Gregoire 12/14 HP Coupé de Voyage
The copper plate in the windscreen is one of the most eye-catching details of this car. It can be removed to offer the driver (somewhat) improved visibility in rainy weather.
The car does not even have a hand-operated windscreen wiper, and electric ones did not yet exist. However, it does have electric lighting, which Grégoire was the first to adopt.
The bodywork built by Alin & Liautard from Courbevoie is quite conservative for its time and it reminds one of a ‘diligence’ stagecoach. It is a travel coupé; a small luggage rack with a smart wooden rail is located behind the driver, and the passenger seat has been placed a little further back to offer more legroom. There is also a footstool for the passenger. Grégoire, from the French town of Poissy, produced predominantly small, fast cars from 1903 to 1924; larger models were offered a little later.
Grégoire’s products had many contradictory elements. For example, on the one hand the cars’ aerodynamics were tested in wind tunnels but on the other they were equipped with old-fashioned coachwork. This particular car is a unique model and one of the few surviving Grégoires.