In October 1920, André Citroën watches a demonstration involving
three of his Type A 10CV cars equipped with a new rear propulsion unit, enabling them to tackle difficult terrain.

Won over by this new and efficient system, Mr Citroën buys the exclusive rights to this invention, which was originally designed to take
the Russian Tsar wolf-hunting.

On 17 December 1922, five B2 half-tracks leave Touggourt to cross the Sahara. Twenty days and 3,200 kilometres later, they arrive in Timbuktu.

In viewing the astounding success of this first journey, André Citroën decides to organise another expedition, this time crossing the entire African continent from north to south. His objective is to draw the attention of the armed services, government offices and businesses to the advantages of his new vehicle. In the African adventure, baptisted the Croisière Noire, eight Citroën half-tracks set out in October 1924 to cross deserts, savannah, swamps, rivers and tropical forests in 232 days.

The Croisière Noire is a resounding success, encouraging André Citroën to organise a third and last adventure, in 1931, a voyage that will earn the Marque recognition the world over, the Croisière Jaune. The idea is to follow the famous silk route, which took Marco Polo to Chine.These voyages are the forerunners of the long-distance rallies, which are so much a part ofCitroën today.

At the beginning of the 1970s, Citroën organises a number of events involving the 2CV, in which young people from France and Europe follow the route taken by the Croisière Jaune with the Paris-Kabul-Paris rally and the Paris-Persepolis-Paris rally, and the route of the Croisière Noire with Raid Afrique.

Citroën also organises rallies for young amateurs, chosen on the basis of selection procedures. Following the success of operation Dragon, in which 140 young Europeans and 100 AXs travel from Hong Kong to Beijing between July and August 1988, Citroën sets up the Berlingo Raid in 1997, from Paris to Moscow via Samarkand. Organised to coincide with the 1997 Master Rally, the adventure involves 230 young Europeans and 138 Berlingos. In Moscow's Red Square, participants are able to watch the historic triple vistory of the ZX Rallye Raids driven by Ari Vatanen, Pierre Lartigue and Philippe Warbergue. Clearly, sporting raids and rallies are strongly anchored in Citroën tradition.