Voisin Berline C28 (France) from 1936, six cylinders, 3315 cc, 100 HP, 140 km/h
Avions Voisin was a French luxury automobile brand established by Gabriel Voisin in 1919 which traded until 1939.
Gabriel B. Voisin was an aviation pioneer and manufacturer who in 1919 started producing cars using Knight-type sleeve valve engines at Issy-les-Moulineaux, an industrial suburb to the southwest of Paris. Former student of the Fine Arts School of Lyon 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 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.
Engines
Sleeve valve (Knight) engines were used exclusively until some later models switched to Graham 3.5 litre engines. The Knight engines included: inline four; inline six; V8 (prototype); V12 – 7.2 liter, 1921 (prototype); inline twelve and a seven-cylinder radial (prototype).
