Dupuy’s wacky voiturette. Who knows more?

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One way to get your product in the picture is to have postcards printed and hand them out. Frenchman Henri Dupuy of L'Île-Bouchard — some 30 miles south of Tours — thought it was a good way to promote the vehicle he’d come up with back in 1907 or 1908.

He called his creation voiturette rather than voiture because it was a small car, and possibly a racer, too. Indeed, it was a remarkable little thing. The first thing that strikes you in the picture is the length compared with the width — it’s long and narrow, making it almost look like an aeroplane without wings. With the driver at the very back, a passenger appears to have the option of sitting in a tandem position in front of the driver — like a glider. The thing must have been really light, too.

Further distinctions are that long belt driving the rear wheels, and the front suspension with a centre pivot. We love the single headlight, too. If there’s one thing that comes close to it, it’s the Parisian cyclecar creations of Bedelia. But, unlike these, not much appears to be known about the voiturette of constructeur-mécanicien Henri Dupuy. We only see his postcards when they appear every now and then. Who knows more about the man and his machine?

Words by Jeroen Booij. Picture Ferrand – carte postale.

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