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2011 Concours d’Elegance Winner

1934 Voisin C 25 Aerodyne Rear Corner

The 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Best of Show winner may not be a barn find, but it is worth a gander. This 1934 Voisin C-25 Aerodyne made us take noticed as we passed all the other amazing cars this morning on the eighteenth green. This beauty displayed some wonderful French engineering.

1934 Voisin C 25 Aerodyne Side

Don’t laugh, but we instantly recognized this was a French car because of that roof line which reminded us of the Citroën 2CV. We are not sure if that is an insult or not considering the difference in price here. We do wonder how many other people thought the same thing though. It sure caused us to stop and take a second look.

1934 Voisin C 25 Aerodyne Front Corner

There is a 3.0 liter inline six under that hood. We did not get to see the engine, but have heard that it produces around 100 horsepower. That’s not bad for a car built almost 80 years ago.

1934 Voisin C 25 Aerodyne Interior

The interior of this Voisin featured woven fabric with a crazy pattern and lots of chrome. We could have stood there all day looking at all the aircraft inspired details that make this car so unique.

1934 Voisin C 25 Aerodyne Rear

Our favorite feature of this car is the sliding roof. If you look closely at the photos above, you will notice that the roof is attached to two rails that go down the back of the car. There is a chrome bar on the interior roof that must aid in the lowering of the roof somehow.  The whole thing slides all the way back allowing the passengers to experience the open air.

Comments

  1. Avatar Patrick G.

    Love that roof! Kinda like a curved mini-van door…..on the roof.

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  2. Avatar Patrick G.

    But wait….is there a window on the roof that would line up with the rear window of the car when fully opened? I see a couple on the roof, but they look pretty small.

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  3. Avatar sylvain

    You are absolutely right, the flat square doors along with the curve roof that ?Ç£pops out?Ç¥ looks very much like a 2cv. No doubt the French designer had seen the Voisin before they design the 2cv and remember on the 2cv the roof over the 4 seats can be folded too.

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  4. Avatar Ray in PA

    All that talk of French style, and you need a fire extinguisher for the parking brake? Priceless!

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  5. Avatar John Cargill

    French cars are so delightfully idiocentric. They truly think out of the box. Perhaps that is why the never made it in the U.S. Other than lousy dealers, poor adaptability to our driving environment, lousy marketing and an all around impression that they didn’t really want our market. I still want someday to have a DS23 Pallas in my collection.

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  6. Avatar Bernie Phillips Member

    These cars were quite advanced for their time. I had the good fortune to inspect one that was here in San Diego and it was a very cool automobile. The vehicle that I looked at was not a fast back, but it still had a sunroof which was operated by vacuum. The engine was a “slide valve” which was super quiet while running. The flush glass was also in keeping with their aviation theme.

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  7. Avatar His Royal Flatulence

    Every Voisin I’ve ever seen, in person or in photos, has those struts running between the tops of the radiator and the front fenders. I know Voisin cars were influenced by aircraft design practice, but I’ve always wondered if those struts served any useful purpose in a car. They look cool and distinctive, regardless.I’ve also wondered who the customers were that bought Voisin cars new. They were so unconventional, and so expensive; it must have been very interesting and unconventional people who bought them.

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  8. Avatar Jack

    Not the prettiest best of show…

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  9. Avatar Ian Whitlock

    i love the odd ball cars this stands out to me and i think its a good best of show winner. i just got to pull a Renault 4cv out of a barn about 3 months ago it i sent in some pics hopefully it will be posted on here!

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  10. Avatar John Cargill

    I’m betting the struts were to cut down independent movement of the fenders as regards the hood and body.

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  11. Avatar Joshua Calloway

    Just pure awesome! Yet another example of a really cool car that no one in the US knows about LOL! Looking at the pics, that should be a new 2011 model! If new cars could have styling like that, with the modern technology in them, I’d be in heaven for sure!

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  12. Avatar olgraybeard

    These cars were quite advanced . . . . they even chromed the flat bar that keep the fenders from falling off!

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  13. Avatar Michael

    The engine is a sleeve valve (Knight patent) engine, where a sleeve with ports surrounds the cylinder liner with corresponding ports. It looks like a 2stroke cylinder. The sleeve has a conrod, that is connected to the cam, and slides up and down, opening and closing the ports. They never seal properly (5 sealing surfaces per cylinder!!!), always smoke from burning oil.The suspension has, from the driver seat, adjustable shocks. The gearbox is a cotal preselecter box. the sliding roof is vacuum operated.I love these cars, actually, I’m looking across the workshop at one right now :-)Last year a coupe sold at Amelia Island for 1,5 million dollars!

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  14. Avatar Joe

    The roof DOES have a little window that lines up with the rear window when the top is “retracted” so you can see out. This car STOLE the show on Sunday – it is absolutely, astonishly fabulous.

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  15. Avatar Dave

    This Voisin reminds me of their early World War One aircraft designs. Quirky and generally awkward looking, but they were also tough and reliable.

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  16. Avatar Dave

    Forgot to add “but strangely beautiful”.

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