Traction Avant for a long distance road trip?
Discussion
I'm currently selling a modern classic and am wondering about buying a Traction Avant - I've loved them for a long time. And, by spooky coincidence, next year me and the OH are doing a road trip to the South of France.
We'd normally do it in the LS400 (several thousand miles of road trip with no drama at all). But I'm now starting to romanticise about doing it in a TA, perhaps with a matching cravat, etc...
Please talk me into it or out of it!
(Slight complication is that I don't have a garage and I'm not sure how a TA would fare in the elements.)
We'd normally do it in the LS400 (several thousand miles of road trip with no drama at all). But I'm now starting to romanticise about doing it in a TA, perhaps with a matching cravat, etc...
Please talk me into it or out of it!
(Slight complication is that I don't have a garage and I'm not sure how a TA would fare in the elements.)
Go for it, would love to do that myself. Allow plenty of time though, they're not the fastest of things. 
A Traction is one of the cars I've always promised myself.
Went down to Aix-en-Provence last year in the TVR and it's a looooong way, even longer when you decide to come back the scenic route avoiding motorways.
A Traction is one of the cars I've always promised myself.
Went down to Aix-en-Provence last year in the TVR and it's a looooong way, even longer when you decide to come back the scenic route avoiding motorways.
Thanks all. I do have to get this plan past SWMBO, too. And she'll be hard to tempt out of the LS400, which is effortless and she sleeps so easily in. The YT clips of the TA seem to show they're a bit noisy! And no climate control/reclining seats/etc.
But it seems so right. Portsmouth to Caen to Deaville then relatives in Rouen. Then South via Bordeaux and across to Avignon, back by the Millau viaduct. All the while loading up with wine and goodies. (Maybe I should look for a Six, as we normally come back with about 80 bottles...)
Perhaps I can persuade her by using the vintage-correct angle? The impetus for this trip was reading Joseph Roth's The White Cities; wonderful inter-war travel writing about Provence. So the TA would be contemporary, and therefore more appropriate to retracing his journey, right?
But it seems so right. Portsmouth to Caen to Deaville then relatives in Rouen. Then South via Bordeaux and across to Avignon, back by the Millau viaduct. All the while loading up with wine and goodies. (Maybe I should look for a Six, as we normally come back with about 80 bottles...)
Perhaps I can persuade her by using the vintage-correct angle? The impetus for this trip was reading Joseph Roth's The White Cities; wonderful inter-war travel writing about Provence. So the TA would be contemporary, and therefore more appropriate to retracing his journey, right?
I saw one on the move when I was in France last week, as per comments above it looked very right. Avoid the autoroutes and make sure you stop for photos beside buildings with faded Dubonnet signs.
Somewhere I have an article from an old issue of (I think) Road & Track about a chap in France who wanted to set some long distance driving record and I'm sure he used a Traction Avant. He went out and drove some epic distance every night, I'll have to see if I can find it.
P.S. When I was driving the sensible Avensis over there I did think how nice my '95 LS400 would have been instead (fuel prices aside).
Somewhere I have an article from an old issue of (I think) Road & Track about a chap in France who wanted to set some long distance driving record and I'm sure he used a Traction Avant. He went out and drove some epic distance every night, I'll have to see if I can find it.
P.S. When I was driving the sensible Avensis over there I did think how nice my '95 LS400 would have been instead (fuel prices aside).
Paris-Peking endurance, eh? That's the thing that'll persuade the OH. Plus info on that chap who did so many miles in so little time (I found a page about it but can't find it right now). I won't be letting her see the PH thread where you helpful chaps list the things needed for this sort of trip.
(Classic tangent alert) I just saw that the TA was designed by Andre Lefebvre, who had previously workined at Voisin. By coincidence, I saw Le Corbusier's old Voisin in Vienna last month. Historically important, perhaps, but rather utilitarian in design compared to the effortlessly elegant lines of the TA.
Saint Emilion looks worth a stop, and SWMBO is rather partial to a Grand Cru, so that'll help the pain.
(Classic tangent alert) I just saw that the TA was designed by Andre Lefebvre, who had previously workined at Voisin. By coincidence, I saw Le Corbusier's old Voisin in Vienna last month. Historically important, perhaps, but rather utilitarian in design compared to the effortlessly elegant lines of the TA.
Saint Emilion looks worth a stop, and SWMBO is rather partial to a Grand Cru, so that'll help the pain.
I owned a '54 Big 15 some time back. It was a wonderful machine. Very relaxed cruiser as long as you are happy to potter along at around 50 mph, although I did see 65 once while passing a HGV. I never ever felt tired driving it (longest trip I made was 700 miles over two days) and it could easily keep pace with far more modern machinery on tight B roads. As long as it is in good mechanical order you should have no problems. Go for it!
MGJ2 said:
In 1997 a Dutch crew did the Peking-Paris Rally in a Traction so UK - France should be a piece of cake.
Mario Illien and his daughter did the same (Beijing-Paris in a TA) a couple of years ago too... his daughter blogged about it:http://car46.org/about/
EskimoArapaho said:
Paris-Peking endurance, eh? That's the thing that'll persuade the OH.
Perhaps it is wise not to let her read their blog: http://www.pekingparis.nl/ (in English and Dutch)Thanks for those links. Today's good news is that Her Indoors, having been shown a few TA photos, is charmed by the idea, although remaining sceptical of the TA's comfort levels vis-a-vis the LS400. And reliability-wise, we've decided that ADAC membership is probably a good idea.
So I'm definitely in rose-tinted mode now. One of my favourite films is Diva, which has a couple of TAs as costars. And it turns out that, if we go via the Cherbourg ferry, we can stop off at the remarkable Phare de Gatteville lighthouse which was a location in the movie.
http://www.phare-de-gatteville.fr/le-phare.html
Thanks for all of the encouragement; now the search starts...
So I'm definitely in rose-tinted mode now. One of my favourite films is Diva, which has a couple of TAs as costars. And it turns out that, if we go via the Cherbourg ferry, we can stop off at the remarkable Phare de Gatteville lighthouse which was a location in the movie.
http://www.phare-de-gatteville.fr/le-phare.html
Thanks for all of the encouragement; now the search starts...
An ideal car for the job! With its monocoque and FWD you and your wife will be surprised by how solid one feels and how well it handles compared to cars of a similar era.
Don't forget that they were specifically designed to be an upmarket car to travel quickly and comfortably on low quality roads. I would take the humblest Onze Legere over a contemporary Bentley for the sort of trip you propose every day of the week and twice on Sunday's.
For maximum comfort and performance, see if you can get your hands on one of the 1954/5 15CV models with the hydro pneumatic rear suspension though, as always with classics, by on condition rather than obsessing about a particular model/spec
Don't forget that they were specifically designed to be an upmarket car to travel quickly and comfortably on low quality roads. I would take the humblest Onze Legere over a contemporary Bentley for the sort of trip you propose every day of the week and twice on Sunday's.
For maximum comfort and performance, see if you can get your hands on one of the 1954/5 15CV models with the hydro pneumatic rear suspension though, as always with classics, by on condition rather than obsessing about a particular model/spec
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