1936 Delahaye Type 135 Coupe

The Delahaye Type 135 Competition Court chassis was an 'under the counter' factory competition special, with only friends of the house able to order this dual-purpose homologation. Competition features on this car include the oil cooler, brakes, high-compression head, and dual fillers. Only several dozen Competition Court Type 135 chassis were ever constructed and few remain today.

Figoni & Falaschi was known for producing some of the most flamboyant, if not elegant coachwork of the French carrossiers. Joseph Figoni loved working with the designers of high fashion who created gowns, hats, gloves, and shoes that perfectly matched the designs and colors of his cars. Falaschi once said, 'We were truly couturiers of automotive coachwork, dressing and undressing a chassis one, two, or three times and even more before arriving at the definitive line that we wanted to give a specific chassis-coachwork ensemble.'

This car was ordered by Mr. Jeancart of Paris, a wealthy French industrialist who purchased many Figoni-bodied cars. It made its debut at a Paris Concours d'Elegance where it was shown by the Countess De Saint-Amour de Chanaz. It is a sister to the 1936 Paris Salon show car and one of Figoni's first fully enclosed aerodynamic creations, predating the Talbot-Lagos that he also designed.

Fifty 'competition court' short wheelbase chassis was built by Delahaye to be used for sporty two-seat bodies. This one features enclosed front and rear fenders, curved chrome teardrop-shaped accents to highlight the flowing lines of the car, and a split rear window. It is equipped with a sliding metal sunroof, a four-speed manual gearbox, and a windshield that opens at the bottom for interior ventilation.

This unique coupe with flamboyant coachwork by Figoni et Falaschi was commissioned by wealthy industrialist M. Jeancart of Paris, well-known for purchasing the first few teardrop Talbot Lagos created by the same coachbuilder. This car was specifically called 'Competition Coupe' because of its shortened factory custom 2.70-meter wheelbase. It was completed and licensed in February 1936 under French registration number 4505RK1. Figoni et Falaschi's internal number for the car was 532, according to Claude Figoni in a 1996 interview. It was originally delivered to the Delahaye factory, where it was retained for show and demonstration purposes. After surviving the war, it was sold to the sales manager for Delahaye and the founder and president of Club Delahaye, Jean-Pierre Barnard.

The car was completed on January 14th of 1936 and shown by Comtesse de la Saint Amour de Chanaz at the Cannes Concours d'Elegance, where it won the grand prix (grand prize).

This coupe is powered by a 3557cc overhead valve, 160 horsepower, 6-cylinder engine coupled to a 4-speed manual transmission. The car has a top speed of 103 mph.

The car was sold several times in later years and, at one point, according to Delahaye club archivist, Andre Vancourt, to 1930s film star Dolores del Rio and during the 1950s to noted American collector, Judge North. It was sold to American Daniel Roy Johnson in 1959. He kept the car in Europe and presumably drove it across the French/Italian border where it was parked near Lake Garda. It was re-discovered by Christoph Grohe of Geneva in the late 1990s.

This one-off Type 135 Competition Court Delahaye is one of three surviving Delahaye F&F coupes from 1936. Each was uniquely styled; this is the only F&F coupe to feature headlights faired into the front fenders. Other F&F features introduced on this car were a uniquely louvered bonnet, central tail fin, twin rear windows, rear wheel spats complimented by finned rear fenders, and an F&F signature molding that flows down the hood to finish over the rear fender.

The current owners purchased the car in 2004, reinstalling the car's original engine and restoring it to its factory configuration.