Delage

Beautifully restored example of the first post-merger Delage model cloaked in an iconic Figoni et Falaschi design

• Numerous extraordinary design features, including a folding windshield and a three-position top

• Powered by a 2,729-cc, overhead valve, inline, six-cylinder engine fed by an inverted Solex carburetor

• Equipped with the optional Cotal four-speed electromagnetic transmission, among the most advanced transmissions of its day

After merging with Delahaye in 1935, Louis Delage, with access to the Delahaye bank of parts, set about precisely preparing his new model, the D6-70. He started with modifying the Delahaye 135 engine by decreasing it to 2,729 cc. This gave the engine a shorter stroke, which when combined with a revised cylinder head, provided the new Delage’s engine with much more gusto than its sister Delahaye 135.

Most of the D6-70s were equipped with the optional Cotal electromagnetic gearbox, a quasi automatic transmission with four speeds plus reverse. In a time when most car transmissions were borrowed from trucks and shifted as such, the silky-smooth Cotal was lightyears ahead of its time.

Chassis number 50607, presented here, was the first cabriolet out of a small batch of Delage D6s bodied by Figoni et Falaschi in 1936. The design is sheer elegance in any of its three different configurations: with the top up, top down in cabriolet dress, and then with the “Milord,” or half-cabriolet appointment, which gives this example a touch of class made famous by the French school of the 1930s. Figoni et Falaschi are said to have been particularly proud of their work and are believed to have displayed this car on their stand at the 1936 Salon de Paris.

Originally believed to have been owned by the wife of a wealthy French industrialist who toured in the car extensively, the Delage passed through ownership across Europe before coming back to France where it is said to have received a complete restoration approximately 10 years ago.

Since its restoration, the car has been shown and toured extensively by its current owner, including participating in the Scottish Concours of Elegance Highland Tour, showing at the Concours of Elegance in Edinburgh, as well as winning Best French Car at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

A prominent model amongst the Delage production with its beautifully crafted two-tone body by Figoni et Falaschi, it will surely bring accolades to its new owner the same way it did back in 1936.