Delahaye

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Delahaye

Industry	Manufacturing
Founded	1894
Founder	Émile Delahaye
Defunct	1954
Headquarters	Tours (France)
Products	Cars

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Delahaye was an automotive product manufacturing company, founded by Émile Delahaye in 1894 in Tours, France, his hometown. That was the year he built his first car. The company was incorporated in 1898, and proceeded to manufacture cars in limited numbers since this new automotive adventure was separate from Emile Delahaye's successful foundry and machine-works business.

The success of the early models caused Delahaye to add commercial vans, trucks, busses, and other motorized vehicles to its lines, including utilitarian-military half-track and reconnaissance vehicles; and, fire-fighting apparatus. This article is about its automobiles. (Sources: 'DELAHAYE Sport et prestige' by Francois Jolly; 'DELAHAYE Toute L'Histoire' by Michel Renou.)

Émile Delahaye acquired two partners: the brothers-in-law and Paris coppersmithing business co-owners, George Moraine, and Leon Desmarais, for their investment capital; and, their large, inherited, recently vacated, Paris factory that had formerly housed a hydraulic engineering company. It was ideal and remained Delahaye's location until the end of the 1954 calendar year when Delahaye closed.

(Sourced from Club Delahaye members' journal articles.)

Their new company was incorporated in 1898, and promptly relocated its assembly activities from Emile's foundry and machine-works in Tours, to Morane's and Desmarais' empty factory, at 10 rue du Banquier, in Paris.

Delahaye manufactured a variety of vehicles, over the six decades of its existence. These included postal and other commercial vans; heavy freight trucks; a three-wheeled tractor-plow; firetrucks; tour busses; half-track safari 'camions'; and, utility vehicles for the French military. Those covered the cost of operations, overhead, and materials, but Delahaye depended motorized automobile chassis sales for profit. (Club Delahaye members' journals)

It has been estimated that, over its sixty years in production, about five thousand cars were built (Club Delahaye members' journals).

The factory has since been razed, and a modern science-oriented educational institute was erected on the site. The only trace of Delahaye's existence is a brass plaque on the property, installed in 1963, by the executives of Club Delahaye, founded by Jean-Pierre Bernard, Delahaye's ex-showroom and sales manager, to commemorate the glory of its cars.

The cars Delahaye manufactured in "The Golden Age of the Automobile" between 1934 and 1939, being the Types 134, 135, 138, 145, 148, 155 and 165; and, the Delage D6-70, and D8-120, forever set Delahaye's star in the firmament.

Emile Delahaye was a qualified, experienced, mechanical engineer. He gained considerable knowledge at the Crail locomotive works in Belgium, before enlisting in the French army to fight in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. He subsequently went to work in his hometown of Tours, for a foundry and machine-works owner. Emile eventually purchased the retiring Monsieur Berthon's business. Delahaye was then in his early fifties and was recently married.

The business was situated in a cluster of ancient stone and timber structures that Berthon acquired as needed over the years. The entity primarily manufactured products for the ceramics industry. When Emile assumed ownership, it soon specialized in pumps, powered by petroleum-fueled internal combustion engines, and steam engines.

Emile Delahaye decided to diversify by entering the automobile industry, as a pioneer. He personally conceived, designed, engineered, and built his first automobile in 1894. He distrusted outside suppliers, so he and his seventy-five workers fabricated and assembled the first Delahaye, entirely in-house.

His four-wheeled, tiller-steered automobile was displayed in the first-ever motorized vehicle exhibition, held in a prominent Paris art gallery in 1895. Among the motorized tricycles and motorcycles, Emile's was one of only two automobiles being displayed.

Emile Delahaye was respected for inventiveness and competent engineering. His products exhibited exceptional quality, utilizing only the best materials.

That first Delahaye introduced electric-spark ignition, unlike the primitive alternatives utilized by competitors. The early Delahayes were belt-driven, with single, or twin-cylinder engines, mounted at the rear.

His Type One was an instant success. Emile realized that he urgently needed far more capital; a larger facility, with much more assembly space; and, modern machine tools.

Those were provided by a new Delahaye owner, and fellow Delahaye racer, George Morane; and, his brother-in-law, Leon Desmarais. They equally partnered with Émile, in the incorporation of the "Societe Des Automobiles Delahaye" in 1898. The three worked alongside Emile's employees, to fabricate parts, and assemble automobiles. But, middle-aged Émile's health was in rapid decline.

In January 1901, Delahaye realized he was unable to continue as president, sole engineer, and administrator, and resigned. Not having an heir, Emile sold his shares to his partners. After his death in 1905, the partners promoted young engineer Charles Weiffenbach, whom Emile had hired in 1898 as his managerial and administrative assistant, to be their manager of operations.

Desmarais purchased more of Emile's shares than his brother-in-law. In due course, Leon's widow became the dominant shareholder, and chair of the board of directors.

Emile died in 1905, soon after the enormous, multi-valve, dual overhead cam, Titan marine-engine, created by Amadee Varlet, set the world speed record on water, in the purpose-built speedboat, La Dubonnet, driven by Andre Dubonnet, heir to the Dubonnet aperitif fortune.

To delegate responsibilities, and assist the partnership, in 1898 Emile hired two instrumental mechanical engineers: 26-year-old Charles Weiffenbach, as his personal administration assistant; and, the older, more experienced, Amédée Varlet, as the company's design engineer.^[1] Both remained with Delahaye for the remainder of their working career.

In 1906, Charles Weiffenbach was appointed Manager of Operations by George Morane and Leon Desmarais. Weiffenbach assumed control of all operations, and corporate decision-making, and promptly curtailed all motor-sports activity, considering racing to be an extravagant misuse of resources.

Charles Weiffenbach was literally at the helm of Delahaye from the company's incorporation in 1898, until its closure, when the doors were locked the final time, on December 31, 1954.

