Citroën celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 5 CV, a car for everyone... and every woman

Although it may seem that cars have been with us for a long time, they have only been among us for a little over 100 years. And much less since they became popular and became indispensable to our everyday life. Citroën is one of the best-known brands in the international market, and this year it is celebrating, as it marks one hundred years since the first car designed for all the drivers of the era, both men and women.

This car, which also had women drivers in Europe in mind, was the Citroën 5 CV, presented by André Citroën at the 1922 Paris Motor Show. This car had a special feature: it is considered the first car designed to meet the needs of women of the time. This was no minor matter, and it was a revolution compared with other brands, as happened with every innovation in those early years of the automotive industry.

Cars designed for the upper class

At that time, cars were used exclusively by the upper class, so they were usually driven by the chauffeurs of wealthy people. A vehicle designed to reach as many people as possible, including women, was a real novelty. A few years earlier, in 1919, Citroën had launched the first mass-produced car in Europe, but it is at this point that it launched the car designed for everyone, to enjoy driving without a chauffeur.

It was presented with a yellow body and a sharp rear end, which earned it the nickname “Le Petit Citron“, that is, “The Little Lemon“. It was equipped with a four-cylinder engine producing 5 CV. It was a car where comfort and convenience were important. Its maintenance was quite simple, and it had design features that made it more comfortable to drive than other vehicles of the era.

The success of the Citroën 5 CV is attested by the 80,759 units sold between 1922 and 1926. Obviously, it was still a car for people for whom money was no problem, but it was beginning to become a popular means of transport and an increasingly common sight on the streets of large cities.

A lasting legacy

The ideal of comfort at the wheel has advanced over time, and this model marked the beginning of the brand’s innovations in this respect. André Citroën’s legacy lives on in new models, and although the concept of the automobile and its use have changed over the years, it follows the principles set out with this model and the others that followed, breaking the trend up to that point and moving forward alongside society.

Photo 2 | Andrew Bone – Flickr CC