Estimate:
€250.000 - €325.000

• Classic design that epitomizes French style
• One of only a few survivors
• Exceptional restoration that presents beautifully inside and out
• Numbers-matching engine

Delahaye launched the ground-breaking 135 model in 1935, which was met with instant success and remained in production for an astounding 20 years. It reigned supreme at concours d’elegance in Paris, Biarritz and Monaco, fitted with luxurious, racy and stunning coachwork by Figoni et Falaschi, Saoutchik, Franay and of course Guilloré.

But times had changed after WWII, and when chassis 800863 rolled out of the Carrosserie Guilloré works in 1949, it represented a way of life that was already over. Clad in a classically elegant cabriolet body by one of the foremost coachbuilders in France, it was a costly exercise that few could afford: an elegant manifestation of hand-built exclusivity that would disappear in just a few years as technologically superior, mass-produced, unit-body automobiles quashed the once-proud French coachbuilding industry.

Chassis no. 800863 was first registered in 1949 in the Département de la Seine where it received no. 837 RQ 8. The car’s early history is not known, but in 1985, it was sold by dealer Henri Lalanne to a Frédéric Buch. In 1998, it was given over to the well-known French restorer Carrosserie Lecoq and was comprehensively restored. It presents beautifully today, with excellent paint, chrome, top and a luxurious light blue interior that features an exceptional steering wheel in clear plexiglass that looks like crystal. In 2017, the car was comprehensively serviced by the Graber Sport Garage in Toffen, Switzerland. The engine and brakes received attention, and the bill amounted to more than CHF 11,000.

Chassis 800863 is a scarce matching-numbers example that retains its original body and is well known to the French Delahaye Club. As such, this classically beautiful Delahaye cabriolet represents a rare and desirable survivor from a time when the customer truly was king.To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/pa19.