Amédée Varlet was the company engineer, from his hiring in 1898 until 1932. After 34 years on the drawing board, and overseeing production, instead of retiring, he was promoted to manage a new drawing office, and the new racing department, mandated by Madame Desmarais. He capably fulfilled the dual role, assisted by the incoming forty-two-year-old engineer Jean Francois. They worked cohesively as a development and production team, until mid 39, when automobile manufacturing ceased across France, to make way for the government's prioritized production of war materiel.

Twenty-six years old when hired, Charles Weiffenbach was significantly younger than his compatriot. Weiffenbach's forte was administration, rather than new product engineering, despite his qualifications. He was hired as Emile's right-hand-man, and second-in-command. Both hirings were instrumental. Varlet focused his attention on innovations and new products. He was an expert in technical advancements, and manufacturing techniques in low-volume, limited production.

While Varlet was busy being inventive and supervising manufacturing processes, product testing, and vehicle production, Weiffenbach was responsible for the decisions keeping the company's doors open, for its two marriage-related families of shareholders to realize a modest annual profit.

Delahaye remained a family-owned company throughout its six-decade history. That fact limited its potential to grow, and compete, with the much larger, public subscribed car-makers like Renault, Citroen, Peugeot and Simca. At Delahaye, the directors were the shareholders. The executives were family members, appointed in accordance with the directors' wishes. None were qualified experts in the automobile realm. The only outside director was Charles Weiffenbach. The business management practices of Delahaye compared to the large mass-production companies could hardly have been more disparate.

Emile Delahaye's partners owned a prosperous Paris copper-smithing enterprise and together had inherited a vacant Paris factory that needed a long-term tenant. The timing of their meeting with successful Tours businessman Emile Delahaye, and their mutual incorporation of the new automotive company, was fortuitous for all concerned.

Delahaye moved from its cluster of old, disjointed, inefficient, low roofed stone structures in Tours, into Morane's and Desmarais' Paris factory, at number 10, rue du Banquier.

Emile Delahaye retained ownership of his Tours foundry and machine works. The old Berthon foundry continued making Delahaye automobile engines and other components, that were transported to Paris for assembly. That remained the procedure until the new Paris facility was sufficiently equipped to take over.

Emile Delahaye died in 1905, without leaving an heir to assume control of his successful Tours enterprise; and to participate in the ownership of the burgeoning Delahaye automotive manufacturing company. Since neither Morane nor Desmarais was involved in the Berthon foundry and machine-works, it is assumed that the business was sold to settle the late Emile Delahaye's estate.

Amédée Varlet is credited with a number of inventions that Delahaye patented. Two of those, registered between 1905, and 1910, included the multi-valve, dual-overhead-cam engine; and, the V6 configuration.

Both technological advancements were briefly utilized from 1911 to 1914, when Delahaye produced its twin-cam, V6 engined, Type 44. This innovative model was produced in miniscule numbers. It ceased production due to the First World War breaking out. The Type 44 was neither popular, nor a financial success. It was dropped when the French government ordered Delahaye to convert its machine-tooling to the manufacture of Enfield 303-caliber rifles; and, parts for Hispano-Suiza V8 aircraft engines.

Delahaye missed the boat when it ceased building its Type 44. The twin-cam V6 has long been the World's most prolific engine. Delahaye was decades ahead, but the managing director of operations did not appreciate the strategic significance of the technological achievements fathered by Amadee Varlet. The same year Delahaye discontinued its Type 44, Peugeot won the 1914 Indianapolis 500, with its dual-overhead-cam engine. Delahaye was the originator, but imaginative foresight was not one of Weiffenbach's attributes.

Amadee Varlet continued in his key role, until 1932, when Madame Desmarais caused major changes in the direction of Delahaye, and its automobiles. Instead of deserved retirement, he was promoted to a senior managerial position. At then seventy-six years of age, well past his creative and inventive prime, he was instructed to expand the humble one-man drafting area into the enclosed, brand new, Drawing Office; hire several drafting technicians to work under his supervision and management; then, set up and manage the new Racing Department. Both departments were entities Delahaye never previously had. Clearly, Madame Desmarais' direction change strategy was being implemented. Very different automobiles were about to emerge, as the company reverted to its original racing roots.

Weiffenbach sourced fresh design talent, hiring 42-year-old Jean François in 1932, as the company's chief design-engineer, and Varlet's assistant for both new departments.

Varlet had been instructed by a chastized and chagrinned Charles Weiffenbach, who was under strict orders from majority shareholder, and board-of-directors chair, Madame Desmarais, widow of founding partner Leon Desmarais. Weiffenbach was given no choice but to adhere to her shareholder-backed demands. Madame Desmarais had been deservedly dismayed about Weiffenbach's excessively costly, and imprudent, product direction, and financial decisions, that had driven her company to the brink of survival. Weiffenbach's intention had been to greatly increase production volume by creating an interpretation of America's General Motors, thereby ostensibly enhancing profitability. On paper, it looked feasible; in reality, it was anything but.

Weiffenbach orchestrated a tripartite agreement in collaboration with market-entry-level car-maker Rosengart, that built a clone of the diminutive Austin Seven under license; and, a direct competitor, Chenard et Walcker, to manufacture their cars, along with a rationalized version of Delahaye's own, as well as its trucks and commercial vehicles in conjunction with Chenard & Walcker's UNIC truck division's. The product range was too diverse and far too disparate, to make practical sense. That was strange, since Charles Wieffenbach was respected as a conservative, prudently practical, pragmatist. Despite his best efforts, the endeavour was destined to fail from the outset, and, by 1931 it dissolved.

