It was designed by the engineer André Lefèbvre, a great innovator who had introduced the use of metal bodies to Europe (from a patent purchased in the United States) by presenting the Citroën B12 in 1925, and designed by the Italian Flaminio Bertoni, one of the greatest stylists in automotive history. Named ‘Traction Avant’ due to the application of traction to the front wheels, its avant-garde solution was an aerodynamic bodywork with a steel load-bearing body, which made it possible to create a single body between chassis and bodywork. Added to this were other cutting-edge features such as four-wheel independent suspension with torsion bars, front axle shafts with constant velocity joints, overhead valve engine and removable liners.