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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: ‘Most Elegant’ Delage Cabriolet
Part of the display of Saoutchik-designs at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the D8-120 S stood apart because of its clever parallel-opening doors.
The Delage D8-120 S stands in a lineup of Saoutchik-designed cars at the Pebble Beach Concours, where it won third in class. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
This Delage D8-120 S Saoutchik Cabriolet was crowned as the Most Elegant Convertible at this year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the unique car’s first showing after a recent restoration.
Commissioned by the French Government for the 1939 Paris Auto Salon, Saoutchick pulled out all stops when creating the body for this Delage D8-120 S. The car's tour de force was the parallel-opening doors that use clever pantograph linkages, where were developed by Saoutchik and fitted to only a handful of cars.
But the Paris Auto Salon was cancelled due to the threat of war, and Saoutchik carefully stored the car during World War II at his factory in Paris.
Having survived the War unscathed, the unique Delage D8-120 S Saoutchik Cabriolet was finally delivered to the French government, after which it was used briefly by General Charles de Gaulle. The Delage is now in American hands, and recently has been completely restored.
The car was never shown in period, so it actually made its public debut at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance where Saoutchik was the featured designer. Against very strong competition, it won third in class and the Gwenn Graham Most Elegant Convertible award for the overall Concours.
Louis Delage was one of French motoring's most flamboyant figures, catered almost exclusively to the ever-dwindling niche market of the super rich. Especially during the early 1930s, Delage increasingly struggled to find customers for his beautifully engineered but very expensive machines.
The almost inevitable bankruptcy was filed in 1935. Rival Delahaye eventually stepped up and acquired the company's assets. Production of Delage vehicles resumed shortly after.
Delage enthusiasts feared that under the new ownership the famous oval badge would simply be stuck to existing Delahaye products. This was certainly the case for the new range of six-cylinder models launched in 1935.
Fortunately, the Delahaye executives recognized the beauty and quality of Delage's own eight cylinder engine. For the D8-100 and D8-120 models that followed in 1936, a new Delage exclusive eight-cylinder engine was developed. These top-of-the-range machines did employ a Delahaye-sourced chassis.
Commissioned by the French Government for the 1939 Paris Auto Salon, Saoutchick pulled out all stops when creating the body for this Delage D8-120 S. The car's tour de force was the parallel-opening doors that use clever pantograph linkages, where were developed by Saoutchik and fitted to only a handful of cars.
But the Paris Auto Salon was cancelled due to the threat of war, and Saoutchik carefully stored the car during World War II at his factory in Paris.
Having survived the War unscathed, the unique Delage D8-120 S Saoutchik Cabriolet was finally delivered to the French government, after which it was used briefly by General Charles de Gaulle. The Delage is now in American hands, and recently has been completely restored.
The car was never shown in period, so it actually made its public debut at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance where Saoutchik was the featured designer. Against very strong competition, it won third in class and the Gwenn Graham Most Elegant Convertible award for the overall Concours.
Louis Delage was one of French motoring's most flamboyant figures, catered almost exclusively to the ever-dwindling niche market of the super rich. Especially during the early 1930s, Delage increasingly struggled to find customers for his beautifully engineered but very expensive machines.
The almost inevitable bankruptcy was filed in 1935. Rival Delahaye eventually stepped up and acquired the company's assets. Production of Delage vehicles resumed shortly after.
Delage enthusiasts feared that under the new ownership the famous oval badge would simply be stuck to existing Delahaye products. This was certainly the case for the new range of six-cylinder models launched in 1935.
Fortunately, the Delahaye executives recognized the beauty and quality of Delage's own eight cylinder engine. For the D8-100 and D8-120 models that followed in 1936, a new Delage exclusive eight-cylinder engine was developed. These top-of-the-range machines did employ a Delahaye-sourced chassis.
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