Cousy

Cousy I & II

Georges Cousy lived at Castillon la Bataille, 30 miles east of Bordeaux,  France. An ex motorcycle racer, he built two 500 racers in the 1950's. The first car, built in 1952, had a motorcycle engine (probably Norton) and a motorcycle gearbox. Suspension was by transverse leaf spring, front and rear. This car was entered in the Circuit de Paris at Montlhéry on 21st September 1952.

The second car, built in 1955, used a flat opposed twin two-stroke engine of Cousy's design. The crankshaft lay in a fore and aft direction, and drove a gearbox situated behind the rear axle. The rear axle included a differential.  The engine crankcase was fed by a Roots supercharger, which only flowed 496cc of air per engine revolution. Because of this, the engine fell within the Formula 3 regulations of the day.  The chassis rails were tubular and the suspension was cannibalized from the 1952 car. The bodywork was fiberglass.  This car was tested (though not raced) at Montlhéry in late 1955.

Two photos from 2005 when the Cousy II was finally removed from her barn in the South of France

Cousy 2005 1.JPG (64242 bytes)

And a pair of photos from 1955

Cousy 2005 2.JPG (56954 bytes)

Cousy 1955 2.JPG (19646 bytes)

Cousy 1955  1.JPG (46421 bytes)

Back on track at the Mallory Park, hairpin in March 2008 in the hands of John Jones