Knight sleeve valves
Knight sleeve-valve engines were used from the Type C1 through the earlier series; the later C30 used a Graham side-valve engine.
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Manufacturers / Avions Voisin
Avions Voisin
France · est. 1919
Aviation thinking in French luxury cars
- On the block
- 1 lots
- Top value
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- Period
- 1919–
The house
Aviation thinking in French luxury cars
Avions Voisin’s automobile activity began after the First World War. The preceding aviation business was founded in 1905 by Louis Blériot and Gabriel Voisin; Charles Voisin joined in 1907 and died in a road accident in 1912.
Testing of the first four-litre Knight sleeve-valve chassis began in February 1919. Sources differ over whether the car shown at the 1919 Paris Salon should be called M1 or C1, but agree that it was Voisin’s first four-cylinder, four-litre Knight sleeve-valve automobile.
Voisin used light alloys, notably aluminium, and developed factory coachwork with generous glazing and luggage accommodation. The 1923 Laboratoire Grand Prix cars used semi-monocoque construction; André Lefèbvre finished fifth, the last classified finisher, at Tours.
Henri Rougier won the 1922 ACF Grand Prix de Tourisme at Strasbourg in a Voisin C3, with Arthur Duray second in another C3. The C14 was a 2.3-litre six often described as one of the company’s more popular offerings.
Twenty-eight C25 chassis were produced between 1934 and 1937. The Aérodyne appeared in 1934, followed by the ponton-bodied C28 Aérosport in 1935. The C30 used a Graham side-valve engine, and original Avions Voisin automobile production ceased in 1939.
- Automobile production
- 1919–1939
- The aviation business pre-dated the automobile marque.
- Automobile founder
- Gabriel Voisin
- Born 1880; his brother Charles died in a road accident in 1912.
- Works
- Issy-les-Moulineaux
- The automobile works were southwest of Paris.
- C25 chassis
- 28
- Produced 1934–37; reported Aérodyne-body totals conflict among sources.
- Status
- Defunct
- Original automobile production ceased in 1939.
Selected milestones
A bloodline, not a list.
1919
First automobile
Gazoline dates the first road test to February 1919. Sources use both M1 and C1 for the four-litre Knight sleeve-valve car shown at the Paris Salon that year.
1922
Strasbourg tourisme win
Henri Rougier won the ACF Grand Prix de Tourisme at Strasbourg in a Voisin C3; Arthur Duray finished second in another C3.
1923
Laboratoire at Tours
Four Laboratoire cars entered the French Grand Prix at Tours. André Lefèbvre finished fifth and last among the classified runners in a semi-monocoque Voisin.
1934–37
C25 chassis production
Twenty-eight C25 chassis were produced. Sources disagree on the number bodied as Aérodynes; the car’s sliding roof and porthole glazing are documented.
1938–39
C30 and the end of production
The final C30 series used a Graham side-valve engine. Automobile production ceased in 1939.
What defines Avions Voisin
Factory coachwork
Voisin used aluminium and other light-alloy coachwork and, by 1926, supplied cars fully bodied rather than routinely delivering bare chassis to outside coachbuilders.
Records after Grand Prix racing
After its final official Grand Prix appearance in 1924, Voisin concentrated on record attempts. A C18 covered 50,000 km at an average of 119.857 km/h in 1930.