1936 Delahaye Type 135 Disappearing Top Convertible

Just after the introduction of the Type 135 in 1934, Delahaye merged with Delage, inheriting many of the marque's wealthy clients who demanded both performance and elegance in an automobile. The agile chassis, combined with a 3.5-liter, 120-horsepower six-cylinder engine with triple-Solex downdraft carburetors and 4-speed manual transmission, made for a wonderfully competitive road and racing car.

This car (with Chassis #46864 and Engine #46864), previously thought to be a 1938 135 MS and subsequently misidentified as a 1937 135 M and even a 1940 135 Coupe-des-Alpes, was 'rediscovered' by its current owner with the assistance of Alan Taylor Restoration of Escondido, CA, Club Delahaye, France and Claude Figoni. What followed were a series of discoveries about the car's racing heritage (such as the 1949 Rallye Monte-Carlo), ownership from new, proper identification, and discoveries of errors in restoration. The car was a unique special order car designed to be used either for competition or show. In the words of Club Delahaye, who featured the car's 'rediscovery' in their June 2004 club magazine '...this is one of the most elegant creations of Joseph Figoni and one of the most important Delahaye cars.' Over a year of thorough research has produced an exceptionally beautiful and rare car that, in the words of Club Delahaye: 'It is clear that the chassis 46864 is correct in all aspects.' This car was ordered with the competition engine, including a high-compression cylinder head, oil cooler, triple carburetors, and two fuel fillers, making it equally at home on the road and track.

This one-off Disappearing Top Convertible with streamlined coachwork was given a no-expense-spared restoration that was carried out by Hill & Vaugh in the early 1990s. It has subsequently been restored again by the present owners. Both engine and chassis are competition. The car was raced by the famous racing team of Guy Mairesse and Paul Vallee. Mairesse was the 1948 winner of the Grand Prix des Frontieres. The original owners were Mr. & Mrs. Wolf of Paris, France.