Citroën has extensive historical experience with demanding expeditions across continents. And in the coming years, more will be added to them. At the end of May, the female crew set out for the start of the Terra America expedition. During it, Citroën’s Traction Avant plans to cross the 40,000-kilometer-long Pan-American Highway across North and South America.
The initiator and head of the expedition is the businesswoman Fanny Adamová, who is interested in the indigenous population, among other things. Raising awareness of the total of 21 indigenous peoples that the expedition will encounter during its duration is one of its main goals. The route will literally cross America. He has to start in Alaska and end up in the city of Ushuaia in the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego.
The car must first reach Alaska. There, the expedition set out at the end of May from the Citroën Conservatoire Museum in Aulnay-sous-Bois on the outskirts of Paris. The expedition itself is then divided into three parts. The first across North America will begin in July this year and end in Los Angeles in September. This will be followed by the second part throughout Central America, which will begin in January 2022 and end in May of the same year in Colombia. The last part in South America will run from October 2022 to January 2023.
Take a look at the start of the expedition:
Start of the Terra America expedition. | Video: Citroën
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In total, in two and a half years, Adam will cover more than 40,000 kilometers in her Citroën and a total of 14 countries. As the French Citroën points out, the route replicates the longest highway in the world – the Panamerican or the Pan-American Highway, which was created in the 1930s and leads from Alaska to the Land of Fire.
“It’s the greatest man-made legacy on Earth,” says Fanny Adam herself about the highway. “It’s the longest trip you can take on this planet. That’s why it’s so incredible,” he adds. She will not be alone in the car. In the first part of the expedition to North America, she will be co-ridden by the athlete Gaëlle Paillart, who will be interested in various sports activities and will also be a photographer of this first section.
In the second and third parts, Paillart will be replaced by Maéva Bardyová, who is interested in nature and makes a living as a documentary filmmaker and reporter. She will also take care of the visual documentation of the rest of the expedition.
The purely female crew then completes the entire journey in the Citroën Traction Avant, one of the brand’s most important models. Its production started in 1934 and ended in 1957. At the time, the car with front-wheel drive, steel self-supporting body, ridge steering or independent suspension of all wheels was one of the most modern. The most common is the sedan body, depending on the version, there was a petrol four- or six-cylinder under the hood.
Of course, this is not a car in full serial condition. This particular Traction Avant 11B was manufactured in 1956, at the end of the car’s life cycle. It was modified for long-distance rallies in 2005 and between 2006 and 2017 it traveled practically the whole world, gradually being improved and further improved.
The car has body reinforcements, a more durable engine, a five-speed transmission, a better electrical network and radiator, a 70-liter stainless steel tank, an electric fuel pump, a reinforced front triangular arm or disc brakes with a front booster. The car was also thought to withstand the many pitfalls that awaited it on the road, and to be as easy to repair as possible. The crew can only transport a limited number of parts.
In addition, however, safety and comfort have not been neglected. New are the front seats with seat belts and head restraints, the car has additional heating, better sound and heat insulation or protection of the windshield and headlights.
And why did the choice fall on Traction Avant at all? It is said that Adam was enchanted by the car a long time ago. It was used by her colleague Gérard d’Aboville, who was the first man to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and also completed various long-distance competitions, including the Paris-Dakar Rally. He has been driving a Traction Avant since he was eighteen, and the Adams once lent him to take part in a navigation rally. Apparently, her affection for this Citroën dates back to that time. By the way, d’Aboville also participated in the technical preparation of the expedition car.
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