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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: Rare Delage Sold At Retromobile
The elegant 1935 D8-105 S represented the Depression-battered French automaker's last attempt at solvency, auctioned by Bonhams for $424,000.
The 1935 Delage D8-105 S was shown in its restored glory at the 2011 Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance in Italy. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
One of the absolute stars of the recent Bonhams auction at Retromobile was this Delage D8-105 S Coupe. Built in early 1935, it is one of the very last cars produced while Louis Delage was still in control of the French company and it is one of only two survivors of its type.
This car, which was ordered by a close friend of Louis Delage, received an aerodynamic coupe body by Autobineau, a subsidiary of Letourneur & Marchand. Beautifully restored, the D8-105 S was sold by the British auctioneer in Paris for 322,000 euro, or $424,000.
Luxury manufacturers like Delage were, not surprisingly, hard hit by the Great Depression of the 1930s. With an ever-dwindling number of people able to afford such lavish cars, one company after another went out of business. Delage came very close in 1933 when some of its creditors demanded that the company be liquefied. But the ever-flamboyant Louis Delage managed to maintain control and quickly started work on a range of more-affordable models.
Louis Delage convinced gifted engineer Arthur-Léon Michelat to return to his company to design what would most likely be the “make-or-break” model series. Among the models designed by Michelat during his previous spell at Delage was the 1911 Coupe de l'Auto-winning Type X.
He was now tasked to develop six- and eight-cylinder production cars that would appeal to a much broader audience than the existing range.
For the new eight-cylinder model, Michelat designed an overhead-valve unit that, like most engines of its day, it had the engine and head cast into one piece to allow for higher compression pistons. The displacement of the Delage eight was relatively modest at just under 3.6 liters and was available with 85 horsepower on tap in the suitably named D8-85 and with 105 horsepower in the D8-105.
Among the upgrades featured on the more powerful variant were twin-plug ignition and even-higher compression. Both engines made do with a single carburetor.
While some compromises were made to cut costs, the chassis used for the new Delage was nevertheless state-of-the-art. It used a sturdy steel ladder frame with an independently sprung front axle through double wishbones and a transverse leaf spring. The superb servo-assisted drum brakes of the original D8 were also carried over to ensure that the new cars had plenty of stopping power.
A manual gearbox was fitted as standard but like most French luxury cars of the day, the D8-85 and D8-105 could be ordered with a Cotal preselector four speed.
Along with Michelat's six cylinder D6-65, the two new D8s were introduced at the Paris Auto Salon in October 1934. Both were available as a rolling chassis to allow the customer to pick the coachbuilder of choice, but the Delage catalog also included various standard designs by such designers as Letourneur & Marchand and Chapron.
This car, which was ordered by a close friend of Louis Delage, received an aerodynamic coupe body by Autobineau, a subsidiary of Letourneur & Marchand. Beautifully restored, the D8-105 S was sold by the British auctioneer in Paris for 322,000 euro, or $424,000.
Luxury manufacturers like Delage were, not surprisingly, hard hit by the Great Depression of the 1930s. With an ever-dwindling number of people able to afford such lavish cars, one company after another went out of business. Delage came very close in 1933 when some of its creditors demanded that the company be liquefied. But the ever-flamboyant Louis Delage managed to maintain control and quickly started work on a range of more-affordable models.
Louis Delage convinced gifted engineer Arthur-Léon Michelat to return to his company to design what would most likely be the “make-or-break” model series. Among the models designed by Michelat during his previous spell at Delage was the 1911 Coupe de l'Auto-winning Type X.
He was now tasked to develop six- and eight-cylinder production cars that would appeal to a much broader audience than the existing range.
For the new eight-cylinder model, Michelat designed an overhead-valve unit that, like most engines of its day, it had the engine and head cast into one piece to allow for higher compression pistons. The displacement of the Delage eight was relatively modest at just under 3.6 liters and was available with 85 horsepower on tap in the suitably named D8-85 and with 105 horsepower in the D8-105.
Among the upgrades featured on the more powerful variant were twin-plug ignition and even-higher compression. Both engines made do with a single carburetor.
While some compromises were made to cut costs, the chassis used for the new Delage was nevertheless state-of-the-art. It used a sturdy steel ladder frame with an independently sprung front axle through double wishbones and a transverse leaf spring. The superb servo-assisted drum brakes of the original D8 were also carried over to ensure that the new cars had plenty of stopping power.
A manual gearbox was fitted as standard but like most French luxury cars of the day, the D8-85 and D8-105 could be ordered with a Cotal preselector four speed.
Along with Michelat's six cylinder D6-65, the two new D8s were introduced at the Paris Auto Salon in October 1934. Both were available as a rolling chassis to allow the customer to pick the coachbuilder of choice, but the Delage catalog also included various standard designs by such designers as Letourneur & Marchand and Chapron.
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