Delahaye's major investment, and the product redesign effort required to rationalize its own, and the other two companies product-lines, combined with the retooling time and attenuating costs, plus the sacrificed loss of sales from having no products to market during the transformation, was an enormous judgement error. Charles Weiffenbach's overly ambitious, quasi mass-production strategy, destroyed his credibility in the shareholders' eyes. But, until the mid nineteen-twenties, 'Monsieur Charles' could do no wrong. That changed, when Delahaye bit off more than it could hope to successfully chew in 1927. Then, when things were absolutely the toughest in Delahaye's history, the wreckage of America's Great Depression washed ashore in France, in 1931.

Amadee Varlet was distressed by the product compromises he was directed to make in 1927. He had to discontinue the lines he had dedicated himself to conceiving, designing, engineering, and producing for nearly thirty years. Weiffenbach had effectively pulled the rug out from under him. Varlet was stuck in the quagmire of compromise. He had to make the product changes, suspend all former automobile production, and revise the machine tooling, as well as coming up with new patterns for casting-molds for what he deemed inferior new products. He contemplated retirement, but Madame Desmarais refused to let the company's highly respected engineer go. She promoted him as the manager of the new Drawing Office, and Racing Department, both of which she authorized Varlet to set up.

Jean Francois sat himself down at Amadee Varlet's vacated drawing-board, and commenced putting his concepts onto drafting vellum. And Delahaye would never look back.

It did not take long for Madame Desmarais to realize Weiffenbach's strategic error, but too late to prevent it. She quickly turned Delahaye's direction around, one hundred-and-eighty degrees, after everything Weiffenbach had orchestrated in 1927 had disintegtrated by 1931. Her approach effectively resolved the matter. But hers was not destined to be a long-term solution. It worked admirably, until the second global conflict erupted in 1939. Delahaye had five years of astounding success, having never done so well previously, but, it could not continue doing as well after the war. Times had changed. And so had the market. Delahaye was unable to adapt.

Through Weiffenbach's rationalization program, Delahaye cars lost their distinctive Gallic persona, and aesthetic appeal, to become mundane, boring, unattractive, under-powered, median-market, family-oriented conveyances that nobody particularly wanted. The already soft sales numbers plummeted further. Instead of enhancing profits through increased volume production, Weiffenbach achieved the opposite.

The triumverate fell apart by 1931, in the midst of the Great Depression. The timing could not have been worse. The parties went their separate ways, reverting to what they were building in 1926. All except Delahaye. It had eliminated its former automobile products, and those that replaced them were not in demand.

Delahaye completely lost its way. It faced having no direction and no viable automobile lines. It had become desperately short of capital; and, was on the edge of insolvency. Madame Desmarais' perceptive vision, and decisive direction reversal, altered Delahaye's fate, much for the better.

The indefatigable 'Monsieur Charles' soon redeemed himself, thanks to Jean Francois. Delahaye's grievous past was left in the dust of the new Type 135 that emerged from his drawing board in 1935. His new Type 134, introduced in 1934, set the precedent. Delahaye was back.

Madame Desmarais' redirection generated up-market, far better performing, much more attractive, distinctively identifiable, new models, in greatly reduced volume, and considerably increased prices. Delahaye had gone boldly up-market. Gone was the company's reliance on a large volume of product-lines at median-market prices, and marginal returns, intended to attract the working family-man. Instead, wealthy sportsmen and adventurous women were enticed by remarkably attractive, powerful and fast, superior handling, superb performing sportscars, and luxurious grand-touring cars. They were reliably robust, competently engineered, dependable vehicles, with seemingly "bullet-proof" engines.

Delahaye's small fleet of Type 135SC sports-racing cars, underwritten by wealthy sportswoman Lucy O'Reilly Schell, were winning everywhere. Race-track grids featured Delahayes prominently in the front three rows.

The year 1936 was glorious for Delahaye. But no company can thrive on flash-in-the-pan glory achieved in a single year. The gauntlet was flung by Hitler's Nazi Germany,and its latest superior racecars represented by Rudolph Ulenhaut's new V12 Mercedes-Benz, and Ferdinand Porsche's effort in putting Auto Union together from Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer. The German, supercharged, 3.0-litre, V12 engines dominated the grand-prix scene.

Lucy decided that Delahaye needed to build her a team of five, V12 engined, 4.5-litre, naturally aspirated, purebred racecars, so that she could do with Delahaye, what Enzo Ferrari had done with Alfa Romeo.

Hers flawed vision was wishful thinking, but was her sole focus in 1936. Her fleet of specially equipped, short wheelbase, Type 135SC sports-racing cars had proven Delahaye's ability. But the V12 program that came into being in 1937, and created a brief stir in early 1938, soon became an expensive error in judgement. In 1939, she washed her hands of Delahaye, and transferred her allegiance to Maserati.

But, Delahaye had, thanks to Madame Demarais, in consort with Charles Weiffenbach, and the freedom both had given Jean Francois, financed by Lucy O'Reilly Schell, had completely reshaped Delahaye's future.

The V12 program, as perceived by the French populace, had elevated Delahaye's prestige to the pinnacle. The shareholders intended to preserve that perspective, because its competitors had jumped on the large displacement bandwagon. It was a do or die situation. The 3.6-litre Type 135 was being quickly outdated, and building the 4.5-litre V12 Type 165 was not financially justifiable. Delahaye's crown-jewel had to be superceded.

Between 1934, and 1939, the products introduced by Jean Francois drastically enhanced Delahaye's image, and re-ignited profitability. Madame Demarais and Jean Francois had belatedly launched Delahaye into the "Golden Age of the automobile". Delahaye had unexpectedly, and suddenly, become a French auto-market leader. The perception needed to be perpetuated. The rationale for the fully modern Type 175 was generated by the outgoing Type 165.

