1938 Avions Voisin C30
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Year of manufacture1938
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Car typeOther
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Lot number144
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Reference number5jCtAzywbRs1JFwGy1Tq4i
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DriveRHD
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ConditionUsed
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Location
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Exterior colourOther
Description
Voisin displayed this Type C30 S in stylish coupe form for a final appearance at the Paris Motor Show in 1938. After years of administrative struggle, the Voisin factory soon shuttered with the looming prospect of war, and the company was unable to revive the marque in the postwar years.
Gabriel Voisin was an advocate of streamlined designs well before they were popular. His cars were based on theory and science that exalted simple shapes flowing with the wind rather than abruptly muscling through. Even the C30 – which in many ways was tainted by administrators who forced Voisin to make a car according to modern aesthetics rather than his own understanding of science – maintained these idealized, light, aerodynamic qualities.
In this final iteration of Voisin’s design, the chassis was shortened to 10.3' from the previous year’s C30 chassis to improve handling. Additionally, the Coupe was not equipped with the typical hood ornament or Voisin sleeve-valve engine; rather, it received a 3.5-litre Graham-Paige engine with a centrifugal supercharger.
Restored in 1994 in Tours, France, this Type C30 S was purchased by the Mullin Collection in 2008 and subsequently displayed in the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California, where it was featured in a special exhibit on the Voisin marque. For the French-car collector looking for Gabriel Voisin’s last grand design, the search ends here.