Avions Voisin was a French luxury

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

brand established by

Gabriel Voisin Gabriel Voisin (5 February 1880 – 25 December 1973) was a French aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained (1 km), circular, controlled flight, which was made ...

in 1919 which traded until 1939.

History

Gabriel B. Voisin was an aviation pioneer and manufacturer who in 1919 started producing cars using

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

-type

sleeve valve The sleeve valve is a type of valve mechanism for piston engines, distinct from the usual poppet valve. Sleeve valve engines saw use in a number of pre-World War II luxury cars and in the United States in the Willys-Knight car and light truck. ...

engines at

Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cat ...

, an

industrial suburb An industrial suburb is a community, near a large city, with an industrial economy. These communities may be established as tax havens or as places where zoning promotes industry, or they may be industrial towns that become suburbs by urban spr ...

to the southwest of Paris. Former student of the Fine Arts School of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

and enthusiast for all things mechanical since his childhood, Voisin's uncompromisingly individual designs made extensive use of light alloys, especially aluminum. One of the company's most striking early designs was the '' Voisin Laboratoire'' Grand Prix car of 1923; one of the first cars ever to use

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

chassis construction, and utilising small radiator-mounted propeller to drive the cooling pump. The characteristic Voisin style of 'rational' coachwork he developed in conjunction with his collaborator André Noel. Noel prioritized lightness, central weight distribution, capacious luggage boxes and distinctively angular lines. The 1930s models with underslung chassis were strikingly low. In the early 1930s, Gabriel Voisin could not pay all of his draughtsmen any more and a young creative engineer named

André Lefèbvre André Lefèbvre (19 August 1894 – 4 May 1964) was a French automobile engineer. André René Lefèbvre was born in Louvres, Val-d'Oise, Louvres, France (North of Paris, Val-d'Oise, Val d'Oise). He began his career as an aviation engineer wor ...

quit, recommended by Gabriel to Louis Renault. Lefèbvre finally entered Citroën where he led three particularly significant car projects: the

Traction Avant Traction may refer to: Engineering *Forces: ** Traction (engineering), adhesive friction or force ** Traction vector, in mechanics, the force per unit area on a surface, including normal and shear components * Traction motor, an electric motor ...

, the 2CV and the DS, using a lot of Gabriel's lessons.

Engines

Sleeve valve The sleeve valve is a type of valve mechanism for piston engines, distinct from the usual poppet valve. Sleeve valve engines saw use in a number of pre-World War II luxury cars and in the United States in the Willys-Knight car and light truck. ...

(Knight) engines were used exclusively until some later models switched to Graham 3.5 litre engines. The Knight engines included:

inline four A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the e ...

; inline six; V8 (prototype); V12 - 7.2 liter, 1921 (prototype); inline twelve and a seven-cylinder

radial Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Mathematics and Direction * Vector (geometric), a line * Radius, adjective form of * Radial distance, a directional coordinate in a polar coordinate system * Radial set * A bearing f ...

(prototype).

After the Second World War

After the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

the business was nationalised in the political turmoil and the Government installed directors who did not continue the original engineering traditions. The Voisin business was integrated into that of its principal creditor, engine supplier Gnome & Rhône which was in turn nationalised in 1945 to form the basis for what now became the state-directed

SNECMA Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It ...

business. Voisin presented a "Biscooter Voisin" at the 1950 Paris Motorcycle and Bicycle Show, a

voiturette A voiturette is a miniature automobile. History ''Voiturette'' was first registered by Léon Bollée in 1895 to name his new motor tricycle. The term became so popular in the early years of the motor industry that it was used by many makers t ...

intended for the impoverished age, with a front-mounted 125 cc engine from Gnome & Rhône. The aluminium-bodied vehicle had a three-speed transmission with a secondary gear and did not require a driver's license. The company failed to proceed with the Biscooter and instead mandated a Mr. Moglia, previously employed by Hotchkiss to develop an alternative voiturette. Moglia's design appeared at the 1952

Paris Motor Show The Paris Motor Show (french: Mondial de l'Automobile) is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held during October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show presently take ...

fitted with the same Gnome & Rhône engine, but on Moglia's design the engine was moved to the rear of the little vehicle. The braking and suspension systems were also quite different. The Moglia design was presented as the new "Biscooter Voisin", a nomenclature which at least one commentator found "abusive". The vehicle, renamed

Biscúter Biscúter (Spanish spelling for the pronunciation of BiScooter) is a microcar manufactured in Spain, by Auto Nacional, SA, from 1953 until 1960, total of all versions around 10,000 units. Background Raw material shortages and general economic di ...