Upon his hiring, Jean Francouis immediately identified and repurposed appropriate components sourced from production inventory, to initially come up with Delahaye's first, new, entry-level model: the Type 134. It was a redesigned amalgam of truck components, with an upgraded, overhead valve, four cylinder engine, of 2.2-litres displacement. It presented a completely new, heart-shaped radiator grille: as the new "face" of Delahaye. It looked nothing like any prior model. The Type 134 was new in every way, and commenced Delahaye's phoenix-like rise from the ashes. Delahaye emerged from the quagmire in early 1934. Public perception of Delahaye was changed overnight, very much for the better. Delahaye was back, with a vengeance.

The Type 134 was quickly followed by the eleven International speed-record setting Type 138, in 1935. This was an inline, overhead-valve, six-cylinder engined chassis. Then, less than a year later, came the low-slung "surbaisse" soon to be deservedly famous, Type 135, in its various iterations. Coachbuilders were tripping over themselves to body the new Delahaye chassis. Prestige had been salvaged.

The Type 135SC's 1936 competition successes were quickly followed the next year, by the four V12 engined Type 145 sports-racers; and, the solitary Type 155, Delahaye's only grand-prix monoposto. The luxurious Type 165 debuted in 1938. The Type 135 made Delahaye a household name, and the company famous, but it was the Type 165 that elevated Delahaye's prestige onto the esteemed plateau occupied by Hispano-Suiza; Isotta Fraschini; Maybach, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Duesenberg. Delahaye's shareholders appreciated that there could be no going back.

It was the socially prominent sports woman, wealthy Irish-American-in-Paris heiress, Lucy O'Reilly Schell, who instigated the V12 program, after causing the 'competition court' Type 135SC to be made in limited numbers. There was only sixteen Type built, and Lucy bought twelve. Their success is what brought about the V12 types 145, 155 and 165.

Only nine V12 cars were built, and Lucy bought five (four sports-racing Type 145s; and the Type 155 grand prix monoposto). There were four luxurious, grand-touring, open-bodied, Type 165s. Of the nine, six exist: the four Type 145s; and, two Type 165s.

The cars designed and engineered by Jean Francois elevated Delahaye to the peak of the French automobile industry, prior to the second World war. The aftermath was less glorious. Jean Francois did not live to see peace return to Paris. The legendary "Golden Age of the Automobile" came to an abrupt end with the outbreak of war in 1939. The glimmering flame valiantly attempted to reignite afterwards, but Time had marched on. The World had been changed in every respect. Delahaye belonged to an earlier epoch, and could not adapt.

Delahaye's postwar situation can be partially attributed to the untimely death of fifty-four year old Jean Francois, from lung disease, in April 1944. There were no more new chassis-types to spring from his drawing board. His demise was far from the sole cause. More to blame was the distressed socio-economic situation in France, exacerbated by a luxury-tax on cars over two-litres in displacement. The punitive tax, and never-ending franc devaluations, drove prospective customers away.

Delahaye will forever be remembered for the Type 135, representing about ninety percent of the surviving cars. Its glory is further perpetuated by the brief glory of the Type 145, and that glorious white elephant: the Type 165. The postwar Type 175,178 and 180 models brought Delahaye into the present, as the most modern and sophisticated cars it ever built.

The subsequent Type 235 that succeeded this series, was merely a retroactively updated variation on the postwar Type 135S. It was a fine motorcar, but technologically provided too little, too late, and was far too expensive.

Delahaye vanished in 1954, like the dinosaur it had become.

History[]

Delahaye 135 MS Pourtout cabriolet

Delahaye began experimenting with belt-driven cars while manager of the Brethon Foundry and Machine-works in Tours, in 1894.^[2] These experiments encouraged an entry in the 1896 Paris–Marseille–Paris race, held between 24 September-3 October 1896, fielding one car for himself and one for sportsman Ernest Archdeacon.^[3] The winning Panhard et Levassor averaged 15.7 mph (25.3 km/h); Archdeacon came sixth, averaging 14 mph (23 km/h), while Delahaye himself was eighth, averaging 12.5 mph (20.1 km/h).^[3]

For the 1897 Paris-Dieppe race, the 6 hp (4.5 kW; 6.1 PS) four-cylinder^[4] Delahayes ran in four- and six-seater classes, with a full complement of passengers. Archdeacon was third in the four-seaters behind a De Dion-Bouton and a Panhard et Levassor, Courtois winning the six-seater class, ahead of the only other car in the class.^[3]

In March 1898, 6 hp (4.5 kW; 6.1 PS) the Delahayes of Georges Morane and Courtois came sixteenth and twenty-eighth at the Marseilles-Nice rally, while at the Course de Perigeux in May, De Solages finished sixth in a field of ten.^[3] The July Paris-Amsterdam-Paris earned a satisfying class win for Giver in his Delahaye; the overall win went to Panhard et Levassor.^[3]

Soon after the new company was formed in 1898, the firm moved its manufacturing from Tours to Paris, into its new factory (a former hydraulic machinery plant that Morane and his brother-in-law Leon Desmarais had inherited from Morane's father). Charles Weiffenbach was named Operations Manager.^[3] Delahaye would produce three models there, until the close of the 19th century: two twins, the 2.2-litre 4.5 hp (3.4 kW; 4.6 PS) Type 1 and 6 hp (4.5 kW; 6.1 PS) Type 2, and the lighter Type 0 (which proved capable of up to 22 mph (35 km/h)), with a 1.4-liter single rated between 5 and 7 hp (3.7 and 5.2 kW; 5.1 and 7.1 PS).^[5] All three had bicycle-style steering, water-cooled engines mounted in the rear, automatic valves, surface carburetors, and trembler coil ignition; drive was a combination of belt and chain, with three forward speeds and one reverse.^[5]

In 1899, Archdeacon piloted an 8 hp (6.0 kW; 8.1 PS) racer in the Nice-Castellane-Nice rally, finishing eighth, while teammate Buissot's 8 hp (6.0 kW; 8.1 PS) was twelfth.^[5]

Founder Émile Delahaye retired in 1901, leaving Desmarais and Morane in control; Weiffenbach took over from them in 1906.^[5] Delahaye's racing days were over with Émile Delahaye's death. Charles Weiffenbach had no interest in racing, and focused his production on responsible motorized automotive chassis, heavy commercial vehicles, and early firetrucks for the French government. Race cars had become a thing of the past for Delahaye, until 1933, when Madame Desmarais caused her company to change direction, and return to racing.

