Chassis No. 51740

Engine No. 51740

Body No. 757

Former Peugeot employee Louis Delâge made his mark on the French automotive business with the founding of Delage Automobile Company from a barn in Levallois in 1905. By the 1920s, Delâge's company had gained renown as a formidable force in both Grand Prix racing and road car manufacturing, with the latter known for their masterful combination of refined engineering and artistic collaboration with the era's most gifted coachbuilders. Under Delâge's leadership, the firm attracted partnerships with the most celebrated carrossiers of the period, none more significant than the Parisian atelier of Figoni et Falaschi.

Giuseppe Figoni and Ovidio Falaschi brought a revolutionary aesthetic to automotive design, crafting some of the most elegant and influential bodies of the streamliner era beginning in 1935. Lauded as the "couturiers of the automobile," Figoni et Falaschi crafted flamboyant, graceful and aerodynamically sculpted bodies, each shape guided by Figoni's eye for proportion and airflow. The partnership between Delage's sophisticated engineering and Figoni et Falaschi's sculpted coachwork produced some of the most coveted automobiles of the late 1930s.

By the mid-1930s, however, even this illustrious marque was not immune to the financial pressures of the Great Depression. British financier Walter Watney brokered Delage's merger with French rival Delahaye in 1935-a partnership of necessity that nevertheless proved fortuitous. Under Delahaye's stewardship, Louis Delâge's vision continued through the D6 series, as Delage's engineering team remained largely autonomous even while drawing from Delahaye's proven components. Delâge and engineer Arthur-Léon Michelat set out to prepare a new model, the D6-70, by de-stroking the Delahaye 135 engine to 2,729 cc with a revised cylinder head, adapting the Type 134 chassis, and fitting it with Houdaille hydraulic shock absorbers and Bendix hydraulic brakes. For the 1939 model year, the D6-75 replaced the D6-70 with a more refined 2,984-cc inline-six engine, though production lasted only a few months before the outbreak of World War II.

Recognizing motorsport as an ideal marketing opportunity to showcase the durable, powerful D6 platform, Watney enlisted Louis Gérard-a wealthy Delage client and accomplished gentleman racer-to pilot a special 3.0-liter D6-70 Coupe bodied by Figoni et Falaschi in the 1937 24 Hours of Le Mans. Gérard and co-driver Jacques de Valence de Minardière delivered a class win and 4th overall, before Gérard piloted the D6-70 (then with open coachwork) to outright victory in the 1938 RAC Tourist Trophy at Donington Park, and a class win at the 24 Hours of Spa that same season. Reborn after World War II as the D6-3L, Delage resumed its dominance with class wins at the 1948 Spa 24 Hours and Paris 12 Hours, capped by a 2nd-overall, 3.0-liter class victory at Le Mans in 1949.

This truly exceptional Delage D6-75, chassis number 51740, wears Figoni et Falaschi's striking Three-Position Drophead Coupe coachwork (body number 757). Copies of original build documentation on file record that Automobiles Delahaye simultaneously dispatched two D6-75 chassis to Carrossière Figoni-engine numbers 51739 and 51740-on 4 April 1939, destined to be fitted with four-passenger cabriolet bodies 756 and 757 respectively. A delivery note dated 1 June 1939 confirms that chassis 51740 had been delivered with spare parts including two instruments, a clock, and additional fuel caps. According to marque historian François Jolly's Delage La D6-70 et ses évolutions, 51740 was completed as the first of just four pre-war Delage chassis bodied by Figoni et Falaschi, each built for different customers in various unique styles.

The design of 51740 is at once sporting and luxurious: a long, ventilated bonnet, sumptuous sweeping fenders, and a low windscreen give the Delage an athletic stance, while elegant details like chrome headlamps, subtly skirted rear wheels, and a finely crafted three-position convertible top (allowing closed, open, or coupé de ville configurations) invite both grand touring and formal town use. The car is also equipped with a 2,973-cc, overhead-valve engine currently fitted with triple Solex carburetors and producing approximately 130 horsepower. The three-carburetor specification is a rarely seen factory upgrade listed in period brochures as a special request item on the D6-75 chassis. Remarkably, it is believed to be the original unit bearing a 1938 casting date and matching engine number plate (51740).

According to Jolly's research, chassis 51740 made its debut at the 1939 Concours d'Élégance au Bois de Boulogne in June where it reportedly claimed first prize. Delivered just months before the Salon de l'Automobile was scheduled to take place in October 1939 at the Grand Palais in Paris, it is believed that chassis 51740 was destined to grace the Figoni stand at the Salon before the event's abrupt cancellation following the outbreak of WWII. As war loomed over Europe, the remarkable Delage found refuge in Portugal, where its original owner concealed it from Axis forces throughout the conflict. The car remained hidden until 1974, when it was discovered and acquired by its second owner, who found it in remarkably complete and original condition after decades of storage.

The new custodian embarked on a restoration program conducted by Mr. Michel Poncin of the 16th Arrondissement in Paris. This included renewing the exterior in its current midnight blue finish, while the interior was re-trimmed in red leather and the three-position top in alpaca beige canvas (later re-trimmed to its current dark blue). This restoration culminated in a triumphant return to Paris in 1995, when chassis 51740 was displayed at Rétromobile in Paris with both M. Delâge Jr. and Claude Figoni present to witness this remarkable homecoming.

In 2000, the car arrived in the United States, joining a prominent collection, and by 2022 it became a cherished centerpiece of the current owner's collection. In every respect, this 1939 Delage D6-75 Figoni et Falaschi Three-Position Drophead Coupe represents an extraordinary opportunity to acquire one of the most exceptional French automobiles of the pre-war era. Its Figoni et Falaschi bodywork is at once a sculpture and a testament to the zenith of French Art Deco design, sure to draw admiration on any concours field. Meanwhile, the legacy of Louis Delâge lives on under the hood, in its silky-smooth 3.0-liter six-cylinder powerplant and ingenious Cotal transmission that make this car as satisfying to drive as it is to behold.