Herge was extremely detailed in his drawings. In order to represent the speed and the dangerous nature of driving by Arturo, he showed a series of drawings which depicted the drive through a village. The Lancia Aurelia of Arturo has been shown to have a series of close calls with various modes of transport on the road in the village. One more car which is shown is a Citroen Rosalie.
The Rosalie formed the core of the model range offered by Citroen between 1932 and 1938. The car was named after “The Petite Rosalie” which, in 1933 established the world record for the greatest distance run and longest running time for a car at the time. This car completed a distance of 300,000 km (187,500 miles) around the Monthlery Track in Paris. This distance was covered over a period of 134 days at an average speed of 93 km/h (58.12 mph). It was the same car that was delivered to the general public as the Rosalie.
The Rosalie covered a range of three cars, 8CV, 10CV and 15CV. These number denoted the fiscal horse powers of the cars, which finally denoted the displacement of each car’s engine. These cars represented a move up by Citroen from the manufacturer of small cars in the 1920s to the manufacturer of larger and more luxurious cars. As a result the 15CV was offered in a number of body shapes. Though these cars were nor radically different from the earlier Citroens, they were definitely larger, more comfortable and more modern looking.
Another feature which marked the Rosalie was the manufacturing technique. Andre Citroen had visited the Ford factory in Michigan in 1912 and had drawn inspirations from the assembly line process. The same was adopted by Citroen for the manufacture of Rosalie. As a result the cars were priced competitively but were still profitable. Though the Traction Avante, the brilliant monocoque bodied, front wheel drive successor of the Rosalie was ready in 1934, the company went bankrupt in the process of designing the Traction Avante. As a result the Rosalie models were kept alive till 1938 as they were large cars, profitable and selling well. During their lifetime, Citroen manufactured 88,090 four cylinder 8CVs and 10 CVs and 7,230 six cylinder 15CVs.
The 8CV was powered by a naturally aspirated inline four cylinder petrol engine that displaced 1,452 cc (88.61 Cu-inch). These engines produced 32 HP at 3,200 rpm. This power was used to drive the rear wheels through a three speed manual gearbox. The 8CV could do a maximum speed of 88 km/h (55 mph) when driven pedal to metal. On the other hand, the 10CV was powered by a naturally aspirated inline four cylinder petrol engine displacing 1,767 cc (107.83Cu-inch) engine which could push the car to 100 km/h (62 mph). The larger 15CV was powered by a 2,650 cc (161.71 Cu-inch) naturally aspirated inline six cylinder petrol engine that could push the car to 115 km/h (71 mph) in sedan body style and 120 km/h (75 mph) in a shorter 10 CV bodied by 15 CV engined car.
These cars were 4.24 m (166.93″) long, 1.62 m (63.78″) wide and 1.67 m (65.75″) high. They weighed in at 1,165 Kg (2568.39 lbs). The wheels were suspended on rigid front and rear axles supported by semi elliptical springs. Stopping power was provided by four drum brakes on each wheel.
The Transport Journal 