The new 10B debuted in 1902.^[5] It had a 2,199 cc (134.2 cu in) (100 by 140 mm (3.9 by 5.5 in)) vertical twin rated 12/14 hp by RAC, mounted in front, with removable cylinder head, steering wheel (rather than bicycle handles or tiller), and chain drive.^[5] Delahaye also entered the Paris-Vienna rally with a 16 hp (12 kW; 16 PS) four; Pirmez was thirty-seventh in the voiturette class. At the same year's Ardennes event, Perrin's 16 hp (12 kW; 16 PS) four finished tenth.^[5]

Also in 1902, the singles and twins ceased to be offered except as light vans; before production ceased in 1904, about 850 had been built.^[5]

Delahaye's first production four, the , with 24/27 hp 4.4-litre, appeared in 1903.^[5] The model range expanded in 1904, including the 4.9-litre 28 hp (21 kW; 28 PS) four-cylinder , the mid-priced , and the two-cylinder .^[5] These were joined in 1905 by a chain-driven 8-litre luxury model, one of which was purchased by King Alfonso XIII of Spain.^[5]

All 1907 models featured half-elliptic springs at the rear as well as transverse leaf springs, and while shaft drive appeared that year, chain drive was retained on luxury models until 1911.^[6] In 1908, the was the company's first to offer an L-head monoblock engine.^[7]

Protos began licence production of Delahayes in Germany in 1907, while in 1909, H. M. Hobson began importing Delahayes to Britain.^[6] Also in 1909, White pirated the Delahaye design; the First World War interrupted any efforts to recover damages.^[6]

Delahaye invented and pioneered the V6 engine in 1911, with a 30° 3.2-litre twin-cam, in the ; the invention is credited to Amédée Varlet, Delahaye's chief design-engineer at the time. The Type 44 was not a success and production stopped in 1914.^[6] The Type 44 was the only V6 engine ever made by Delahaye, and it was the last time the company used a twin-cam engine.

Varlet also designed the Delahaye "Titan" marine engine, an enormous cast-iron four cylinder engine that was fitted into purpose-built speedboat "La Dubonnet" which briefly held the World Speed Record on Water. With the Titan, Amédée Varlet had invented the multi-valve twin-cam engine in 1905, the same year that Émile Delahaye died.

At the Paris factory, Delahaye continued to manufacture cars, trucks, and a few buses. By the end of World War I, their major income was from their truck business that included France's firetrucks.

After the war, Delahaye switched to a modest form of assembly line production, following the example of Ford, hampered by the "extensive and not particularly standardized range" of cars for Chenard et Walcker, and itself, and farm machines for the FAR Tractor Company.^[6] The collaboration with FAR Tractor Company and Chenard et Walcker did not last long.^[6] This continued until continually reduced sales volume made a change necessary, for the company to survive. It has been alleged that Monsieur Charles met with his friend, competitor Ettore Bugatti, to seek his opinion on turning Delahaye around. Whether or not this meeting actually occurred, it is on record that Madame Leon Desmarais, the majority shareholder and Leon Desmarais' widow, instructed Charles Weiffenbach to come up with a new higher quality automotive-chassis line with vastly improved horsepower, and re-establish a racing department. That pivotal decision was made in 1932, the year that Jean François was hired. By 1933, Delahaye was back in the racing game, and promptly went about winning events and setting records.

At the 1933 Paris Salon, Delahaye showed the , with a 3.2-litre six, transverse independent front suspension, and Cotal preselector or synchromesh-equipped manual transmission.^[6] It would be accompanied in the model range by a 2,150 cc (131 cu in) four (essentially a cut-down six), and a sporting variant, the .^[6]

In 1934, Delahaye set eighteen class records at Montlhéry, in a specially-prepared, stripped and streamlined 18 Sport.^[6] They also introduced the 134N, a 12cv car with a 2.15-litre four-cylinder engine, and the 18cv Type 138, powered by a 3.2-litre six — both engines derived from their successful truck engines. In 1935, success in the led to the introduction of the sporting Type 135 "Coupe des Alpes". By the end of 1935, Delahaye had won eighteen minor French sports car events and a number of hill-climbs, and came fifth at Le Mans.^[8]

Racing success brought success to their car business as well, enough for Delahaye to buy Delage in 1935. Delage cars continued in production from 1935 to 1951, and were finally superseded by the Type 235, a modestly updated 135.^[6] The truck business continued to thrive. Some of the great coachbuilders who provided bodies for Delahayes include Figoni et Falaschi, Chapron, Letourneur et Marchand, and Saoutchik, as well as Guilloré, Faget-Varlet, Pourtout.

