avant cabriolet he owned many moons ago. I wonder if she is alive - I currently know of no convertible surviving in India, but never say never.

Originally Posted by Philedonos

Ka you uncle's convertible isn't rare, it is UNIQUE! It is a Slough built model (as you recognise from the right hand drive and the Lucas headlamps and wingtop lights), with special modifications like the paint, the wheelhubs and the spats on the back wings.Thanks a LOT!

What a stunner of a car. When researching for adkol's car, I went through a lot of Traction Cabriolet and Roadster pics and was completely floored by their sheer style and flamboyance. Indeed the wheels are something I've not come across on the net as yet.

Welcome to the forum from my side, Daniel. In case you haven't stumbled upon this car on this forum as yet, here are a couple of pics of a bhpian's 1949 15-6 Slough, on which I did a little work recently.

mbz180

[Philedonos]

Originally Posted by mbz180

Welcome to the forum from my side, Daniel. In case you haven't stumbled upon this car on this forum as yet, here are a couple of pics of a bhpian's 1949 15-6 Slough, on which I did a little work recently.

Hello mbz180 and thank you for the welcome.
The '49 15 Six was one of the reasons I became a member of this Forum. I really wanted to comment on the car, it is not only beautiful but also rare. The leather is marvellous and should never be changed, just treated with the right oils/waxes, and patches replaced by a skilled craftsman if really necessary.
The engine's exterior too should stay like this, the originality of it makes it so unique. And the original dashboard instruments, wow.
I wasn't too happpy about the repaint, as I think cars should be preserved if not in dire need of coachwork, but then I read the explanations regarding the hard MOT tests you have to do in certain Indian cities and realised that to keep it on the road the respray was necessary. Great vehicle!
In which city is the car now?
Ps: this August the quadrennial International Citroen car meeting (ICCCR) will take place in August in England. If any of you are still looking for a place to have some nice summer vacations....

[mbz180]

Originally Posted by Philedonos

Hello mbz180 and thank you for the welcome.

I wasn't too happpy about the repaint, as I think cars should be preserved if not in dire need of coachwork, but then I read the explanations regarding the hard MOT tests you have to do in certain Indian cities and realised that to keep it on the road the respray was necessary. Great vehicle!
In which city is the car now?

I'm sure adkol, our team-bhpian owner of this Citroen, will be happy to read that you became a member of the forum after seeing his car

And thank you very much for your views on the leather; yes it does need to be treated and patched up by a skilled person, though as much as I have researched on the net, I just read too many conflicting ways of treating vintage leather, so rather than taking a chance and end up ruining the leather forever during the treatment, I just let it be as it is.

The re-spray was sadly necessary for the RTO inspection as you have read, but I did not scrape the car to bare metal; somewhere under the layers of paint is whatever is left of the original paint.

I had the car for 3 months in my workshop and only drove the car back to the owner's residence 10 days ago. And in those 3 months I drove the car every Sunday and boy, what a car she is to drive. Hard to believe that a car that remained essentially unchanged from it pre-war avatar handles so well and takes tight curves and corners giving the driver even more confidence to push just that little bit harder! Discovered and set right a lot of things in 3 months too, all to do with the engine and the unconventional firing order set up.

By the way, I haven't come across another Citroen with this torpedo shaped air filter housing as you see on the engine bay pic. Can you enlighten me on that? Have you seen another car with this shape?

The car was in Bangalore, then purchased by adkol in Kolkata, where I live as well.

Cheers
mbz180

[Philedonos]

Originally Posted by mbz180

By the way, I haven't come across another Citroen with this torpedo shaped air filter housing as you see on the engine bay pic. Can you enlighten me on that? Have you seen another car with this shape?

Ha ha, I always seem to be on the wrong side of India in the wrong moment: the car iis withh you in Calcutta and I am in Bombay, When I am in Dehli there is a Traction at a meeting in Bombay. I guess the Indians are afraid I wouldn't get off rthe car if they showed it to me. And they are right :-)

reagrding theh filter: the 15Cv used the so called "bazooka" filter in rance, while the English version looks like a big round cheese! Now, you ilter looks like a bazooka with a conical ending to it, am I right?
I attach 2 pictures of the French filter, from the front and side along with the original copy of the relevant spare pieces catalogue by Citroen. You could check if your filter looks like a modification of it:





Here is a period publicity of the Slough 15CV and you see the filter used in the UK:



I will try to look into this once I am in Europe this summer; by August I should know, surrounded by Slough built cars in Harrogate...
All the best!