A trans-Australia crossing has been completed by 11 Citroen Traction Avants.
For the third time in 20 years a group of adventurers driving the Citroens has crossed Australia, this time from west to east, going from Fremantle in Western Australia to Brisbane in Queensland via Uluru in the Northern Territory.
The 7500km journey was undertaken by 12 French families in the Traction Avants, with the average vehicle age around 70 years
Organised by former French journalist and Australian expat Eric Massiet Du Biest, the trip was dubbed “Tracbar Dundee”, deriving its name from the vehicles’ ‘Traction’ nomenclature and ‘Dundee’ from the famous film character Mick Dundee, played by Paul Hogan in the Crocodile Dundee movie.
The journey saw the adventurers weave in and out of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales before arriving in Brisbane, Queensland, some 7500km later.
Along the way the convoy visited York, Wave Rock, Kalgoorlie, Laverton, Uluru, Coober Pedy, Marree, Innamincka, Thargomindah, Lightning Ridge, Girraween Park and Tamborine Mountain.
This latest journey adds to the long and storied history of these iconic Citroens. The same vehicles have already completed journeys across Australia, Africa, South America, the United States and Southeast Asia.
With the trip completed, all but three of the vehicles will now be shipped back to France.
The remaining three will be driven back to France via Bangkok (Thailand), Lhasa (China), Kashgar, Samarkand (Uzbekistan), Tehran (Iran), Istanbul (Turkey) and Zagreb (Croatia).
Produced between 1934 and 1957, about 760,000 Traction Avants were made.
It was the first vehicle produced using a unitary body in place of the common body-on-frame method, the first to use fully-independent suspension and the first to use front-wheel-drive. Later versions also featured Citroen’s hydro-pneumatic suspension system.
“You never tire of driving these vehicles across such vast and breath-taking scenery”, Du Biest says.
“From the people we met to the scenery we saw and the cars we drove, this was an unforgettable way to see off our old friend, the Tracbar. They were reliable, strong and, most importantly, charming the entire distance.”
Citreon was the first automotive brand to circumnavigate Australia, that record achieved by a Citroen 5CV model in 1925.
That car is now an integral part of the Australian Museum’s historic collection.
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