sensation of lavaud
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Engineer, inventor, writer… Sensaud de Lavaud

In 1927 the public at the International Motor Show in Paris was able to admire a new car presented by Sensaud de Lavaud, the same engineer who had developed an automatic gearbox four years earlier that was mounted on a car from the Voisin house.

The car in question attracted attention with its well-proportioned lines, with a long hood, a pronounced boot and a passenger compartment of only two doors. Technically avant-garde, it stood out for its frame and rims made of alpax, a mixture of lightweight materials, especially aluminum.

It also had wheels with independent suspension. The 5.475 cc six-cylinder engine was of American origin. One of the few brochures that were distributed at that presentation can help us understand a little more about the engineer and his car, both through this extract and the photos:

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[your_quote]“The six-cylinder Lavaud Sensaud, with the advantages of its innovative devices, the perfection of its line and the pleasantness of its driving cannot be compared to any other car. This "seule entre toutes (only between all)."[/ su_quote]

sensation of lavaud
A spooky "junk", no doubt. Let's see its history

sensation of lavaud car
Here is the brochure that was distributed at the Paris Salon. It is hard to get!

sensation of lavaud car
The chosen platform was a light and rigid monoblock suspended at three points ...

sensation of lavaud

The automatic transmission gave at all times the best speed ratio of the mechanics to the wheels. It allowed climbing up to a speed of 140 km / h without varying the engine speed, which produced a high average speed, with an acceptable fuel consumption, a lot of driving comfort and maximum safety.

Another of the new devices was a special gearless differential, which released the outer wheel in curves giving the car perfect stability, at least according to its inventor. The reversible dual steering, with an oil damper adjustable from the driver's seat, was totally safe and stood out for its great smoothness.

The chosen platform was a light and rigid monoblock suspended at three points. The suspension without springs but progressive and damped on caoutchuc, was, according to Sensaud de Lavaud, totally free of maintenance and possible failures.

The result was probably an excessively avant-garde car, but not a reliable one. It did not go beyond the prototype state. Or perhaps it was that Sensaud de Lavaud was an inconsistent and capricious inventor: As soon as he materialized an idea, he did not make it profitable, but instead looked for new technological challenges.

filigree

sensation of lavaud car
Detail of the differential of Lavaud's Sensaud

The pioneer of aviation

Dimitri Sensaud de Lavaud, son of the industrialist Evariste and the Russian Alexandrine Bogdanof, was born on September 18, 1882 in Valladolid with the Spanish name of Mario Demetrio Sensaud de Lavaud. The truth is that sometimes he is considered Brazilian, Because his family moved in 1903 to the city of Osasco, in the state of Sao Paulo / Brazil.

In that important municipality, about 16 kilometers from the center of Sao Paulo, there is a street with his name; and his house, surrounded by trees, has been transformed into a museum to commemorate the famous local figures.

sensation of lavaud
The inventor Sensaud de Lavaud, together with his creation

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In 1908, in his eagerness to solve any mechanical problem, Dimitri built his first airplane. In collaboration with a Brazilian mechanic, he used all the material available in the country and created a mixture of iron coupled to a small 25 hp engine. That machine became the first airplane in South America.

Its design was similar to the French Bleriot, but it was obviously considered 100% national, for more pride of its new homeland. The maiden flight took place on January 7, 1910 and attracted a large crowd. But it only lasted about six seconds… Something normal then.

Engine failed. Lavaud's Sensaud was saddened as the crowd applauded fervently: He had made history. Then other flights came, until the Spanish-Brazilian engineer sold that original airplane to a private individual who died at his command.

sensation of lavaud car
The history of most of the pioneers of aviation is not wasted
sensation of lavaud
Car transmission, from another point of view and always out of the original catalog
A. Cerf's book on the character has barely hit bookstores
A. Cerf's book on the character has barely hit bookstores

Tireless traveler and inventor

Our protagonist was a true gentleman who visited the best universities in Spain, France, Greece and Turkey. He studied three languages ​​and dedicated himself to fencing and horse riding. In addition, it was not limited to the challenges of aviation, since there were other problems to solve.

In 1912 he discovered a method of making seamless metal tubes using centrifugation and invented special machinery to carry it out. And this was just one of the more than 1.200 registered patents throughout his life.

He also wrote books, some of them focused on specific aspects of the automobile as was the case with "The problem of the independence of the rear wheels of a car", published in 1929.

Cutline
Its gearbox was mounted on the odd Voisin (Photo: Mullin Museum)

Citroën and Voisin, like a glove

At the beginning we mentioned its complicated automatic gearbox, which convinced both André Citroën and Gabriel Voisin. Both famous builders, so different from each other, wanted to mount it in their cars. The first tried to couple it to the engine of the peculiar Citroën 22 CV -presented in 1934- but its technicians could not overcome certain technical barriers.

For its part, the womanizer Voisin he implemented it in his 10 CV; I was desperately looking for a solution to offer a silent as well as effective automatic transmission. It was also ridden by the strange Bucciali, a supercar with sixteen-cylinder mechanics, but that's another story ...

As early as 1938, Sensaud de Lavaud patented a four-phase rotary engine with which he again anticipated ideas that would come to fruition later. Its last innovation, registered in 1946, was a new type of electric clutch. Two years later the technician would die in Paris as a result of a heart attack. His "host" country would not take long to give him credit by transforming the house in which he lived into a museum.

The reader will wonder why we bring such an eccentric engineer to these web pages today. The reason is that a book about him was published a few months ago, written by Alain Cerf and edited in French by Editions du Palmier. Your subtitle: "An extraordinary engineer."

What do you think?

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Written by Christian manz

I am V. Christian Manz, born in Hamburg, but living in Spain for a long time. I have been collecting photos, catalogs and other documents on the history of the automobile since childhood and, thanks to this, I now have a large archive. Years ago Classic Motor gave me the title of ... Read more

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