, was adapted for Spanish conditions and about 12,000 were produced in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

between 1953 and 1960.

Modern life

* A 1925 Avions Voisin C3 Cabriolet which won best in class at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance for 2001 and Best in Show at the Motor Cars of Radnor Hunt in Pennsylvania in 2002, sold at auction for EUR€212,800 in 2015 * A 1934 C-15 Ets. Saliot Roadster won best of show at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance for 2002 * A 1931 Voisin C20 Mylord Demi-Berline won

Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance is an automotive charitable event held each year during the second weekend in March at The Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island in Amelia Island, Florida. A ''The New York Times'' article about celebrity car ownership ...

Best of Show for 2009 and subsequently sold in 2010 Amelia Island sale for $2,750,000 * A 1934 C-25 Aérodyne owned by Peter and Merle Mullin won best of show at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance for 2011 * A 1935 Avions Voisin C25 Aérodyne was auctioned in Pebble Beach, California on 18 August 2013 for a price tag of $1,925,000. * A 1934 Voisin C-27 Aérosport won the

Concours d'Elegance ''Concours d'Elegance'' ( French: ''concours d'élégance'') is a term of French origin that means a "competition of elegance" and refers to an event where prestigious vehicles are displayed and judged. It dates back to 17th-century France, whe ...

at Hampton Court Palace in London for 2021

Popular culture

In the 1933

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

film adaptation of

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The Invisible Man ''The Invisible Man'' is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. Originally serialized in '' Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a scientist who has devo ...

, Dr Kemp drives a Voisin C-3 touring car. In the 1938 film Three Comrades, a 1923 Voisin C5 is owned by one of the main characters and is seen frequently. In the 2005 movie Sahara, the car stolen from the dictator is a 1936 Avions Voisin C-28.

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...

Dirk Pitt Dirk Pitt is a fictional character created by American novelist Clive Cussler and featured in a series of novels published from 1976 to 2021. Pitt is a larger-than-life hero reminiscent of pulp magazine icon Doc Savage. Pitt is a citizen of the ...

recognizes the car and says "It's a 1936 Avions Voisin. Six-cylinder sleeve valve engine, you know there was only six of these ever made." In actuality, the movie car is a

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

replica of a 1936 C-28 Avions Voisin with a 4.2 Jaguar engine and Rover automatic gear box on a

4WD Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer ca ...

chassis built by D Tessier (a well known restorer of Avions Voisin automobiles) in Tours, France.

Clive Cussler Clive Eric Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached ''The New York Times'' fiction best-seller list m ...

(author of the novel the movie was based on) had a genuine 1936 Avions Voisin, similar to the C-28 that inspired the replica, in his

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

museum. The movie vehicle was designed by well-known British special effects expert and stunt vehicles coordinator, Steve Lamonby and completed in four months. To make the actors more visible, the roof was removed giving it the appearance of a mid-1930s four-door cabriolet. "GV" letters on the registration plate are an insider tribute to the original C-28's legendary manufacturer, Gabriel Voisin. The Voisin C-28 Sahara, as it has become known, sold at auction for US$23,400 in 2008. The 2011 video game

L.A. Noire ''L.A. Noire'' is a 2011 action-adventure video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. Set in 1947 Los Angeles, the game follows detective Cole Phelps's rise among the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department as he so ...

features a driveable 1938 Voisin C30 (not C7) hidden at the corner of La Brea and Sunset Boulevard, in an Alaco gas station.

References

External links

Website (english/french) about the Avions Voisin automobiles

"Driving a 1935 Avions Voisin C25 Aérodyne"
{{Automotive industry Car brands French brands Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France Cars powered by Knight engines Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Motor vehicle manufacturers of France Car manufacturers of France Sports car manufacturers French racecar constructors