1923 Avions Voisin C6 Laboratoire Recreation

A new formula was established for the 1922 Grand Prix season that permitted a maximum engine capacity of 2 liters and a minimum weight of 650 kg. Based on this, Gabriel Voisin and his Chief Engineer, André Lefèbvre, developed the C6 Course in just six months – determined to conquer the ACF Grand Prix. The C6 was a radical new design that drew heavily upon aviation in both its design and construction. Their idea was to create “a double wedge-shaped” aerofoil offering a negative angle of attack, making the car “adhere to the road by down force,” as Lefèbvre later wrote.

To reduce the car’s weight, they abandoned the technique of a body shell set on a structural chassis. Instead, they formed thin-gauge aluminum sheets around a wood frame reinforced with lateral steel tubes to create a stressed-skin body or monocoque structure – an innovation that was decades ahead of its time. In recognition of its experimental character and abundant technical innovations, the C6 Course became known as the Laboratoire (Laboratory). Laboratoires competed at the ACF Grand Prix at Tours, Monza, and Gaillon hill climb, but their highest place finish was 5th.

In 1992, Philipp Moch recreated this Laboratoire and later displayed the car at the 1995 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®. The C6 was purchased by the Mullin Collection in 2009 and displayed in the Mullin Automotive Museum for over a decade.