André Lefèbvre


André Lefebvre was a French automobile engineer.
André René Lefebvre was born in Louvres, France. He began his career as an aviation engineer working for Voisin, then later for Renault and Citroën. He was also a racing driver and race car designer.
After studying at Supaéro he began to work for Gabriel Voisin in March 1916. Voisin placed Lefebvre in charge of his Laboratoire where he worked on aviation projects until the end of World War I, and then automobiles. He is particularly noted for creating the Voisin C6 Laboratoire, which was a race car prepared for the 1923 French Grand Prix.
When Voisin ran into business problems in 1931, Lefebvre was recommended to Louis Renault. Renault was persuaded to recruit Lefèbvre by François Lehideux, himself a senior executive within the company.
Lefebvre remained with Renault only until 1933, when he was hired by André Citroën to work on the Traction Avant project. After the death of André Citroën in 1935, Lefèbvre continued his work at Citroën, now led by the innovative entrepreneur Pierre-Jules Boulanger, who came to the company from Michelin.
Working with Citroën designers Flaminio Bertoni and Paul Magès, Lefèbvre created four of the most dramatic, boldly designed vehicles of 20th century:
The 1955 Citroën DS placed third in the 1999 Car of the Century competition, behind the Ford Model T and BMC Mini.
Lefèbvre died of hemiplegia on 4 May 1964.