The coach builders of the 1930s created some of the most elegant bodywork ever fitted to four wheels, and perhaps the most seductive of them all was unveiled at the Delahaye stand at the 1936 Paris Motor Show. The car in question was the 135 M, featuring a bewitching hand-formed exterior by the maestros at Figoni et Falaschi. Instantly, the style known as ‘French Curves’ became a global phenomenon, but perhaps no car before or since can compare to the 135 M’s full-skirted pontoon-style fenders and delightfully gratuitous handcrafted chrome trim.
It is believed that 11 examples were built, while just five remain today. This car, chassis 49169, was ordered by an Algerian importer by the name of Mr. Migliaccio for his client Mr. Fould in March 1938. A pair of black and white photographs depict the car in the 1940s wearing light metallic bodywork, but little else is known about the decades this car spent in the French-controlled African country.
In 1992, chassis 49169 was rediscovered by French enthusiast Antoine Serval in the Algerian mountains, near the city of Tizi Ouzou, at the home of a local scrap dealer. Fortunatelty, chassis 49169 still retained the majority of its coachwork, brass trim, windshield frame, finely crafted grille, and even the delicate biplane-style front bumper.
It was then shipped back to its homeland of France, where a restoration saw many of the original panels replaced with newly-made units. However, shortly after, this was rectified when the car underwent a second restoration that reincorporated elements of the original Figoni et Falaschi torpédo roadster body thanks to esteemed body specialists Crailville in Middlesex, England. Following this masterful restoration, chassis 49169 was displayed at Retromobile in 1997 in a two-tone blue colour scheme, where it was purchased by Swiss collector Marc Caveng, who commissioned Carrosserie Fernandez of Lausanne to repaint the Delahaye in black, accented by crimson pinstriping and cognac leather as you see here. Now you could become the next custodian of this incredible Delahaye as it heads to Gooding’s Pebble Beach sale on August 16th.
Pebble Beach, 17 Aug