Delahaye ran four 160 hp (120 kW; 160 PS) cars (based on the Type 135)^[9] in the 1936 Ulster TT, placing second to Bugatti, and entered four at the Belgian 24 Hours, finishing 2-3-4-5 behind an Alfa Romeo.^[8]

American heiress Lucy O'Reilly Schell approached the company with an offer to pay the developmental costs to build short "Competition Court" 2.70- metre wheelbase Type 135 cars to her specifications for rallying and racing. To convince managing director Weiffenbach that she was serious, she placed an order for 12 short-chassis Type 135s equipped with triple Solex carburetors. Thus was created the Type 135SC variant. Lucy sold six to her sporting friends and kept six for her newly established Ecurie Bleue racing team comprising amateur racers. Delahaye built two for its own factory racing-team, with special twelve-port cylinder-heads. Two additional chassis were built, totalling 16 in total. Joseph Figoni bodied the last two, and it was Olivier Lecanu Deschamps' small coachbuilding company Lecanu, who bodied the majority of the other 14. Lecanu was able to respond quickly, and build sportscar bodies economically, in aluminium. Only two coachbuilders in France specialized in aluminium body construction; the other being Chapron. Lecanu was favoured by Delahaye for its race-cars, but the bodystyle on the Type 135 SC cars was not exclusive to Delahaye. There were similar Talbot-Lago and Bugatti examples. All four Type 145 race-cars were bodied by Lecanu, to an aerodynamically efficient design by Delahaye chief design-engineer Jean François. Lecanu's owner both designed and built the last of the four Type 145 bodies, on chassis 48775, as was specially ordered by Lucy O'Reilly Schell.

Type 135 chassis number 47456 was built in 1937 and taken to the United Kingdom to Abbey Coachworks Ltd. by a French Count by the name of Hayden. It was registered with the number plate DXE-66. This very car was featured in the December 1937 edition of Motorsport magazine. The history of this particular car takes it from England to Ireland, back to England, to France, and to Belgium.^[10] The car with numberplate DXE-66 has undergone a thorough restoration in France during the years 2018 - 2019.

In 1937, René Le Bègue and won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Delahaye. Delahaye also ran first and second at Le Mans.^[5] Against the government-sponsored juggernauts Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union, Delahaye brought out the , powered by a new, complicated 4½-liter V12 with three camshafts located in the block, with pushrod-actuated valves and four overhead rocker-shafts, dual Bosch magneto ignition, and triple Stromberg carburettors.^[5] Called "Million Franc Delahaye" after a victory in the Million Franc Race, the initial Type 145, chassis 48771, was driven by René Dreyfus to an average speed 91.07 mph (146.56 km/h) over 200 km (120 mi) at Montlhéry in 1937, earning a Fr200,000 prize from the government.^[8] Dreyfus also scored a victory in the Type 145, again number 48771 at Pau, relying on superior fuel economy to beat the more powerful Mercedes-Benz W154, in 1938. Third place in the same race was claimed by Gianfranco Comotti, driving Delahaye Type 145 number 48775.^[8] Dreyfus brought his Type 145 number 48771 to its second Grand Prix win at Cork, Ireland, but the German teams had boycotted this event, being another between-the-houses race where they could not exploit their superior power. Type 135s also won the Paris-Nice and Monte Carlo Rallies, and Le Mans, that year, while a V12 model (Type 145 number 48773) was fourth in the Mille Miglia.^[8] These victories combined with French patriotism to create a wave of demand for Delahaye cars, up until the German occupation of France during World War II. The Type 135 'Competition Court' 2.70-metre wheelbase chassis was the platform for the Type 145, and the Type 135 was also the basis for four known grand-touring Delahaye Type 165 cars. A fifth has long been rumoured, but has yet to surface.^[8] There were only enough V12 engine-parts from the mere 12 sets made, for three operational Type 165s, and an empty engine lacking its internals in the 1939 New York World's Fair showcar. Two of the four Type 165 cars exist today, being the Figoni-built Paris and New York showcars, identically bodied as streamlined roadsters, finished in different shades of red. The other two Type 165s were bodied by Henri Chapron in his series-produced 'Dandy' designated cabriolets. Both were demolished by bombing runs during the Second World War.^[11]

In early 1940, 100 Type 134N and Type 168 chassis were built and bodied by Renault as military cars under contract for the French army. The French government had ordered all private automobile production to cease in June 1939, but small numbers of cars continued to be built for the occupying German forces until at least 1942.

After the Second World War[]

After World War II, the depressed French economy made life difficult for luxury car makers. General Pons's five-year reconstruction program (the Pons Plan) allocated the majority of its vehicles for export, and installed an increasingly punitive tax regime aimed at luxurious non-essential products, including cars with engines above 2 litres capacity. In 1947, 88% of Delahaye production was exported (compared to 87% of Peugeot and 80% of Talbot production), primarily to French colonies in the Orient and Africa. Nevertheless, Delahaye's meagre 573 cars in 1948 (against 34,164 by market-leader Citroën), was unsustainably low.^[12]

Production of the Type 135 and 148L was of necessity resumed in 1946, because the new Type 175 and its two longer wheelbased siblings were not ready for introduction. The new face of the postwar Delahaye was styled in-house by retained industrial designer Philippe Charbonneaux.^[8] The all-new Type 175, using a 4.5-litre inline, overhead-valve six, was introduced in 1946, on Delahaye's stand in the inaugural postwar Paris Auto Salon in October 1946. The show-unit was a fanciful version of the optional, triple carbureted, chromed wire-wheeled, white-wall tired Type 175S. But deliveries to coachbuilders were delayed until early 1948, due to continuing developmental evolution, and much needed testing, prior to achieving Weiffenbach's final manufacturing approval.

Starting the process off, when Weiffenbach ended the V12 Type 165's production in the latter half of 1938 Jean François was mandated to come up with a practical replacement for the problematical and impractical, but gloriousy prestigious V12 model, built on the outdated Type 135/148 platform. This was to be an entirely modern and cost-effective car, similarly powerful and with identical displacement. Weiffenbach relied on his design-engineer's proven capability to deliver successful new products in impressively short order. The managing director anticipated debuting the new Type 175 at the 1939 Paris Auto Salon. But the autoshow was cancelled at the last minute, due to the impending war.

