Voisin C12

Avions Voisin was a French luxury automobile company founded in 1919 by Gabriel Voisin and in operation until 1939. Gabriel B. Voisin was an aircraft pioneer and manufacturer who began making vehicles in 1919 at Issy-les-Moulineaux, an industrial district southwest of Paris, employing Knight-type sleeve valve engines. The C1, his first vehicle, debuted in 1919 and was based on a Citroen prototype to which Voison had acquired the rights.

Almost until the end, Voisons were propelled by engines that used the unconventional Knight sleeve-valve configuration. While almost silent in operation, this valve arrangement used a lot of oil and frequently created a cloud of white smoke in its wake. The C11, Voisin's first six-cylinder automobile, was debuted in 1927, powered by a 2,326cc sleeve-valve engine and driven by a three-speed manual gearbox. The C11 and its variants, Voisin's most successful model, lasted in production until 1936, including the C12, which was powered by a 4½ litre sleeve valve six.