French 1938 Citroen BL11- Used by German Army as Staff Car

This is our fully restored 1938 Citroen BL11 Traction Avant.
The Traction Avant, French for front-wheel drive, was designed by André Lefèbvre and Flaminio Bertoni in late 1933 / early 1934.
The Citroën Traction Avant is the world’s first monocoque-bodied, front-wheel drive car with independent suspension and rack and pinion steering that was mass-produced.
In September 1939, France declared war on Germany, and in June 1940 the German Army rapidly invaded and occupied Northern France. The Citroen Factory was severely damaged on 3rd June 1940 by a German Air Raid. There were attempts to continue to produce the cars however all production ceased by June 1941.
The German Army commandeered many of these versatile and very reliable vehicles for use as staff cars. Our car was manufactured and first registered in 1938 at Forress in Belgium. It was used during the war years and at one time was painted the yellow ‘Dankelgelb’ colour which was found under the post war black paint during restoration. It is now UK registered and is fully road worthy.