Phlog

© The images & texts on these pages may not be reproduced, republished or mirrored on another webpage, website or printed without prior okay. We'll find out eventually when they are. © De beelden, de foto's en de teksten mogen zonder toestemming niet worden overgenomen, of zeg maar gepikt, zonder voorafgaande toestemming. Inderdaad, we komen er bijna altijd toch achter.

A Georgian man rides a three-wheeled vehicle as he flees in South Ossetia near the village of Troiavi on August 10, 2008. Russian troops are heading towards the Georgian town of Gori, which Georgian forces are positioned to defend, Georgia's national security council chief Alexander Lomaia said Sunday. (DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP)

A car passes as fire engulfs the woods near the Georgian town of Gori, just outside the breakaway province of South Ossetia, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008. Georgian troops retreated from South Ossetia on Sunday and their government pressed for a truce, overwhelmed by Russian firepower as the conflict threatened to set off a wider war. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

"A deathtrap, this crossing."

"From here we take the tram.

The Dam was busy as a beehive.

It's a unique book of postcards,
that can be sent as nostalgic remembrances,
of vacations, lost loves, sold automobiles.
Sad and lovely. Proficiat Max!
Also on sale separately at Onze Auto's.
For a mere €10!

Monsieur Erik Verhaest seems to be succesful with his PostCARds
on sale at the exposition Onze Auto's.

An interview with Verhaest appears in Autovisie on August 14.

"There's a man with a camera. No, I'm getting started!"

"I'm leaving in a jiffy."

Mercedes on Sylt.
Guy

Sylt is not a Caribbean island.
Guy

BMW of yesteryear, called the bathtub, clean lines at the time.

A diamond for your thoughts!

A cleaning tornado sweeps through the city.

Wilhelm auf Sylt.
Guy

The Nordic route to the South.

"I don't want to go to the dentist!"

Wednesday, often rain.
"Red's not my color!"

No cease-fire yet.
"Please brink some toast for ze kaviar!"

In the evening the sky cleared, fully blue.

A gondola in Providence, RI.
Silver man again, Lewis?

Bright new bike on the block, called "urbancruiser".

"Staying in a hotel just off the Vondelpark."

"What's next on the list?"

"I got my umbrella you know."

Tuesday.
"Hurry, hurry, it's gonna rain in a minute!"

1934 Voisin C27 Aerosport

While Voisin made many unique and interesting cars based on his vast aircraft knowledge, none are as breathtakingly distinct as this C27 Aerosport. With a clever mix of French curves and Voisin's art deco touches, it is one of the most deserving cars to be labeled as rolling sculpture.
The Aerosport's story began in summer of 1934 when Voisin built a car called the Aerodyne and displayed it that fall at the Paris Motor show. With it, he was trying to draw attention to his oddball styling and unique features such as a sliding sunroof. While the intention was to make two dozen Aerodynes, only a few examples were really completed, including our feature car.
After the Paris Motor Show, two roadsters were built on a shortened and underslung version of the Aerodyne chassis known as the C27. The second of these was chassis 52002, a streamlined and pontoon-fended masterpiece called the Aerosport.
Its body styling is the work of the car's first owner, Andre Christmas who worked in collaboration with Voisin. Their balanced design is as impressive in detail as from afar. They took the basic outline of the Aerodyne, lowered it, added a sizeable trunk space, pentagon side windows, piano-hinged doors and ribbed aluminum accents along the extremity. The highlight is a sliding roof which has its own engine that works off the main engine's vacuum. It operates with a switch on the dashboard and closes directly onto the top of the windshield.

Inside, the car features a striking geometric pattern and ample room for luggage. When the sliding roof is retracted, it offers tremendous exposure, especially compared to the conventional sunroofs of the era.
When completed, the Aerosport was displayed at the 1935 Geneva Motor show where its striking design was almost more interesting than the patented Knight sleeve valve engine under the hood. It replaced the standard poppet valves with moving sleeves that surrounded the piston to uncover intake and exhaust ports. This complex system worked without return springs, and enabled very high engine speeds with less stress than a conventional pushrod design. The resulting quieter ride offset the slight haze left by the exhaust as oil slipped between the sleeves.
After the show, the Aerosport was care taken by many fortunate individuals and it now remains largely as it did when it was first shown in 1935. Its most recent journey was a trip to the 2006 Pebble Beach Concours where it was lined up alongside other Voisins in their feature display. 52002 is currently part of a large collection of Voisins in France.
Story by Richard Owen for Supercars.net

The Voisin Concept is a high performance sportscar
inspired by the Avions Voisin French brand
from the 1920s and 1930s. It was created by
Portuguese Design Studio LusoMotors.

Developed by Ernesto Freitas, founder of LusoMotors the Voisin project is currently in the virtual 3D model stage.
The studio aims at producing a full-scale model in the next future that would virtually compete in the same exclusive segment as that of the Bugatti Veyron. Speaking about the inspirations that motivated him, Ernesto Freitas says: "Personally I always loved French classic cars. I'm not talking about just the design or the brands, but the history behind them."
"Voisin is one of them: despite being active for just a few years, this brand made some of the most fantastic and luxurious cars of the time. Lots of technological advanced details were incorporated in their cars, using the knowledge from the aviation world.
"Gabriel Voisin and his brother, Charles Voisin where pioneers, and I believe, the only real rivals of Bugatti at that time. Having this in mind, we came up with a design to rival with Bugatti, like in the "old days"...

The Voisin was designed to accomodate large capacity longitudinal V12 engine at the rear. The new V12 Audi diesel engine would be the ideal choice, as Ernesto explains: "Huge amounts of torque and power can be used with no regrets!"
The sportscar has generous dimensions - especially the wheelbase - and sits on 20-inches wheels with ultra low profile tires.
LusoMotors started the project as a homage to classic Fench Cars and to Gabriel Voisin and is currently looking for potential investors to further develop it into a production reality.
Note: the Voisin brand is property of its owner, and it's being used by LusoMotors solely as a mere design exercise and a way to pay homage to classic French cars and their history and to Gabriel Voisin.

About LusoMotors
LusoMotors is a Portuguese Car Design company that offers design and prototyping services using its know-how to develop low-cost and feasable projects. It was founded by Ernesto Freitas, a professional mechanical designer with more than 15 years experience in the field and an amateur car designer. It is based in Guimarães, northern Portugal.
For more information read our presentation article or visit the official website .

About Avions Voisin
Founded by aviation pioneer and manufacturer Gabriel Voisin, Avions Voisin produced cars from 1919 to 1939.
Among the technical highlights of these luxury and original vehicles were the extensive use of aluminum and the Knight-type sleeve valve engines. The design of the bodies was created by Gabriel himself, who said he was helped by architect Le Corbusier. Voisin's cars were lightweight, with central weight distribution, ample luggage boxes and angular exterior lines. The 1923 Laboratoire Grand Prix was one of the very first cars with a monocoque structure.
One of the engineers working at Voisin was André Lefèbvre, who later joined Citroen where he created the Traction Avant, the 2CV and the DS.

For more information on Avions Voisin visit:
Avions Voisin logo (France. 1919-1939) at Cartype
Avions Voisin at Wikipedia
Voisin cars at Supercars.net

Monday.
No sunny day.

New week: 33.
U-turn, I turn.