1936 Delahaye Type 135 Competition Speciale

The Delahaye 135 was an attempt at reviving the company's glory years and attracting sporting owners back into the fold. The low-slung chassis was popular with coachbuilders and in competition guise, it won the 1938 24 Hours of LeMans along with finishing second and fourth. The agile chassis and potent engine made it very capable on both the road and track. It became the company's most successful model ever, and the stylish and versatile French car was produced in many configurations including a saloon, coupe, and cabriolet.

Approximately fourteen to sixteen examples were built as competition Type 135 S 'Competition Speciale' and campaigned extensively both before and after World War II. Its low-slung 'surbaisse' chassis received an independent front suspension and arched rear frame members which contributed to the car's superior handling characteristics. The short chassis had a 2.7m wheelbase and received bigger brakes, a lightweight alloy steering box, and a modified Type 103 engine. The 3,557cc six-cylinder, overhead-valve engine was paired with a four-speed manual or four-speed Cotal electromagnetic transmission.

The 135 'Competition Speciale' was used by the factory and a few specially chosen clients, while the less radical 135 'Competition Client' was offered to privateer drivers.

Competition Career

With approximately 160 horsepower, the Type 135 Speciale enjoyed an impressive debut season with a pair of victories at the Coupe d'Automne and Mont Ventoux, and podium finished at the Grand Prix de l'A.C.F (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 12th) and Spa 24-hours (2nd, 3rd). Additionally, it had the fastest-ever lap of the Ards circuit at 137.638km/h, where it placed 8th in the RAC Tourist Trophy.

In 1937, the Delahaye enjoyed an equally impressive season with a 3rd place finish at the Grand Prix de Pau, a 3rd at the Mille Miglia, and a 2nd and 3rd place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It placed first in the Donington 12-hours and Coupe d'Automne, and 5th at the RAC Tourist Trophy.

The Delahaye's finest achievements were ascertained in 1938 when it placed 1st, 2nd and 4th at the Le Mans 24 Hours. A 2nd and 3rd place finish was achieved at the Paris 12 Hours, a 1st in Class at the Grand Prix des Frontieres, and a victory at the Cote Lapize.

In 1939, the Delahaye Type 135 S driven by Rob Walker earned the title of 'Britain's Fastest Road Car'. The same car was driven to an 8th-place finish at that year's Le Mans 24 Hours. The Type 135 S driven by Louis Villeneuve and Rene Biolay placed 10th. Another Type 135 Speciale driven by Robert Mazaud and Marcel Mongin set the fastest lap at 155.627km/h but retired.

Thanks to its reliability and impressive handling, the Delahaye 135 S achieved victory in many prestigious races including the Monte Carlo Rally and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

by Dan Vaughan

Roadster by Saoutchik
Chassis number: 47193

This 1936 Delahaye 135 S has coachwork by Deplates/Saoutchik. This beautifully restored and well-maintained racer was brought to the 2006 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance where it was among a few other carefully selected, elegant Delahaye models.

This Delahaye was built for French racing driver Pierre Louis-Dreyfus who competed with it during the 1937 season which included a third-place finish at Le Mans. It was later sold to Ecurie Schell and then to Marcel Contet, who commissioned Desplates to modify the bodywork. Upon completion, Contet raced the car in France in 1939.

The current custodian acquired the Delahaye in 1998.

by Dan Vaughan

Roadster
Chassis number: 47192

This 1936 Delahaye 135S is one of only 14 examples of these great race cars ever produced. They were campaigned extensively both before and just after World War II. They had a relatively basic engine but were still able to prove that winning the race was a matter of reliability and not just power. A car with this chassis won the LeMans race in 1938.

This Delahaye was acquired new by Pierre Louis Dreyfus who planned to compete with it at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1936. Due to social unrest, the race was canceled. Instead, it was raced at the Grand Prix de la Automobile Club de France on June 28, 1936, and the Grand Prix de la Marne on July 5.

The car's next owner was Count Francios de Bremont who raced it at the Grand Prix de Pau where it failed to finish. At the Grand Prix of Tunisia, it placed sixth. On June 6th of 1937, it raced at the three-hour Marseille race.

Early in 1938, the car was sold to Madam Germaine Rouault who registered it in Paris. Louis Gerard was tasked with driving it in the British coronation Trophy in April and the Junior 200-mile race in May 1938.

When Mr. Gerard re-bodied his Figoni Delage D6-70 Coupe (which placed 4th in the 1937 Le Mans race), the body was given to Madame Rouault who installed it on this Delahaye race car. In this guise, it raced during 1938 and 1939 in various races including a victory in 1939 at the La Turbie hill climb at the Paris-Nice Rally.

