The saga of this fighter started in 1936 when the French minister of air raised a contract for a modern aircraft fighter that could be supplied quickly. Three prototypes were presented by that same year, built by the two main French aeronautical companies, Caudron, with the Caudron C.714 and Bloch with the Bloch MB.700 plus a new company that had been founded that same year, Arsenal, presented the Arsenal VG-30.
It was named after the designers, Michel Vernisse and Jean Galtier (hence the VG). The first prototype, was of wooden construction, using plywood over stringers in a semi-monocoque construction with a conventional layout for a low-wing monoplane that resembled heavily the Italian Macchi C.202 which flew for the first time two years later. It was armed with a 20mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon firing through the propeller hub and four 7.5mm MAC 1934 M39 drum-fed machine guns, two in each wing. Initially it was going to be powered by a Potez 12Dc flat-12 air-cooled inline engine, but as it's development was troublesome, it was fitted with a Hispano-Suiza 12Xcrs and flew with this engine for the first time in October 1938.
In order to fix the engine issue, the VG-31 was equipped with a 860hp Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 and flew for the first time in 1939 giving some excellent results and was entirely made out of metal, just like the rest of the derivates in the series, whilst, at the same time, the VG-32 was equipped with the American Allison V-1710C-15 (the same engine that powered the Curtiss XP-37, one of the prototypes of the widely renown Curtiss P-40) was completed in early 1940 and was captured by German forces when it was waiting to be tested.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_VG-33
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
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