1948 Delahaye 135 MS Three-Position Cabriolet

Delahaye introduced their Type 135 chassis at the 1935 Paris Salon de l'Automoible. It rode on a new chassis designed by engineer Jean Francois which featured welded box section side members and pressed cross members welded to a ribbed floor pan. Under the bonnet was a 3557cc overhead valve inline six-cylinder found in the earlier Type 138. A transverse leaf-spring setup, also from the Type 138, was also carried over.

The top-specification, triple-carbureted 'MS' or 'Modife Speciale' offered 160 horsepower and could carry to car to a 120 mph top speed (depending upon coachwork). Delahaye had no in-house coachwork. Instead, bodies were supplied by coachbuilders such as Franay, Figoni et Falaschi, Saoutchik, Pennock, and Marcel Pourtout.

Carrosserie Pourtout was founded by Marcel Pourtout in 1925 and became one of Frances's most celebrated and successful coachbuilders of the prewar and immediate postwar eras. They produced bespoke coachwork on some of the top luxury chassis, including Ballot, Bugatti, Buick, Delage, Delaunay-Belleville, Hispano-Suiza, Minerva, Peugeot, Talbot-Lago, and Voisin.

This 1948 Delahaye 135 MS Cabriolet wears coachwork by Pourtout and wears the rare 'Malmaison' body style, so-named after the location of the workshops Pourtout acquired in 1936 located in Rueil-Malmaison outside of Paris, where he also served as mayor from 1941 to 1944, and again from 1947 to 1971. It is believed that this car is one of four 'Malmaison' Cabriolets built in the period, and one of two examples with this frontal styling.

Since new, the car has been treated to a restoration. Since that time, only a few thousand miles have been put on the odometer. Power is from a 3557cc overhead valve six-cylinder engine fitted with three Zenith-Stromberg carburetors. There is a 4-speed Cotal Electromagnetic Preselector gearbox and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2014