Custodianship later passed to Eugene Chaboud who re-bodied it after World War II. Between 1945 and 1948, the car raced in over 30 events with the finest achievement being a victory at the Grand Prix of Belgium. In 1947, the car was driven to an eighth at Monza and second at the Grand Prix, Turin. Mr. Chaboud's accomplishments with the car allowed him to be declared 'Champion de France.'

In 1948, this car was re-bodied by Valtat - its current configuration. Another car, owned by Charles Pozzi, also received a similar body and both cars formed the foundation of the newly-formed racing team Ecurie Lutetia. When Delahaye loaned them two Type 175S engines, the suspension and rear axle of chassis 47192 were modified to cope with the weight and power.

After the 1951 Le Mans race, the car was retired from competition. In 1958, it was sold to Carlos Ankersmit who used it sparingly before putting it into storage in 1969, where it would reside for two decades. On April 29th, 1989, the car was sold at auction.

The car currently resides in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum. During its racing career, it competed at Le Mans on four occasions and enjoyed an extensive fifteen-year competition lifespan.

Roadster
Chassis number: 46625

It is believed that there were 16 genuine short-chassis 3.5-liter Delahaye 135S Competition cars ever built, and each was a lightweight endurance racing machine, built to compete in rallies, road races and Grand Prix events during the mid to late 1930s.

This example, chassis number 46625, was originally delivered to French driver Pierre Louis Dreyfus and campaigned in a number of important events of the period. Its most important event of the period was the 1937 Le Mans where it was equipped with a special streamlined nose and longer cycle wings. The 135S cars finished 2nd and 3rd at LeMans that year and in 1938 won the race outright, defeating the Alfa 8C 2900s, Talbot T150Cs, and the Bugatti Type 57S cars.

This car has a known history from new and was the subject of a recent restoration, which was followed in detail by the Delahaye Club magazine.

by Dan Vaughan

Grand Prix
Chassis number: 47190
Engine number: 103492B84

Delahaye produced twenty-five low chassis badged Type 135-S (surbaisse) in 1936. Of those, an estimated fourteen were short chassis Type 135 CS (Competition Specials). This example, chassis number 47190, was ordered by privateer Henri Toulouse to compete during the 1936 season. He won the Grand Prix de Marseilles and finished 2nd at the French Grand Prix before crashing at the Grand Prix de la Marne.

The next owner was Eugene Chaboud who raced the car at the 1937 Tunisia and Bone Grand Prix. With the help of Jean Tremoulet, he achieved notable success in the ACF, Marne and Antwerp Grand Prix.

In 1938, the car won the 24 Hours of LeMans. Three weeks later, it crashed at the 24 Heures de Spa-Francorchamps. The driver received minor injuries, but the car was badly damaged.

In 1938, John Snow of Australia purchased the car and had it restored. After it was restored, he used it to compete at Brooklands and Le Mans. In 1939, the car was shipped to Australia where it raced at the Bathurst Road Race, and the Grand Prix of Australia on several occasions over the next decade. During this time, the car was in the care of several owners.

During a truck fire, the car was badly damaged. Over the years, it changed hands several times before being acquired by Ian Polson, who restored it to its original configuration in 1968.

In 1994, the car was sold to John Ruston. The current owner purchased the car in 1999.

The car is powered by a six-cylinder, overhead-valve engine capable of producing 160 horsepower. There is a four-speed Cotal pre-selector gearbox and four-wheel cable-operated drum brakes.

by Dan Vaughan

Roadster
Chassis number: 47186

Just fourteen Delahaye 135 Competition Specials were built, and this was one of two that went to Jacques Menier, scion of the famous Menier chocolatiers. One car was bodied for his personal use, but this car was built to race. Menier, who had his own Equipe (or team), had planned to run the car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1936, but that event was canceled due to a labor strike. The Delahaye was raced on four other occasions, in the hands of Philippe Maillard-Brune, before World War II. After the war, it was raced by Rene Cotton in the Mille Miglia, the Liege-Rome-Liege, and the 1952 Monaco Grand Prix, where the 16-year-old car placed eighth overall. Over the past several decades the car has been well cared for by Serge Pozzoli, Abba Kogan and Lord Anthony Bamford. It remains race-ready in the hands of its latest owner.

Emile Delahaye was born in Tours, France in 1843. He studied engineering in Angers, France. In 1869 he began work with his engineering degree in applied arts and crafts.

