Voisin C28 Aérosport and Nissan A34 Maxima

The image above is a cropped scan of page 92 from the French publication Automobila Hors-série No. 1, Toutes les vouitures françaises 1936, featuring the Salon de l'Automobile, Paris, 3-13 octobre 1935, published by Groupe Histoire & Collections, 15 October 1996.  The featured car is the Avions Voisin C28 Aérosport.

The author, René Bellu, complains in the second caption: "Ci-dessous. L'Aerosport vue de face (à gauche) et la plain profil.  Sous cet angle, on distingue parfaitement une erreur de courbure intervenue en tôlerie lors de l'elaboration de ce prototype: la ceinture de caisse forme une bosse disgracieuse à hauteur de la portière."  He refers to the break of the fenderline/beltline curve continuity at the A and B pillars as being disgraceful, even though he concedes the car is only a prototype.

Actually, the design was sensational, Gabriel Voisin's final, typically quirky, triumph before ceding control of his firm.  A bit of background can be found in this Car and Driver article dealing with an Aérosport to be auctioned by RM Sotheby's -- but withdrawn before the event.  It mentions that ten of these cars were built, but only two are said to survive.

Also dealt with in this post is the 2004-2008 Nissan Maxima A34 (scroll down).  I contend that its curved rear profile echoes the C28 Aérosport design.  Whether or not there was conscious borrowing, I do not know.

I do not have source references for the color images of the not-auctioned Aérosport.  Some might have been commissioned by RM Sotheby's or the prospective seller, others seem to have been taken at an outdoor car display.  Unless noted, images of Maximas are of cars offered for sale.

Gallery

Another view of the Aérosport at the 1935 show.  The awkward door shaping is evident the this side of the car too.

This "V 12" Aérosport briefly appeared at the 1936 Salon, then disappeared.  Only two photographs of it are known to me.  Its motor, which might have been more conjectural than actual, was two in-line six cylinder engines placed in tandem -- hence the long hood on the car.

The Aérosport not auctioned.  Its story is sketched in the Car and Driver link above, but the history of its body is unclear aside from that fact that the car was given a thorough restoration.  In any case, the fender line that bothered Bellu appears smooth.

Side view.

Very nice curves, but a deceptive view making the body seem more integral than it actually is.

Here we see that the rear fenders are separated from the central part of the body.  The backlight is positioned so low as to make rearward views from the driver's seat difficult.

Nissan Maxima from 2004.  The aft strikes me as being in the same spirit as the Aérosport's.  The backlight is framed by small sail-panels that allow the side roofline curves to be smoother, less cramped that if the backlight curve was followed.

Lack of ornamentation highlights the simplicity of the body shaping.

Side view factory photo.  Far more pleasing to me than the current jazzed-up designs from Nissan, Toyota and Honda.