Alcyon

France, 1906 – 1928

(1) Edmond Gentil, Neuilly, Seine, 1906 – 1912

(2) Edmond Gentil, Courbevoie, Seine, 1912 1914

(3) Automobiles Alcyon, Courbevoie, Seine, 1914 – 1928

This famous factory, established in 1902, has always been primarily concerned with motorcycles, though they entered the car market with a brace of conventional voiturettes in 1906. These had thermo-syphon cooling, low-tension magneto ignition, shaft drive and 3-speed gearboxes; in addition to the inevitable 950cc single there was a small 1.4-litre 4-cylinder selling at £235. A wider range was available in 1907, the 725cc and 1-litre single-cylinder cars having coil ignition, while a high-tension magneto was standard on the 2.7-litre L-head 4-cylinder model. Twin-cylinder Alcyons competed in the 1907 and 1908 Coupes des Voiturettes. In 1909 a 1.9-litre car with Zürcher engine was sold. As late as 1910 singles and twins were catalogued, but in 1911 an altogether more ambitious 3-litre ohv car ran in the Coupe de L’auto and a 16-valve engine was used in the 1912 race. The smaller touring Alcyons of the immediate pre-1914 era had T-head engines, though the biggest model, of 2.6-litres’ capacity, had a single camshaft.

After 1918 motorcycles once again predominated though an obscure 2-litre model was made in the immediate post-war period and Giroux, the firm’s Lyons agent, did quite well in local events with a tuned version which he sold as the Alcyon-G.L.. The last Alcyon cars were, however, identical with the contemporary 500cc 2-stroke Sima-Violets. An even simpler single-cylinder cyclecar was also offered.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

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