Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 2, 2023
Photo – Bonhams
This was a fancy car for some, presumably, Parisian back in the day. The Landaulette bodywork featured an exposed chauffeur’s compartment – well, it at least has a roof and a windscreen. Chances are they could’ve had side curtains for it too. But the passenger, and likely owner of the car, sat in back in an enclosed box.
The Type 43 was produced by Delahaye from 1911 through 1914. It’s powered by a 3.0-liter inline-four that was rated at 28 horsepower and paired with a four-speed manual transmission. As war approached, the Type 43 became the basis for some trucks as well.
This car was imported to the U.K. from France in 1991 and restored the following year. It’s been drained and sitting in storage since 2000. Recommissioning will be required. It has an estimate of $56,000-$69,000. Click here for more info.
Delahaye’s 135 debuted in the mid 1930s and would remain in production for almost another two decades until Delahaye ceased to exist, and after, you know, taking a pause for the war. The slightly upgraded 135M was released in 1936.
It featured a higher-compression version of the 135’s 3.6-liter inline-six, which on this car is fitted with three Solex carburetors. Output was about 115 horsepower. This car was purchased new by a Swiss banker who had it bodied in his native country by Graber, perhaps Switzerland’s best-known coachbuilder.
This is a post-war body, and it’s a little more restrained than something you may have seen in the late 1930s. It’s still pretty and indicative of the type of coachbuilt classic that would likely be found in a European collection. But! It’s in St. Louis after having been restored in Florida. Click here for more info.
1938 Delahaye 135M Three-Position Cabriolet by Figoni & Falaschi
Offered by Bring a Trailer Auctions | January 2022
Photo – Bring a Trailer Auctions
We’ve featured a number of examples of Delahaye’s 135, a model that was sold between 1935 and 1954 and over a number of variations. Speaking of variations, there are also a number of different body styles spread across quite a few coachbuilders. A pre-war 135M with a cabriolet body by Figoni & Falaschi is not one we’ve featured to date.
This one is a 135M, which was a model introduced in 1936 with increased output. This 3.6-liter inline-six has triple carburetors, meaning it had the highest possible factory output rating: 115 horsepower. The car was bodied in France and delivered to its first owner in Uruguay.
It was restored between 2014 and 2016, and the bodywork is actually fairly different from another three-position convertible from Figoni & Falaschi that we previously featured (as that one was bodied post-war). The bidding on this car ends next week. Check out more about it here.
1949 Delahaye 148L Panoramic Coach by Letourneur & Marchand
Offered by Aguttes | Neuilly, France | June 20, 2021
Photo – Aguttes
Delahaye’s 135-series of cars was one of the very few cars that looked as fresh after WWII as it did before. The 135 was introduced in 1935, and the production of various related models lasted until 1954. Part of the reason this was able to be accomplished is that many of the cars were bodied by coachbuilders, so they continued to look fresh after nearly 20 years.
The 148 was a more boring version of the 135 set on a longer wheelbase. It still featured the same 3.6-liter inline-six that, in this triple-carbureted car, would’ve been rated at 115 horsepower when new.
The body is by Letourneur & Marchand and is of the “Panoramic Coach” variety. Which I think just means it has two doors and a lot of glass. It’s been restored in a very nice two-tone scheme that makes the profile view look like a mid-50s Buick. There were 2,592 examples of the 135 car line built, but the breakout to 148 is unknown. This one should bring between $60,000-$100,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
1924 Delahaye Type 97 Double Phaeton Skiff by Labourdette
Offered by Coys | London, U.K. | December 4, 2019
Photo – Coys
The best-known Delahayes are from the 1930s and 1940s. These would mainly be derivatives of the 135. Earlier Delahayes are less fondly remembered, but, as you can see here, they still had the ability to be somewhat fantastic.
I don’t have a lot of info on the Type 97, but it appears to be a descendant of the post-WWI Type 84 and Type 92, the latter of which was powered by a 2.5-liter inline-four.
