Le Corbusier Voiture Minimum

I’m of (at least) two minds on this one.

First mind.

Its design, all flat-packed sides, soft curves and a disarmingly overall size — like a Nissan S-Cargo that has retreated into its shell — is nothing short of splendid.

A true MVP: Minimum Vogue Pod.

Or is it?

Its nonexistent engine? Rear mounted. Seating? For four. Brand cachet? Le Corbusier, this car’s designer, was the architect’s architect — surviving sketches of Voiture Minimum have been endlessly pored over and speculated on.

Nobody built it. These were sketches for a design competition meant to stimulate interest in a car meant to cost less than 8000 Francs.

le vaporware.

If you’re still impressed, compare that to the 1932 Martinette, a small three-wheel city car actually made by a tiny aircraft manufacturer out of New Jersey, USA. 

Too small? The Martin of the same vintage and manufacturer had four wheels and a more commanding presence.

Voiture Minimum looks special but we must remember was drawn by someone who couldn’t have predicted the future role of small cars in a rapidly, aggressively modernizing world.

It also looks suspiciously like an orange slice.

The closest we have to seeing a real life Voiture Minimum was Giorgetto Giugiaro — yes, that Italdesign guy — building us the world’s first smooth wooden model of the car in 1987, finally bringing its form to life for an exhibition called L’Aventure Le Corbusier: 1887-1965.