AUTOCULT - CITROEN - TRACTION AVANT 11BL SPOHN CABRIOLE OPEN FRANCE GERMANY 1948

When the son-in-law of a lady with the initials V.D.B. rediscovered a Citroën Traction Avant 11 BL in the barn after the end of World War II, the car had been standing around unused for a long time. His name was Antonin Castor Mann and he ran a workshop called ‘La Rose des Ventes’ at the end of the village Fayl-Billot. To his chagrin, he was called up for military service – in the 1st Army of General Lattre de Tassigny. His military service took him to Germany and had to act there within the framework of the French occupation government, he was assigned to the C.R.A.S. department. In this capacity, he probably came into contact with Hermann Spohn’s company in Ravensburg, which carried out work for C.R.A.S. – presumably repair for cars. Antonin Castors brought the Traction Avant 11 BL to Ravensburg and had the production body replaced by a sheet metal body implemented according to his own ideas. In 1948/ 49, the Citroën is said to have been adapted to the requirements of the Frenchman in the Ravensburg workshop and a single-axle trailer in matching styling to the car was also created at this time. However, the story that has been so well handed down until then fades abruptly. It is no longer certain whether Antonin Castor used his car at all and if so, for how long. According to the condition found several decades later, it can only be said that the Spohn Citroën was at the mercy of wind, weather and perhaps theft over a long period of time – probably even a very long time – without any attention.