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| 1929 Amilcar CGSS at Retromobile 2018 in the Artcurial auction. |
For more photos of the classic road and racing cars at the 2018 Retromobile in Paris, click here.
Amilcar, Saint-Denis, France. Amilcar started producing cyclecars (small, lightweight and inexpensive cars) in 1920 and made a name for itself in the twenties for its sporty vehicles. The name car from its financiers Emil Akar and Joseph Lamy but the driving technical force behind the marque were two engineers Edmond Moyet and André Morel. Unusually, for a cyclecar producer, they made there own engines. The cars were often entered in motor sport events and Morel won the 1922 Bol d'Or, a 24 hour race with a single driver, in 1922. In 1927 a 1.1 litre turbocharged Amilcar touring model G won the Monte Carlo Rally. The CGSS model pictured here was produced from 1926 to 1929 and stood for Cyclecar Grand Sport Surbaissé. It thus was a CGS with a lowered chassis. It had a 4 cylinder 1.1 litre engine with 3 speed gearbox and the body was a two seater. Just under 1,000 CGSS models were made and then in 1929 the great depression killed the marque. Like other Amilcars the CGSS was raced including in major events such as the Mille Miglia. It should also be mentioned that the famous American dancer, Isadora Duncan, was killed in 1927 as a passenger in an Amilcar CGSS when her scarf caught in the real wheels of the car in Nice. This late model and original CGSS was sold for Euro 83,000 at the Artcurial Auction.
