My Grandfather's Voisin ( Upd.: C4 or C4S)

Hi Craig I have a 1923 C4S roadster under restoration ,I know of two cars which were destroyed ,one in the Mornington area where the young men of the family decided to build a racer but dad cut it up with an axe to avoid disaster later on .
Also another in far East Gipsland.
It was used as a donor car to build a utility using the voisin radiator bonet etc.The chassis laid in a residential back yard for years with a tree growing through it. I found out about it to late as it had gone to the scrap metal merchant only two years prior.My car looks similar to your grandfathers at the front ,mine is also fitted with Bleriot PHI Lights .

Hello Gents, Thanks for the information and interesting comments. We were always of the impression that the body was French. It was very detailed with cut glass smokers trays in the interior and an OS Telegauge in the scuttle mounted fuel tank. Both just two of a number of features not commonly found out here (in Australia). My late uncle ( something of a hobby mechanic) related that despite it's modest engine capacity it was a brisk performer. That was until he removed the junk heads and 'de-coked' it which he said reduced its "go" an took it sometime to recover. Craig Little.

[quote name="David Zeunert"]Hi Craig, I remember some years ago there was a Saloon bodied Voisin sold in Tasmania, it was advertised in Unique Car magazine. David Zeunert Melbourne 0407 364 779.[/quote]

The Tiger Tank was aka a 1927 C7L carrying Tassie coachwork of the least attractive type you could imagine: too remarkably complete and original to modify..... and too ugly for any enthusiast to resist donating it to a community Guy Fawkes bonfire. (Be interesting to know if the UK buyer managed to resolved the puzzle without weilding her skilsaw...

Our C4S Sport 2-seater here has all the elegance of Gabriel's coachbuilding department, and very likely bore the doorplate "Aeroplanes G Voisin, Issy-les-Moulineaux"

But of course, it wouldn't have been the first time a resourceful Australian coachbuilder produced an exact-copy for an owner who hated import taxes.

In any case, Gabriel's original body would have been less than half the weight of any Melbourne copy. Not only is French ash timber half the weight of Ozzie ironbark, but aeroplane designer Voisin spent the 20th Century discovering how to add lightness to make a C4 Sport Limousine really fly.

The car was guaranteed to land safely just so long as Monsieur le conducteur guaranteed to keep the tacho needle left of 4000.

GV's factory handbook would have allowed fraternisation with the co-pilot... provided the propellor was stationary

Hi Craig, I remember some years ago there was a Saloon bodied Voisin sold in Tasmania, it was advertised in Unique Car magazine. David Zeunert Melbourne 0407 364 779.

Bonjour
C'est une Avions voisin 4 cylindres type C4
(60X110)1248cc ou C4s (62x110)1328CC boite
3 vitesses+1AR.Vitesse:environ 85 Km/h année 1922-1926

Jean Pierre Becret