Classic Car Catalogue
Delahaye 1951
| 135 | |
| 148 | |
| 175 | — prod. stopped in 1950 |
| 178 | — prod. stopped in 1950 |
| 180 | — prod. stopped in 1950 |
| 171 | |
| VLR | |
| 235 | — new model (Paris) |
France 
Since the aftermath of the Second World War sales of Delahaye and Delage cars have fallen dramatically from 573 in 1948 to 511 in 1949 and to 235 in 1950. This year production dropped to only 77 chassis. Introduced in 1946 the doubtful type 175 had cost a fortune and hurt the good reputation of the brand.
Despite rumors that Delahaye would have to stop the production of cars to focus only on commercial vehicles, at the Paris Motor Show in October they introduced a new model. The 235 is the brainchild of Fernand Lacour, who approached the management at the beginning of last year. With sales falling the idea was initially dismissed. Lacour continued work on his own until April 1951 when, under the pressure of the sales department, Delahaye finally took charge of the development of the prototype. In October the 235 was one of the brightest shining stars at the Paris Salon.
The design is based on the old, well proven type 135 but the chassis has been lowered and the engine has higher compression ratio, developing now 152 b.h.p. Since Delahaye don't have facilities to built their own bodies, they approached Letourner & Marchand to prepare the first car. Due to very short time imposed they refused, and the first car was bodied by Motto of Turin in a record time of about three weeks. In meantime Letourner & Marchand continued their work and managed to fabricate much more refined bodywork just in time for the show. It was their creation that took the honorable place on the revolving platform and won the Grand Prix de la Sociéte d'Encouragement à l'Art et à l'Intustrie Automobile. Other 235s at the show were convertibles by Chapron, Saoutchik, Figoni & Falaschi and coach by Faget & Varnet.
Presented in the summer of 1950 the all-French Delahaye VLR jeep was approved by the military and a first order of 4,000 vehicles was placed.
Despite rumors that Delahaye would have to stop the production of cars to focus only on commercial vehicles, at the Paris Motor Show in October they introduced a new model. The 235 is the brainchild of Fernand Lacour, who approached the management at the beginning of last year. With sales falling the idea was initially dismissed. Lacour continued work on his own until April 1951 when, under the pressure of the sales department, Delahaye finally took charge of the development of the prototype. In October the 235 was one of the brightest shining stars at the Paris Salon.
The design is based on the old, well proven type 135 but the chassis has been lowered and the engine has higher compression ratio, developing now 152 b.h.p. Since Delahaye don't have facilities to built their own bodies, they approached Letourner & Marchand to prepare the first car. Due to very short time imposed they refused, and the first car was bodied by Motto of Turin in a record time of about three weeks. In meantime Letourner & Marchand continued their work and managed to fabricate much more refined bodywork just in time for the show. It was their creation that took the honorable place on the revolving platform and won the Grand Prix de la Sociéte d'Encouragement à l'Art et à l'Intustrie Automobile. Other 235s at the show were convertibles by Chapron, Saoutchik, Figoni & Falaschi and coach by Faget & Varnet.
Presented in the summer of 1950 the all-French Delahaye VLR jeep was approved by the military and a first order of 4,000 vehicles was placed.
135 M coach Chapron
135 cabriolet by Letouner & Marchand at 1950 Paris Show.
135 coach panoramique by Letourner & Marchand.
135 coach by Faget & Varnet.
This elegant roadster 135 was built during the summer of 1951 in Saoutchik workshops. Jacques Saoutchik made it his personal car.
148 limousine Chapron.
148 berline by Letourner & Marchand.
The Delahaye jeep in its configuration of the end of 1950, as it participates in the Mediterranean - Cape Town rally.
The final version of which 9,326 units will be delivered to the French army. The bodywork of the standard VLR comes from Facel workshops.
Shining star of the Paris Motor Show: the 235 coach by Letourneur & Marchand. (chassis 818 001)
This Convertible was the first 235 by Chapron.
235 coach by Faget-Varnet. (chassis 818 004)
235 cabriolet by Figoni & Falaschi at Paris Show. (chassis 818 007)
235 roadster by Saoutchik (chassis 818 005). The body made of duralinox weights only 400 kg allowing top speed of 170 km/h.
235 by Saoutchik.
235 by Letourner & Marchand.
235 by Letourner & Marchand.
235 coach by Motto of Turin.
235 by Motto.
Coach 235 Chapron was launched shortly after the 1951 show.
Coach 235 by Chapron.
Races:
| Event: | Entered: | Raced: | Finished: | Best results: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 135 | Leblanc / Bertrand | fail. | |||
Rallies:
| Event: | Entered: | Raced: | Finished: | Best results: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rallye Monte Carlo | 175 | Trevoux / Crovetto | 1st | |||||
| 175 | Chiron / Mahé | 5th | ||||||
The Monte Carlo Rallye winning car has bodywork by Motto of Italy.
rally Mediterranean - Cape Town which runs from December 31, 1950 to February 20, 1951. During this formidable crossing of the African continent , two main French teams compete: that of Renault and that of Delahaye. Made up of soldiers, the latter team will triumph after having covered the 14,394 kilometers of the cruise with 171 and new VLR jeeps, winning the event in the overall individual classification and in the team classification.