Emile Delahaye began business in Tours, France in the middle of the 19th century for the purpose of constructing engines for the ceramic industry. The company branched out and began constructing mechanical appliances such as pumps and engines. In 1888, Delahaye designed an internal combustion engine for the shipping industry. It was not until 1896 that Automobile production began for Delahaye. His first automobiles produced were powered by belt-driven single and twin-cylinder engines.

Emile used motor racing to promote his vehicles. In 1896, Emile Delahaye entered the Paris-Marseilles race. Not only did he enter a vehicle his company had created, but he entered as the driver. The results were astounding, which truly speaks highly of the caliber and quality of the automobile. The demand for the vehicles began pouring in and a second factory was opened.

Due to failing health, Delahaye was forced into retirement in 1901. This was a year after the second factory was opened in Paris. Since Delahaye had no heirs, management control was passed onto a young engineer named Charles Weiffenbach. Weiffenbach oversaw operations until 1954.

In 1905, due to failing health, Emile Delahaye passed away.

Automotive racing was paramount during this period in history. This is why many of the vehicles built during this era were built to be raced and to be used as the daily driver. The sales of the vehicles were stimulated by the way the vehicle performed on the race track. Weiffenbach, however, had a different philosophy. His main focus and priority were to build dependable vehicles. Many of the early vehicles were equipped with four-cylinder engines capable of producing between 9-12 horsepower. Near the beginning of the First World War, a 6-cylinder, 2565cc engine was used.

In addition to automobiles, the Delahaye company produced trucks, lorries, parcel carriers for the post office, motor plows, fire engines, and other commercial and military vehicles. Many of the vehicles were used during the First World War

From 1927 to 1933, productions of medium-class cars were low, but the vehicles that were produced carried with them a reputation for being reliable and robust.

In the early thirties, Weiffenbach, also known as 'Monsieur Charles' by his peers, was in his early 60's. The decision was made to boldly move into the sports car arena. This was in response to the market trends and a way to re-establish a competitive edge in the automotive technology spectrum. For an automotive company that had never created a car that could achieve a top speed faster than 110 km/h, this would be a major undertaking.

Jean Francois, a 29-year-old engineer, was commissioned to construct a series of sporty cars using as many spare parts as possible. Talbot's new independent suspension was used along with a new chassis with box-section side members. The engine was borrowed from one of their trucks. The engine featured a 65mm crankshaft with internal lubrication. In 1933, the vehicles were introduced at the Paris Car Salon. They were the 4-cylinder 12CV and the 6-cylinder 18CV. At the show, Lucy O'Reilly Schell approached Weiffenbach with a request to have a vehicle built that could be entered in rally events.

Lucy O'Reilly, a wealthy American of Irish origin, had a passion for racing. So fueled by Delahaye's desire to produce sports cars and Reilly's financial backing and quest to win motorsport events, the company re-entered the racing scene.

The Delahaye Type 135

The Type 135 was created with variants such as the 135 Competition Speciale (135 CS), designed specifically for racing. The 135 Sport and the 135 Coupe both featured a 3.2-liter engine. The Sport produced 96 horsepower while the Coupe had 110 horsepower. 120 horsepower was produced by the 3.6-liter engine that rested in the Type 135 Competition model. The engine in the 135 CS was a simple pushrod-operated engine borrowed from the 1927 Type 103 truck engine. It gave up horsepower for great acceleration and torque.

The Type 135 is considered one of the most famous and prestigious vehicles produced by Delahaye. In both design and racing competition, it was very successful. Designed in 1934 it was quickly entered into races such as the 24 Heures du Mans, the Monte-Carlo Rally, and the Paris-Saint-Raphael motor race, where it had great success at being a competitive and reliable automobile.

The Type 135 Competition Speciale Sports Car (CS) had a chassis 25 cm shorter than the 135 touring car. This shortened version had better weight distribution which greatly improved the handling and performance. The engine and 4-speed Wilson epicyclic gearbox were placed lower in the chassis, thus contributing to the benefits of a better-balanced vehicle. The 135 CS came equipped with an 80-liter or a 100-liter fuel tank, this option was left up to the buyer's discretion.

The 135 CS was debuted in the 1936 Monte Carlo Rally where it finished 2nd in a field of fierce competition. In 1936 it was the winner of the Marsailles Gran Prix. At the French Grand Prix is placed second, third, fourth and fifth.

Well-known coachbuilders, such as Franay, Letourner & Marchard, Chapron, and Guillore, were tasked with outfitting the 135's. This may have been influenced by Delage, an automotive company that Delahaye merged with in 1935. As a result, the 135 won numerous awards for styling and design.

The Type 135's is truly a prestigious masterpiece with strong racing history and a heritage that was formed on stability, robustness, and stamina.

by Dan Vaughan