1933 Delage D8S Conduite Interieur Coupe

Louis Delage founded the Delage Company in 1905 and commenced production with a single-cylinder DeDion-engined runabout. Within a few years, they were offering multi-cylinder designs. Right from the start, Delage was involved in racing. A single-cylinder model won the Coupe Des Voiturettes as early as 1908, and Louis himself took the 1911 Coupe de l'Auto in a 3 liter four-cylinder. Victories at the Grand Prix du Mans and the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race were achieved prior to World War I. They were a major force in Grand Prix competition in the 1920s, setting a new World Land Speed Record in 1924 with a 10.7 liter V-12.

The company was prosperous during the 1920s and their Delage factory in Courbevoie was the most modern in the French industry, equipped with the finest tools that money could buy.

In 1929, Delage introduced the D8 which had a design by Maurice Gaultier. It came equipped with a 4.1-liter overhead-valve straight-eight engine and an X-braced structure with servo-assisted braking. The standard D8 engine offered 102 horsepower using a single carburetor, but the D8 S came with a 110 horsepower unit. In England, a special 'Super-Sports 100' dealer-fitted option was available, consisting of four SU carburetors, and giving these automobiles capable of achieving 100 mph.

Europe's finest coachbuilders were given the opportunity to cloth the 130-inch wheelbase D8 chassis. Among those carrossier was Letourneur et Marchand. In 1932, Delage commissioned Letourneur et Marchand to develop a small series of bodies that could be offered to clients as catalogue customs, thereby ensuring quick delivery.

Letourneur designed and built a torpedo roadster and two versions of a coupe-like design which they dubbed a conduite intérieure (an owner-driver design). One design was a more classical conduite intérieure design with full running boards, a semi-integrated trunk, and a rear-mounted spare in the continental style. The other design had enveloping fenders in the front and back, and a sloping rear deck and a step plate. Both of these French design bodies had little superfluous ornamentation.

This particular example, D8 S chassis 38186, was bodied to the bustleback style and has a low rounded coupe greenhouse along with a very long hood, a narrow vertical windshield, and sweeping fender lines. There is a glass-covered rear license plate which was very unusual and unique to the era.

Only four of these cars were completed, all with detailed differences. Just two survive. The bodies were either built by the Letourneur et Marchand subsidiary Autobineau or at the Delage factory.

This example was finished in 1933. In October 1934, a light-colored D8 S conduite intérieure was displayed on the Delage stand at the Paris Salon; this chassis (38186) may have been the Salon car. In 1936, a D8 S conduite intérieure featured in the French film Prends la route, which is also likely to be chassis 38186.

The car was founded in the mid-1950s in southern France by a Mr. Retornaz who registered the car in Marseille. Retornaz used 38186 for some years, but then put it into storage in his garage. It remained there until 1999 when it was discovered by Charles Howard. When it was discovered, it wore a Chromos style bumper, which coincidentally the car in the French movie can also be seen to wear. A short time later, he sold the car to another classic car dealer in Madrid, who decided to keep it and completed a restoration in a green and yellow color scheme. The current caretaker acquired it around 2012, and had it re-restored to its present black livery.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2017