Automobiles Voisin - The Autonacional Biscuter

Casanova realised the commercial potential of such the concept in postwar Spain, which like France itself, needed low-cost minimal transport for everyman. In spring 1953, an agreement was signed between Autonacional and Gabriel Voisin's then company Aéromécanique, which held the patents on which the design was based. With a few modifications for the Spanish market, the Biscooter was reborn and productionised as the Biscuter, which went on to sell well for several years.

The Gnome-Rhone engine was replaced by a 9bhp two-stroke single manufactured by Hispano Suiza under licence from Villiers, sufficient to propel the device at a respectable 75 kph.
A front-wheel drive device with all-round independent suspension, the Biscuter's front brakes acted on the differential, with a handbrake operating the rears. The production model was fitted with a more enclosing aluminium body than the original to look more like a 'real' car without compromising the lightness of the initial concept.

Despite the various Biscooter prototypes never making it into production, the septuagenerian Gabriel Voisin's enthusiasm for the concept remained undiminished. Damien Casanova, a young Spanish engineer from the Autonacional company, had approached Voisin after seeing the Biscooter exhibited at the 1949 Salon.
The "Zapatilla" Biscuter (slipper in spanish)	Casanova realised the commercial potential of such the concept in postwar Spain, which like France itself, needed low-cost minimal transport for everyman. In spring 1953, an agreement was signed between Autonacional and Gabriel Voisin's then company Aéromécanique, which held the patents on which the design was based. With a few modifications for the Spanish market, the Biscooter was reborn and productionised as the Biscuter, which went on to sell well for several years. The Gnome-Rhone engine was replaced by a 9bhp two-stroke single manufactured by Hispano Suiza under licence from Villiers, sufficient to propel the device at a respectable 75 kph. A front-wheel drive device with all-round independent suspension, the Biscuter's front brakes acted on the differential, with a handbrake operating the rears. The production model was fitted with a more enclosing aluminium body than the original to look more like a 'real' car without compromising the lightness of the initial concept.




The woody estate model...	...and the commercial.

Tens of thousands of Spaniards bought Biscuters for everyday use - even in competition! - until production ended in 1958 after some 38,000 had been built.

...and the Pegasin with its plastic body.

Variants included a light van, a 'woody' estate and more conventionally styled and equipped little coupés whose excess weight reduced what little there had been by way of performance to an absolute minimum. Together with the introduction of inexpensive people's cars like the Seat 600, obesity relegated the Biscuter to commercial oblivion.

With grateful thanks to microcar collector BRUCE WEINER.

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