Delahaye 135M Sport Coupé by Hebmüller

Many major French car manufacturers had to close for good within the last 100 years. In addition to Delage the list includes names such as Facel, Berliet, Amilcar, Ballot, Bucciali or even Delahaye. The latter brand was founded in 1894 by Émile Delahaye in Tours and manufactured in addition to cars also lorries, mostly as a license of Benz. As early as 1898, Automobiles Delahaye merged with the factories of Léon Desmarais and Morane in Paris to achieve higher sales. After modest results in the Paris-Vienna race, Émile Delahaye in 1902 not only dropped his marque out of motorsports, but also left his own company and recruited designer Charles Weiffenbach as successor. He modernized the manufacturing processes with mechanical devices. Only six years later they became suppliers of the Spanish royal family. By the time of the First World War, Delahaye already had a good reputation. After the war, they rose to become one of the world’s most innovative manufacturers. They also entered cars with some success in racing and rallies. In 1935, the new model 135 debuted, which was further developed over the years to receive more power. After World War 2 Delahaye resumed the production of the pre-war models and renamed the 135 into 135M. They continued to use the 3.6-liter inline six-cylinder engine, which now developed 81 kW/110 hp.

So much for the prehistory of our article. This time we are talking about a special vehicle of Delahaye, which will be auctioned on May 25 by RM Sotheby’s at the Villa Erba in Italy. Originally it was a 135S Compétition Court with chassis number 46810, which belonged to the French racing driver Eugène Chaboud. He sold the car in October 1940 to Mr. Grivelet, an important wine merchant from Paris, to secure it from the oncoming war. Mr. Grivelet got the licenseplates 3760 RN from Paris and actually managed to prevent a requisition by the German Wehrmacht. After the war he decided to give the car a new bodywork, for which he turned to the company Hebmüller from Wülfrath near Düsseldorf/Germany. He commissioned a majestic looking Coupé design including a large sunroof and a retractable rear window. Hebmüller was one of the most renowned coachbuilders of the time and had already made a name for themselves before the war with new bodies for cars like the Mercedes-Benz 540 K or the BMW 328. Real fame was finally achieved in 1949 with the two-seater Volkswagen Cabriolet based on the Beetle, which was officially offered in parallel to the four-seater Karmann Cabriolet until the manufacturing hall in Wülfrath burned down and the company was ruined. In addition to the headquarters, Hebmüller also had a plant in Wuppertal Barmen, where the bodywork for this Delahaye was made.

Mr. Grivelet finally received his unique Delahaye 135 Sport Coupé in 1948 and kept it until 1970. Two more owners in France, three in Belgium and one in the Netherlands followed, until the 135 arrived back in France in 2011. There it is currently owned by a Delahaye collector, who decided two years ago to put the slightly restored bodywork on a completely restored chassis of a post-war 135M with chassis number 800870. Thus, the car received the higher engine power that was promised by its looks since 1948. Now, this unique Hebmüller-Delahaye will be auctioned at the Villa Erba by RM Sotheby’s during the Concours d’Elegance at Villa d’Este. The auction experts expect a hammer price of between 250,000 and 350,000 €.

Images: RM Sotheby’s, Remi Dargegen