This car supposedly features a wood skiff body by Labourdette. The well-restored interior features green buttoned leather and an engine-turned dash panel. The car should sell for between $40,000-$50,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
1947 Delahaye 135MS Narval Cabriolet by Figoni et Falaschi
Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2019
Photo – Mecum
If this car were to be built today, it would ride about four inches lower. At least. That upside-down bathtub styling just looks right at home sucking on the ground. But the roads were different in 1947. Especially in France. And who am I to nitpick a Figoni et Falaschi design?
The Delahaye 135MS is powered by a 3.6-liter inline-six probably making about 145 horsepower. These cars were produced both before and after the war, technically from about 1938 through the end of Delahaye production in 1954.
The “Narval” name, if you haven’t figured it out, alludes to the car’s somewhat narwhal-like appearance. Only seven such Delahayes were bodied like this, and this one has been in the same hands for the last 50 years. It’s a million-dollar car, no doubt. You can see more about it here and more from Mecum’s Monterey sale here.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Villa Erba, Italy | May 25, 2019
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
The Delahaye 135M was introduced in 1936 and featured a larger engine than earlier 135 and 138 models. It was popular enough that Delahaye continued to produce the model until they went out of business in 1954.
It was also a sporty car, powered by a 3.6-liter straight-six making 115 horsepower when equipped with three carburetors, as this one is. This example also has an interesting backstory: the body was originally constructed after the war as a replacement body for a pre-war 135 S Competition Court car.
In 2011, the body was removed from the competition chassis and put into storage, only to be restored in 2017 and fitted to a restored 1948 135M chassis. And there we have it. The styling is very unlike most other Delahayes and kind of appears to be somewhat German, which it is. Anyway, you can read more about it here and see more from this sale here.
Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | March 23, 2019
Photo – Osenat
Emile Delahaye founded his car company in 1894 in Tours, France. The car we have here is one of the earliest Delahayes in existence and is believed to be one of the earliest Type 0 examples produced in 1898.
The Type 0 was available from 1898 through 1901, and 250 examples were produced. It is powered by a 1.4-liter single-cylinder engine making somewhere between five and seven horsepower. It was capable of 22 mph.
Only four examples of the Type 0 are known to exist, and this is the only one with this style of bodywork. Remarkably, the original owner is known, as is its history since, which included a long museum stay. That’s exactly what most cars of this era have become: museum pieces. It would be great if the next owner would get it out for vintage road rallies. It should cost between $115,000-$170,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
We’ll pick up where we left off last time, Scottsdale. This time it’s Russo & Steele, where this2012 Lexus LFA blew everything else away, selling for $412,500. Complete results can be found here.
Photo – Russo & Steele
Now we’re on to Retromobile in Paris, where RM Sotheby’s led it off with a huge number for this 1987 Ferrari F40 LM: $5,489,215.
The second sale of the Retromobile week was held by Bonhams, and we featured a lot of cars from this event. On the extreme one end of the spectrum was the Red Bug buckboard we featured. It sold for $4,958. Now a quick rundown of no-sales from this auction: the Clement-Bayard, the beautiful Darracq, the 1911 Renault, the Bellanger, and a previously-featured Horch. The overall top sale was this 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A for $1,794,086.
Finally, we have Silverstone Auctions and their Race Retro Classic Car sale. The biggest money was the $381,813 paid for this 1958 Porsche 356A Speedster.
Photo – Silverstone Auctions
The Ginetta G4 we featured sold for $40,824, but the De Tomaso Longchamp Spider failed to find a new home on the block. You can see more results from this sale here.
Offered by Aguttes | Lyon, France | November 10, 2018
Photo – Aguttes
When you think “coachbuilt” Delahaye, images of windswept cars from the 1930s or 1940s are probably what you imagine. But the company actually survived into the 1950s – 1954 to be exact when rival Hotchkiss acquired them and phased out the name.
Shortly before that, however, Delahaye introduced the 235. It was built between 1951 and 1954 and it actually looked like a modern car (for comparison, check out this 1951 Delahaye legacy model that just looks live an evolution of the earlier coachbuilt stuff). Anyway, the 235 is powered by a 3.6-liter straight-six that made 152 horsepower. Top speed was over 100 mph, and the factory cars carried bodies from Chapron.
Only 85 examples of the 235 were built (they were expensive). Antem bodied 14 of them. Only one was a convertible, this one. It should sell for somewhere in the neighborhood of $230,000-$355,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
