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Carrosserie Clabot was a French coachbuilder based in Alfortville, active particularly around the 1930s and 1940s. It specialised in creating special-bodies for vehicles such as the Citroën Traction Avant, modifying them with distinctive styling cues like enveloping wings, “shark-nose” grilles and custom convertible layouts.
One of their noted creations is a 1939 Citroën 11 B Cabriolet with Clabot bodywork, estimated and auctioned as a rare example of this coachbuilder’s work.
The Clabot
Clabot’s work on the Traction Avant involved re-imagining the original body for a more luxurious or visually dramatic effect—examples include widened rear wings, integrated headlights in the front wings, and louvred bonnets.
Because their modifications were done in relatively small numbers, cars with Clabot bodywork are today rare and sought after by collectors who value the bespoke nature of coach-built automobiles of the era.
Their aesthetic bridges the standard production car and full coach-built luxury car, offering a unique expression of 1930s-40s French automotive style: sophisticated, somewhat avant-garde, and reflecting a time when custom bodywork was a marker of prestige.
Collectors often refer to documented chassis and body-numbers to confirm Clabot’s involvement, given how few of these conversions survive.