When it comes to genuinely striking cars – ones that have a real, visceral presence and command your attention in much the same way that, as the old aphorism goes, two green balls in your hand means you command the attention of Kermit the Frog – you really can’t beat a Voisin. These Avions Voisin cars were designed and built with an aircraft maker’s sensibilities, a sculptor’s sense of form, and an engineer’s appreciation of mechanics. Simply put, they’re stunning.
This 1934 Avions Voisin C23/24 Roadster by Saliot is such a car, and just sold earlier tonight at auction for a staggering $2,810,000. While that’s absolutely a lot of money, I also think this car is worth it. It’s that special.
Part of what makes this car special – and there are plenty of details that contribute to this, like the ostrich leather upholstery, for example, or the incredible lighting fixtures, for another – is the incredible dashboard, and on that dashboard are a series of knobs, which are what I want to focus on now.
The knobs on this beautiful engine-turned dashboard are the ones in the lower center of the dash, arranged in a gentle arc. These knobs have symbols on them to convey what happens when you activate them, something that’s kind of forward thinking. Plenty of cars from the early 1900s to the 1960s had controls that were either un-labeled or perhaps had a small text label. Standard symbols for dash controls really didn’t fully emerge until the 1970s.
This Voisin, though, while a couple of the knobs had text explaining their functions, most had pictographic symbols, and what would delight me right now is if you helped me figure out just what the hell these symbols may mean. Let’s walk though these knobs, left to right:
Oh, easy. That’s a cockroach of some kind, right? Maybe a termite or a weevil or something? Definitely some sort of insect. This must be the knob you pull to make insects come swarming out of specially-installed dashboard vents. Right? That sounds right. It’s an important feature to have in a car.
This one actually does seem to be pretty clear. Its a holy keyhole! Pulling the knob allows the Almighty to emerge through a keyhole, also useful when driving.
No, no, I’m kidding, This has to be something to do with lights. Either turning on the lights themselves or possibly adjusting the instrument lighting.
That looks like a lightning bolt of some kind. So, this must be something electrical. Adjust the electron flow in the generator? Like a choke? Adjusting the electrons/air mixture in the generator, maybe? That’s not really a thing, is it. Maybe it’s just ignition?
That’s either a hose spraying a liquid or a squid in a top hat. Either is as likely, to be honest. It sort of looks like a fuel injector, but I’m pretty sure this thing used twin carbs. Could it be for a choke? But even then this iconography feels confusing. Does pulling or pushing the knob spray something actively or adjust the way something that constantly sprays does its thing? I’m really not sure.
And finally, we have this knob:
This one either hypnotizes you, causes the car to generate some kind of vortex or cyclone, or makes you crazy. Maybe it flushes something?
I’m open to your suggestions on all of these. Also, if there are any other Avions Voisin C23/24 owners reading this, please hop in the comments and help us out!
Spiral=drift mode
Regarding the squid in the top hat…
I don’t believe dash instruments were backlit at this point, so it might be a built-in light source that allowed the pilot to read the gauges at night.
They made planes before they made cars. I bet the lightening bolt is possibly magneto for the ignition? and the spiral is something to do with starting. It reminds me of the nose cone of a propeller.
All the good wrong guesses are taken, so I’ll venture a couple of real ones.
The lightning bolt: Did this car have fog lamps? Perhaps this is an artsy French representation of fog?
Squid with hat: Was there a map light?
I was thinking the cockroach is the parking lights and the lightbulb the main headlights.
I think the last one plays the old Twilight Zone opening theme.
Side note, these knobs could technically be blank since these symbols are definitely the ones on those cards used to test psychic abilities.
>two green balls in your hand means you command the attention of Kermit the Frog…
Also a very good way to get a karate pork chop.
Muppet Rewind – The Best Of Miss Piggy’s Karate Chops!
1: clearly narrows the headlight pupils, because this car is clearly a Cat.
2: activates the cat’s brain cell to give it an idea.
3: activates The Zoomies
4: pull when Hooman uses the water bottle.
5: makes the car/cat dizzy. Or knocks it out. You’ve seen anime, right? Or at least played a Pokémon?
When I was a kid me and my brothers made our cats dizzy by holding them on our lap while sat on a spinny office chair, while the other two spun the chair around.
When released the cat would of course try to run away as fast as possible, but would veer sideways into a wall.
Looking back, that was pretty cruel 🙁
May have been, ya.
Ok, let me guess on the real one.
Holy Hooch = Choke
Bright Idea = Lights
80s Rock Band Logo = Magneto
Garden Hose = Fuel Pump
Puppy Swirl = Starter
Now listen, 007, your new car is equipped with a water spray, tornado generator, lightning bolt emitter, and cockroach ejection system. Standard kit, really. Do bring her back in one piece this time, hm?
“What does the bolt emitter do?”
“Pull it and a Chevy Bolt ejects from the boot. It’s for when you get far enough from Car Week the Voisin no longer blends in.”
“Does it have any special features?”
“Yes, Bond. At the insistence of this site’s chief engineer, it’s been fitted with a range extender. (Q opens the hatch to show a campsite generator held in place with zip ties and a drive belt going into holes cut in the floor to parts unkown but possibly directly to the rear axle) Pull to start, only operate it with ALL the windows down and wear ear protection. You’ll find noise-canceling headphones in the glovebox.”
The last one is clearly a cork screw, for your bottle of wine.
I was actually going to buy this car but then found out that the leather seats were from adult ostriches and not the more preferable baby ostriches (much softer with finer graining) so decided to pass.
Okay Fancy Kristen, we see you.
Being more accustomed to ’70s Detroit iron I was thinking it was Ostende Ostrich-Grain All-Vinyl (shown in saddle tan, also available in Burgundy, Medium Blue, Dark Green or White with dash and carpets in the above colors).
Naugahide, only cultivated from the most blemish free Nauga.
Honestly, what passes for quality these days!
The last one summons Gene Wilder to sing “Imagination” for you when you drive through a tunnel.
The first one summons some Egyptian deity, which will clear your way with an army of scarabs.
The second sprays a tunnel outline on a rock face towards which you are speeding. You then disappear into the former.
The third creates random hairpin turns in your wake to throw off pursuers.
The fourth and fifth are toilet controls, I’ll let you figure them out for yourself.
The last one clearly activates the “flush” function.