André Citroën’s Half-Track Expeditions: From Sahara to the Himalayas

When Cars Became Instruments of Exploration

What if a car could go where only camels, caravans, and explorers once dared? In the 1920s and 30s, French automaker André Citroën set out to prove that the automobile wasn’t just for city streets and countryside drives, it could conquer deserts, jungles, and even the high passes of the Himalayas. His bold vision gave birth to a trilogy of expeditions that pushed the limits of engineering and captured the world’s imagination.

The First Test: Crossing the Sahara (1922–23)

In December 1922, five Citroën half-tracks fitted with Adolphe Kégresse’s track system left Touggourt, Algeria. Their mission: to cross the vast Sahara Desert. For centuries, the shifting sands had defied wheels. Yet, in just 21 days, Citroën’s machines rolled across dunes and scorching plains, proving that motor vehicles could do what had once seemed impossible.

This triumph was more than a stunt, it was a turning point in mobility, exploration, and the reputation of the Citroën brand.

The Black Cruise: Across Africa (1924–25)

Flushed with success, Citroën set his sights even farther. The Black Cruise (Croisière Noire) launched in 1924, sending half-tracks from North Africa down to Madagascar. This 20,000-kilometer trek crossed jungles, rivers, and savannahs.

It was more than an endurance test, it was also a scientific and cultural expedition. Anthropologists, geographers, and filmmakers joined the journey, documenting landscapes and societies along the way. The half-tracks proved themselves in mud, rivers, and tropical extremes, becoming symbols of French ingenuity.

The Central Asia Expedition: In Marco Polo’s Footsteps (1931–32)

The most ambitious of all came next: La Croisière Jaune, the Central Asia Expedition. Beginning in 1931, two groups set out: one from Beirut (the Pamir group), and one from Beijing (the China group). Their goal: to meet in Xinjiang and link the Mediterranean to the Pacific by automobile, retracing the ancient Silk Road of Marco Polo.

The expedition faced every kind of obstacle, searing deserts, flooded rivers, crumbling mountain trails, snow-choked passes, and even attacks from bandits. At times, the half-tracks had to be dismantled and carried in pieces by ponies before being reassembled to continue. Yet, against all odds, 40 men and 14 Citroën half-tracks covered 12,000 kilometers, finally reaching Beijing in February 1932.

It was not just an automotive achievement but a global spectacle, reported in newspapers worldwide. Sadly, Georges-Marie Haardt, the expedition’s leader, fell ill with pneumonia during the return journey and died in Hong Kong—a tragic end to one of Citroën’s greatest adventures.

A Survivor at the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum

Most of the half-tracks that braved those extremes were lost to history but one lives on. The Tampa Bay Automobile Museum proudly houses a 1932 Citroën half-track that took part in La Croisière Jaune.

Standing before it, you can imagine the roar of engines in the Gobi Desert, the creak of makeshift rope bridges in the Himalayas, and the cheers of explorers rolling into Beijing after nearly a year on the road. It is a rare and tangible link to one of the greatest overland adventures of the 20th century.

Visit the Legacy of Adventure

The Citroën expeditions proved that cars could be more than transport—they could be instruments of discovery. They opened routes, inspired imaginations, and forever tied the double chevron logo to daring innovation.

📍 Come see this survivor of history yourself at the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum in Pinellas Park, Florida, and stand face-to-face with the machine that conquered deserts, jungles, and mountains.