1949 Delahaye Type 135M Cabriolet

The origins of Delahaye lie in a company set up as long ago as 1845 to produce brick-making machinery. Emile Delahaye was a railroad engineer who designed rolling stock for the French and Belgian railroads. He built his first car in 1895. Delahaye took over Delage in 1935, a maker of elegant cars and a company with an established clientele who demanded both performance and elegance. The Type 135 was first presented at the 1934 Paris Salon (just prior to the merger of the two companies). It provided the perfect foundation for flamboyant coachwork by various carrossiers.

The Delahaye 135 is an important French automobile, bridging the prewar and postwar periods of engineering. The 135 M boasted a brand-new chassis with the prewar 3.6-liter, 6-cylinder engine first seen in the Delahaye Type 138. The 135 M continued to be available alongside the newer Delahaye 235 until the demise of the company in 1954.

A total of 2,592 were produced from 1935-1952 including this example. This 135 M Cabriolet was bodied by Alphonse Guillore, a small coachbuilder from the Courbevoie-sur-Seine suburb of Paris, building bodies from 1937-1951. The chassis of this car was likely built in 1947, but not sent to carrosserie Alphonse Guillore until 1949. Its subtle lines created a balance between the extravagant work of Jacques Saoutchik and the more restrained designs of Henri Chapron. The early history of this car is unknown, it is believed that it was retained by a sales agent in Paris until sold to its first owner early in 1955. By the early 1960s, it was owned by designer Brooks Stevens and displayed in his museum in Mequon, Wisconsin. Later the car was sold to Richard Adatto, who restored it for the 1984 Pebble Beach Concours, where it was named First in Class. The Delahaye then completed the Monte Carlo Rallye Historique in 1985. It was sold to its current owner in 2016 and has now been freshly restored.