French registration title

High quality restoration
Extremely rare Letourneur & Marchand bodywork
Original engine, reliable and efficient

Emile Delahaye was born in Tours in 1843 and he was in Paris in 1895 at the cycle show that he presented his first car. He started racing cars in 1896, driving a 4-seater estate car himself. Thanks to its success in competitions, the brand began to be known, to have a good reputation and to be chosen by an aristocratic clientele, including the Duchess of Uzès, one of the first woman in the small motorcars world. The firm was established in rue du Banquier and, after the withdrawal of its founder, was managed by Charles Weiffenbach, nicknamed "Monsieur Charles", who employed the engineer Jean François. He launched the new Type 135 in 1933. The company then turned to the production of large sports cars. Based on the Type 138, the Type 135 was offered on a new lowered chassis with a 3.5l engine. It was to become a household name for the Delahaye brand with its success in competitions and concours d'élégance before and after the Second World War. The Type 148 was then declined in a "Tourism" version of the Type 135. A Delahaye had the choice of its dress and there were two schools of French bodywork. The traditional one with Chapron, Letourneur & Marchand, Pourtout, Guilloré and the other one which was looking for a new style with Figoni & Falaschi, Saoutchik or Antem. After working together for Henry Binder, Jean-Marie Letourneur and Jean-Arthur Marchand founded their coachbuilding company in 1905 and soon specialised in the bodywork of prestigious chassis. They became the preferred bodybuilders for Delage, Bugatti, Talbot, Hispano Suiza and of course Delahaye.
Our Delahaye is a beautiful panoramic Type 148 Coach made by Letourneur & Marchand in 1949. It was fully restored from the chassis a few years ago and is in a very nice condition. The upholstery, woodwork, mechanics and bodywork were completely redone, taking care to respect the original characteristics. Its deep blue livery, combined with a two-tone leather and velvet interior is simply splendid. The carpets and upholstery add a certain excess to the whole, typical of vehicles from this period. Equipped with an Arel radio, the leather-wrapped dashboard is complete and in good condition. Its six-cylinder engine with three carburettors is connected to the famous Cotal electromagnetic 4-speed gearbox which is easy to operate with fingers. Externally, the car is fitted with painted spoked wheels with a Rudge-style center hub, fitted with whitewall tyres. It is equipped with all its chrome ornaments including a modernly made luggage rack on the rear trunk. The panoramic design of this elegant coach is a fine illustration of the quality of French coachwork. A total of 2,592 Delahaye Type 135s were produced, the survivors having become particularly sought-after collector's items when their bodywork is of particular interest, as is the case here...

This car will be sold by auction by AGUTTES Auction House, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, on June the 20th, 2021.
The digital catalog is available by the following link
https://www.aguttes.com/en/catalog/113642?

Please contact us for any further details.
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+33 147 459 301
+ 33 668 362 622