’55 11BN in Vancouver

I See that the front left (looking at the photograph) has a “White Wall” tyre on the inside.
I bought 3 of these recently.
Does any one else have a Michelin 165 x 400 that has a white wall on one side of the tyre?
The right hand tyre appears to be a standard tyre without a white wall (unless it’s on the outside).

Hi Fjord
Interested to see there is another TOC member in BC. I am in Victoria on Vancouver Island and recently joined TOC – being a Brit who moved out here four years ago. I bought a Traction in June this year. It is a 1955 11B Familiale in midnight blue. The car was in very good shape and very original when I bought it – due to the kind attention of previous owner in Illinois in the US. The only planned item at present is to replace worn drive shafts with the more modern cv type this winter. I attach photo of the Traction at the Oak Bay Car show in Victoria this August – next to a friend’s 48 Dodge.
Good luck with your project.

There’s a few in the Toronto area, at least 15 that I’m aware of, the oldest being a 39 11BL. In Montreal is a man I know who has 14 or 15 of the 15/6 hydraulics, including a Slough 6 restored by John Gillard, two custom made 15/6 roadsters, also a very early D and Ami. One of them is quite interesting, the gear shift is on the steering column and the original hole in the fascia is welded over, it also has headlights faired into the front wings and different, horizontal tail lights. Looking at it the work was obviously done a long time ago.

There’s quite a few more in Quebec and every few years there is a party in September with live Django Reinhardt type music with a pig roast east of Montreal where the local classic club meets and Citroens are all in the front row. It’s held at an airport and the last time there was a vintage aircraft fly-in as well with a French-built Tiger Moth painted as a trainer for the French Navy. Interesting that, with its SEV and Ducellier equipment and an engine built by Renault.

@Larry – you are indeed blessed in the East with Traction riches. I guess that explains why you have the special tools. I’ll have to see if I can arrange a trip out to coincide with a big gathering some time.

@Peter – I know of four working (or almost working in my case) Vancouver cars:
– a ’37 11B or BL in West Van that has been here for many years and is in very good condition
– a Commerciale in Vancouver that I haven’t seen, and that needs a starter, owned by the president of the local Citroen club
– a ’55? 15CV that was imported in October, in quite nice condition
– my ’55

No doubt there are a couple of others stashed away here and there around town. I’m always amazed to see what comes out of hiding for a show once a year.

I wonder if those derilict cars are available for parts. They look to have shinier bumpers than mine at the least.

I’ve heard about those island Tractions, I wonder what’s the story? They look very restorable to me.

So after 7 1/2 months my car is finally insured and back on the road! It passed the provincial inspection on the first attempt, which was a pleasant surprise. Of course now that it’s driving I’ll be starting a new to-do list, and I hope to go for a ride in a local sorted car or two to understand what is normal for these cars, and what needs to be on my list. So far:

– the fuel sender is out since it always reads 20 litres
– the transmission will eventually need some work as it pops out of 2nd gear under load and shudders noticeably when starting from rest in first gear.

Still, it’s very satisfying to be able to drive it after all this time. It’s also nice that the family really enjoys riding in it, since they aren’t always so enthusiastic about my cars.

Congratulations getting the Traction on the road. A few observations: The fuel gauge lies on my car as well. I follow the OSL282 method and note litres and miles driven. I followed the TOC lubrication guide for gear linkages etc and also drained, flushed and refilled gearbox with Redline MT90 (GL4 type oil which saves synchro apparently) I am sure there are other equally as good oils available. The whole gearbox experience was improved. The only other thing I changed was to fit a heavier gauge cable from battery -ve to ground. Went for a no 1 gauge which improved the crank rate of starter. I am about to start on modern cv drive shafts next week!