The new, second-generation, large displacement prototype was under development before war erupted. But there is no extant record of its status, by or shortly before October 1939. Club Delahaye reported that the shareholders approved the prototype, in March 1944, "to be put immediately into production", but that was not possible, because the German occupational force did not unconditionally surrender until 25 August. Jean François, the engineer solely responsible for designing, developing and testing the new 4.5-liter engined new chassis, unexpectedly died in April 1944 of a chest disease. The engineer's rapid health decline occurred after he left Paris in 1939, to seek safe refuge near Guillestyre in the Southern French Alps, to complete his production engineering drawings. His demise proved problematical. Delahaye had nobody qualified to assume his crucial role.

The developmental evolution critical for production approval was dramatically reduced. As a result, the outdated pre-war models had to be re-introduced to restart cashflow. The first World War provided a profit for Delahaye; the second, much less so. Delahaye was struggling, and the French economy was in a bad state, with massive unemployment and escalating inflation, with the franc repeatedly being devalued.

The initial examples of the new chassis-series finally emerged from the factory's doors in early February 1948. (Club Delahaye president Jean-Paul Tissot reported that Type 178 #820001 departed the factory on Friday 13 February 1948, and was transported to coachbuilders Letourneur et Marchand, to be bodied as a cabriolet). That was at least two years later than when the series was supposed to enter the market.

The new, four-wheel independently suspended, semi-monocoque chassis, was very modern in 1938, but less so, nearly a decade later. Its innovative independent front suspension system, licensed from Dubonnet, was no longer leading-edge technology. Other car-makers adopted it before the war, including Alfa-Romeo, General Motors, Simca and Vauxhall. But all experienced maintenance and reliability issues, and abandoned it in favour of Cadillac's newly invented, unequal-length A-arm approach, invented by engineer Maurice Olly. Cadillac's system was adopted under license, by Rolls-Royce, for its prewar V12 Phantom III and six-cylinder Wraith. Olly's system expediently replaced Dubonnet's, but Delahaye persevered, having a licensing agreement in place, and no viable alternative, especially without its intuitive design-engineer Jean François's expertise.

It was not long before strategic suspension parts catastrophically failed. To avoid negative publicity, liability claims and litigation fees, Delahaye was obliged to buy back an undisclosed number of its expensive coachbuilt cars. Delahaye kept no record of that ever having happened. Probably around 12 cars were bought back. The likelihood is that they were repaired with new, upgraded and improved parts, and resold, to recover as much capital as possible.^{[citation needed]} Charles Weiffenbach was respected as a prudently practical administrator who never knowingly wasted a franc.

Knowledge of owners' accidental issues could not be effectively circumvented. The news caused disinterest in prospective buyers. The large displacement Delahaye was unable to generate sales sufficient to recover costs and turn a profit. Based on their production numbers auto-historian and Club Delahaye president Jean-Paul Tissot reported that a grand total of 107 units were built (51 Type 175s, 815001 to 815051 inclusive; 38 Rype 178s, 820001 to 820038 inclusive; and 18 Type 180s, 825001 to 825018 inclusive). The tally includes the prototype, the show-chassis, and the other four pre-production units.

The Type 175 and the related longer wheelbased Type 178 and 180 models were unsuccessful.^[8] Buyer resistance has been put down to crucial component failures, particularly the fulcrum arms inside the horizontal cylindrical housings of the independent Dubonnet front suspension system. The rotating motion of the internal fulcrum arm actuated the coil-spring and the integral hydraulic shock-absorber. There were also failures of the splined half-shafts in the De Dion rear suspension system. The problems were caused by the inferior quality of the only available grade of important high-tensile-strength steel. The global supply for crucial hammer-forging steel needed for the most important stressed parts was entirely consumed by the maming of war material; and the steel mills were bombed. A very low volume of the superior quality steel was produced right after the war, but it was doled out in miniscule amounts by the French government.

After satisfying its objectives, Delahaye's racing department repurposed the prototype in mid 1946. It became the experimental test-mule for the second generation, naturally-aspirated, 4.5-liter racing-engine. The prototype that was referred to at the factory as '92002' retained its pioneer, early-series, Type 1AL-183 engine, that was modified to become the initial Type 175S racing-engine. By Friday 13 February 1947, the chassis and engine had been stamped with matching build numbers, and the triple Stromberg carbureted motor was detuned to as close as practical to Type 175 specification in early 1948, equipped with a standard Solex r 40AiP carburetor and coil-and-distributor ignition replacing the Vertex-Scintella magneto.

The refurbished unit left the factory as the first Type 178, recorded as production build number 820001. The prototype chassis was originally bodied for its essential high-speed performance trials at Montlhéry, from the summer of 1946 into autumn 1947. In order to do so, the racing department removed and recycled the aluminum sports-racing body obtained from Charles Pozzi's Type 145 number 48775. The test-mule was stripped bare and remanufactured in late 1947, extending into early February 1948. The reconfigured and detuned prototype left the factory as the first Type 178, to be bodied, or rather re-bodied, by Letourneur et Marchand, as a black cabriolet. It was homologation certified on 24 March 1948, and registered to the original owner, Leon Moreau, owner of the luxury auto-brokerage company 'Leon Moreau et ses Enfants'. Moreau insisted on buying the first Type 178 directly from Charles Weiffenbach, having previously missed out on the first Type 175. It was not road licensed until 1949, and was resold as company demonstrator to a buyer in England.

The second Type 175S racing-engine was given by Delahaye to Wilson Garage owner Fernand Lacour, in exchange for his tuning expertise and services rendered to the racing department, to develop the Type 175S racing-engine for sustained high speed performance. Lacour installed it in the Chabaud Special #1; a Formula-one car built from modified Type 135 chassis for Eugene Chabaud. It was first entered in Paris Grand Prix for monopostos, on 30 May 1948.

The third was installed by the racing department in Charles Pozzi's remanufacturered Type 145, number 48775, that was rebodied by Valtat to become one of the two "new" Delahaye Type 175 racecars. Pozzi won the 1949 French Grand Prix on the Comminges circuit. André Simon drove it to set the 1949 Le Mans lap record.

