Break or restore ?

It depends on what somebody wants to get as a result..If simply to earn money,especially having no experience in restoration-forget it! But if you are patient and ready to spend your time and money,after years of efforts you will be awarded by really great pleasure of riding it.In this case-certainly yes!

There are those who restore and those who employ others to restore and really you'd need to be the former for this to be a viable project. I'm no real handyman. Ten years ago I bought my Talbot 65 for £9,500, which seemed too much, but it was structurally very sound and I had it restored for just £6,000 (including the original leather interior). I've spent about £10,000 on it since, including a partial engine rebuild, but since its now worth about the original 'restored cost' its net cost to me has been about £1,000/ year- which is very reasonable for the enormous fun I get out of it. I could not afford the Citroen because professional restorers would want too much money, even if I could buy the car for £1,000. Happily there are many people who do it themselves, and others who have deeper pockets to pay restorers than I have.

My dear friend from Argentina !

To scrape!!!. The resto in Argentina could cost 5 times more as a one simply driveable Traction Avant from forgotten french village It is my personally experience !!!

Friendly Miro / 62 years

Of course restoring the car will cost more than it's worth, but that's not why we do these things is it? If you figure on "fixing it up" and selling it for "a lot of money" you should take up golf! I probably have over $100,000.00 in restoring and maintaining and improving the 11B I've owned for 31 years. Would I do anything differently? No. If anyone is serious and needs a gearbox, we can talk. Shipping sure won't be cheap!

a citroen traction in europe is worth maybe 15.000€
Restoring that car wont be hard but i bet that in the end you will have a bill of much more than 15.000

Here's one being restored in France, great project.

http://une.traction.pour.jean.moulin.over-blog.com/

Editor: indeed a great project,see: http://www.prewarcar.com/magazine/previous-features/traction-for-jean-moulin-017895.html

What's it worth?
That's an easy one to answer.
How much does the owner want and how much would you be willing to pay for it? If there's common ground, then you've got something to work with.
The question is; do you want it? Is it your cup of tea? If the owner said; "you can have it, if you're willing to remove it from it's resting place", would you still take it? What's it going to cost you to restore and what's it worth when completed? Are you the kind of person that's good at starting a project like this, but perhaps not that flash at finishing things? It comes down to time and money and generally lot's of both. Mr Lewis has a replacement gearbox for you...in Canada! What do you want for one Mr Lewis? If you're not emotional about the car i.e. your parents had one when you were a kid, forget it.

1940 model 11BL (seriaL NR. # 73611),
There is a digit missing from this serial No.
They are in two groups of 3, ie 111 - 222
But they don't appear to match Cat's list
The 1940 BL numbers range as follows
450 001 - 454 500
4415 vehicles were built
The 1938,39 BL's were cabriolets
Stuart

Its worth what somebody will pay for it !
It looks as if this one is in a scrapyard, so no sentimental history or stories to bump up the value there !
What could eventually be realised if it was broken up and parted out ?
Is there a strong TA support group nearby, who could challenge you for this vehicle, or then support the buying of the parts thus created ?
Is there a strong TA support group nearby, who could support you with necessary parts, that you would require if you bought this car, and believe me there will ALWAYS be parts required !
Realise that you will ALWAYS spend more on this restoration, than you first estimated, usually about twice or three times, and then realise that you will Never get back the costs that you have put into restoring the car !
Wait 40 or 50 years, any you just MIGHT get back what you put in (Invested ?) .
Read everything you can about the car, before you buy, and learn all the pitfalls and difficulties you are bound to meet on the way !
Pay what you can afford to pay, then ENJOY the chasing of hard to find parts, and the years putting it back together again !
See Jeroen Cats site, a very comprehensive site on TA's, Jeroen unfortunately was killed in a motoring accident some years ago, but his family keep the site open in his memory .
http://www.cats-citroen.net/citroen_tractionavant/

Good Luck and have fun !
Stuart

Also- the crack is proof of the saying -"Don't push start a Traction, you WILL break the gearbox!

If the car was here in Canada, I'd give them 500 dollars for it. I have two rebuilt type 11 gearboxes sitting in my hall closet! A friend has a rebuilt ID-19 engine that will work easily and I can have it for free! This would keep my 11B and Light 15 company- No rust? an easy project! Tractions are dead simple and I hope someone takes this on.