February 7, 2014 will be a very interesting day. Two notably rare and unusual French automobiles will be up for auction in the Artcurial Auction at Retromobile in Paris.
A 1975 Citroën SM Mylord by Chapron will be sold and who knows how high it will be bid? One of 7 cabriolet SMs built by Henri Chapron, because it is a 1975, it may well be the last one made. The car has been with the same family from new and its condition is said to be original and exceptional.
The second car which not a Citroën, but it’s lineage is entrenched with Citroën engineering philosophy, is a 1935 Avions Voisin C25 Aérodyne. André Lefèbvre, who was in charge of Citroën’s Traction Avant and DS development began his career as an aviation engineer working for the Gabriel Voisin Company. Only seven examples of the C25 Aérodyne sedan were built between 1934 and 1935. Some of its history is known; It was bought in 1963 by Henry Browne de Kilmaine for his collection. Soon after he acquired it Henry Browne de Kilmaine was asked by the Comité d’Organisation des Salons Internationaux de l’Automobile to put it on show at the exhibition ‘Les Belles Voitures d’Autrefois’. The event was reported in the ‘Revue Automobile’ dated October 17, 1963, and the car is pictured along an Isotta Fraschini, a Rolls-Royce and a D8 Delage. In 1972 Henry Browne de Kilmaine participated in the ‘Coupes de l’Age d’Or’ on the Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans. In 1984, the car was selected for the exhibition ‘100 Years of Motoring’ held under the famous glass roof of the Grand Palais. In May 2002 the Aérodyne was sent to the Châtellerault Museum for the exhibition devoted to Gabriel Voisin. After that the car was on show at the Le Mans Museum where it stayed until recently. Prior to this sale the car has been entrusted to specialist Jean-Pierre Becret in order to prep it for the auction. It is a very rare car in a good original condition and is expected to sell for over a half a million euros.
We can hardly wait to see what they will go for and who will be the fortunate new owners!
[UPDATE: The 1975 Citroën SM Mylord Cabriolet sold for €548,320. The 1935 Avions Voisin C25 Aérodyne did not appear at the auction.]