1940 file cover: front-wheel drive pedal car and "explosive watch"

In this document

This item is the cover of a study file from Citroën, dated "1940" in large handwritten digits p. 1.

At the top of the cover is a handwritten mention [uncertain: "Super"] followed by the word "Contrôle" p. 1.

On a label stuck in the centre, two projects are announced in blue ink:

• "Projet de voiture à pédales à traction AV." p. 1
• "Dessein de montre explosive [uncertain: "explosive"] à attaque directe" followed by the date "1940" p. 1

The left edge bears the inscription printed diagonally "ÉTUDES NOUVELLES" p. 1, while dark stains with no identifiable text appear at the top left p. 1.

As the term "montre explosive" is not accompanied by any diagram or explanation on this page, its exact meaning is not specified in the document.

Context

The year 1940 corresponds to the entry of France into the war and the subsequent occupation; Citroën factories, like many industrial workshops, had to adapt or slow down their activity during this period. This general historical context is, however, not mentioned in the item itself.

The mention "traction AV" refers to the principle of front-wheel drive, already iconic for Citroën since 1934, but nothing in this document explicitly links the "pedal car" project to a production Citroën vehicle: it appears to be an internal study or an ancillary project, perhaps recreational or experimental.

The mention "Super Contrôle" at the top of the cover corresponds to the department that Paul Magès joined at Citroën, where he became a technical writer and then assistant manager, after joining the company in August 1925 (autobiographical notes): this 1940 file is therefore part of this activity, a few years before he joined the design office and began his work on hydropneumatic suspension in 1944 (hydropneumatic suspension plans).

Archivist's perspective

This cover acts as a summary for a larger file: it announces two subjects — a front-wheel drive pedal car and an enigmatic "direct-attack explosive watch" — without detailing their content p. 1. The link between these two objects, very different in appearance, remains unspecified by the cover alone.

This 1940 file documents work carried out by or around Paul Magès within the Super-Contrôle, at a time when the engineer had not yet developed the hydropneumatic suspension that would make him famous. Other items in the same collection probably shed light on the pedal car project, notably the Handwritten calculation notes: pedal car, cable and propeller and the Sketches and diagrams of a pedal propulsion mechanism, which seem to constitute the technical continuation of this project announced on the cover.

The mention "attaque directe" is also found in a study dated 24 April 1940 on a brake master cylinder, which could indicate a chronological proximity of work, without the link between the two subjects being established by the document.