The fourth went into Eugene Chabaud's other Type 135SC race chassis, number 47192, which was also thoroughly remanufactured by Delahaye, and was rebodied by Valtat as the second "new" Delahaye Type 175 racecar.

The fifth engine went into Jean Trevoux's first of three lightweight Type 175S coupés, number 815042, bodied in Italy by Motto. The car finished twelfth in the inaugural Carerra Panamericana, raced in stages across Mexico.

The sixth competition prepared engine went into Trevoux's second Motto coupé, Type 175S number 815051. It was disqualified on a technicality in the second Carerra Panamericana. Trevoux won the Monte Carlo Rally in his first Motto coupé.

The seventh and last known Type 175S racing-engine went into Trevoux's third Motto competition coupé, Type 175S number 815051: the final Type 175.

Production of the Types 175, 178 and 180 was discontinued in mid 1951, with a grand total of 107 examples having been built, including the prototype, the Paris show-chassis and the other four early 1946 pre-production units.

In 1953 the discontinued series was replaced by the new Type 235. Fernand Lecour, working with a small group of enthusiastic factory employees, convinced Charles Weiffenbach to introduce an updated version of the Type 135, fitted with hydraulic instead of mechanical brakes, and a triple Solex carbureted version of the 3.6-litre Type 135 engine, which produced 152 hp (113 kW; 154 PS).^[8] This power was roughly equal to that of the previous series.

Only 84 examples of the type 235 were built before the company closed forever. The majority of those cars were bodied by Chapron. Until early 1951, continuing demand from the French army for its Light Reconnaissance Vehicles (VLR) enabled the company to operate at a deemed reasonable, albeit low volume. A small demand for the trucks ensured production volume sufficient to keep the business afloat.^[13]

A 1-ton capacity light truck, sharing its 3.5-litre six-cylinder overhead-valve engine with the company's Type 235 luxury cars (albeit with lowered compression ratio and reduced power output), made its debut at the 1949 Paris Motor Show as the Type 171.^[13] During the next twelve months the Type 171 spawned several brake-bodied versions, including ambulance and 9-seater familiale variants. The vehicle's large wheels and high ground clearance suggest it was targeted at markets where many roads were largely dust and mud, and the 171, like the contemporary Renault Colorale, was intended for use in France's African colonies. The vehicle also enjoyed some export success in Brazil and, by 1952, the Type 171 was being produced at the rate of approximately 30 per month.

As passenger car sales slowed further, the last entirely new model, a 2-litre Jeep-like vehicle known as VLRD (Véhicule Léger de Reconnaissance (Delahaye)) (sometimes known as the VRD or VLR), was released in 1951.^[13] The French army believed that this vehicle offered a number of advantages over the traditional American-built Jeep of the period. During 1953, the company built 1,847 VRDs, as well as 537 "special" military vehicles. In that year no more than 36 Delahaye or Delage-badged passenger cars were registered.

Delahaye's main competitor, Hotchkiss, managed to negotiate a licensing agreement with Kaiser-Willys Motors, and obtained sanction to manufacture its Willys MB Jeep in France. The French army had learned to appreciate the simpler machine, available at a much lower price, and cancelled Delahaye's contract for the more sophisticated VLR reconnaissance vehicle, dealing a heavy blow to Delahaye. In August 1953, the company laid off more than 200 employees.^[14]

Delahaye's management discussed some sort of merger with Hotchkiss, which was struggling with similar problems, and the two businesses hoped to prove more resilient together than separate. On 19 March 1954, an agreement was signed by the two company presidents, for Delahaye and Paul Richard for Hotchkiss.^[14] Less than three months later, on 9 June, Delahaye shareholders accepted a takeover of Delahaye by Hotchkiss,^[14] after which Hotchkiss shut down Delahaye car production. By the end of 1954, after a brief period selling trucks with the Hotchkiss-Delahaye nameplate, the combined firm was itself taken over by Brandt and by 1955 both Delahaye and Hotchkiss were out of the automotive chassis business altogether, having their facilities absorbed by Brandt. By 1956, the brands Delahaye, Delage, and Hotchkiss had disappeared forever.^[8]

Models[]

1899 built vehicle in 2006

• Delahaye 134 - 1933-40
• Delahaye 135 - 1935-54
• Delahaye 138
• Delahaye 148
• Delahaye 168 - 1938-40
• Delahaye 175 - 1948-51
• Delahaye 178
• Delahaye 180
• Delahaye 235 - 1951-54

Picture gallery[]

• 

  Engine Delahaye Type 32L Limousine 1912

• 

  Delahaye 175S Roadster (1949) with coachwork by Saoutchik

• 

  Delahaye 135 MS (1936)

• 

  Delahaye 235MS Coupé (1953)

• 

  Delahaye 135 (1948)

• 

  Delahaye 165 Figoni et Falaschi (1939)

• 

  Delahaye Cabriolet (1937)

• 

  Delahaye 135

• 

  Delahaye 135 Cabriolet Pourtout

• 

  Delahaye 135 M Pourtout (1948)

• 

  Delahaye Tourer (1925)

• 

  Delahaye 135M

• 

  1937 Delahaye 135MS Roadster

• 

  Delahaye 235M Saoutchik (1953)

• 

  Delahaye 178 Drophead Coupé (1949), once owned by Elton John

References[]

• Delahaye - La belle carrosserie française. Jean-Paul Tissot. 2006. ISBN 978-2-7268-8697-7

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Automobiles Delahaye.

• Club Delahaye
• 1949 Delahaye Roadster belonging to Diana Dors (BBC)
• December 1937 - Motorsport Magazine - A fine French Sports car: a test in difficult conditions of the 3-Litre Delahaye
• Scan of the article which appeared in December 1937 in the Motorsport Magazine