1927 Amilcar C6 Voiturette

Amilcar was born from the meeting of four men - André Morel and Edmond Moyet on the technical side and Emile Akar and Joseph Lamy had access to funds. André Morel worked for the Le Zèbre company and Edmond Moyet was a collaborator of Jules Salomon at Citroën on the 5CV project but worked at home in the evenings on his personal project, building a cyclecar. He subsequently met Morel, who was keen to help but lacked finance so he put the young engineer in touch with Emile Akar, who owned a large stake in Le Zèbre and Joseph Lamy, the company's Sales Manager. The two men were won over by Edmond Moyet's project which was well advanced and agreed to build the cyclecar. Amilcar was born (an anagram of the names of the two directors Lamy and Akar).

Powered by a diminutive 904cc four-cylinder side-valve engine, Amilcar's first model, the CC, commenced production in 1921. The CC was praised for its excellent, responsive handling and adequate power, attracting a large and loyal following and setting the pattern for future models. It also provided Morel with his desired competition success when he became the 1,100cc Class champion of France in 1922.

Within a couple of years Amilcar found itself at a disadvantage to Salmson, whose new twin-overhead camshaft four was considerably more powerful, and responded with a Twin-Cam six. First seen in 1925 and universally admired for their low build and light weight, the Type CO (Works) cars boasted supercharged engines with integral cylinder heads and exquisitely machined crankshafts running in seven main (roller) bearings. In October 1926 at the Paris Salon, the company introduced a production version with detachable head, plain-bearing engine, the C6, which Autocar magazine described as 'beautifully finished, excellently streamlined...' Fed by a Roots-type supercharger and equipped with dry sump lubrication, the C6 engine represented state of the art automotive technology, delivering a maximum power output of over 60bhp. Effectively a Grand Prix car in miniature, the exclusive, limited edition C6 was exactly what Amilcar's sporting clientele had been asking for, though the price of 60,000 Francs placed it firmly in Bugatti Type 35A/37 territory.

The C6 enjoyed considerable success against the rival Salmsons and BNCs but away from the racetrack the company was not doing so well. Its straightened circumstances led to a drastic cutback of the Competitions department in 1927, though in private hands, the advanced Amilcars continued racing well into the 1940s. Today, despite a production run of barely a single season, these exquisitely crafted Grand Prix voiturettes have become the quintessential Amilcar and among the most recognisable French competition cars of the Vintage era.

This particular C6 was purchased by the late Bob Graves as a fresh project after he had completed another Amilcar (11032). It was acquired from Belgium as a complete rolling chassis and then rebuilt and improved using all the experience gained from developing the other car. Known to have attended at least one Brooklands Reunion since the build, it's very well engineered but has been stored for the past few years so an element of light recommissioning may well be required. Like any car of this specialist nature, we encourage all interested parties to come and see the car for themselves at our Race Retro event.