Delage
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Delage is a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge in Levallois-Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953.
On 7 November 2019, the association "Les Amis de Delage" created in 1956 and owner of the Delage brand, announced the re-founding of the company Delage Automobiles with the Delage D12.[1]
Early history
The company was founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge, who borrowed Fr 35,000, giving up a salary of F 600 a month to do so.[2]
Its first location was on the Rue Cormeilles in Levallois-Perret. The company at first had just two lathes and three employees, one of them Peugeot's former chief designer.[2] Delage initially produced parts for Helbé, with the De Dion-Bouton engine and chassis assembled by Helbé; Delage added only the body.
The first model was the
In 1907, the factory moved to the Rue Baudin Levallois, where a 4,000 m2 (43,000 sq ft) workshop allowed it to grow. The two-cylinder Delages were no match for the competition this year at the Coupe des Voiturettes.[2]
In 1908, the success enabled the development of the factory and entry into more Grand Prix races. That year, racing success returned: Delage won the Grand Prix des Voiturettes held 6 July.[2] This event, six laps of the 47.74 mi (76.83 km) Dieppe Grand Prix circuit, saw 47 starters.[2] Delage fielded three cars: a pair with 1,242 cc (75.8 cu in) (78 by 130 mm (3.1 by 5.1 in)) De Dion-Bouton twins, driven by Thomas and Lucas-Bonnard, and a radical 28 hp (21 kW) 1,257 cc (76.7 cu in) (100 by 160 mm (3.9 by 6.3 in)) one-cylinder[4] (built by Nemorin Causan) in the hands of Delage dealer Albert Guyot. Guyot won at an average 49.8 mph (80.1 km/h), not needing to stop for fuel. All three Delages finished this time, Thomas the quickest of the two-cylinder cars, while the team also took home the regularity prize.[5] These good results contributed to total sales exceeding 300 cars for the year.[5]
Delage converted to
After an increase in sales, the existing facilities were too small, so in 1910 the factory moved to a new facility at 138 Boulevard de Verdun,[5] Courbevoie. The following year saw the creation of advanced bodywork. By 1912, 350 workers were producing over 1000 cars annually, and offered four- and six-cylinder sidevalve engines.[5]
During the
When the war concluded, Delage moved away from small cars and made its reputation with larger cars. First up was the
The 1920s were really the first "Golden Age" of Delage. The most famous were the DE and DI: 4 cylinders of about 2 liters and 11 hp. Delage also attempted to compete with Hispano-Suiza, with the GL of 30 hp and 5954 cc, with some success. After that came a new generation of six-cylinder cars, like the MD (3174 cc) and DR (2516 cc), the best-selling vehicle in the history of the brand, designed by engineer Gaultier.
Both the CO and DO were replaced in 1922.
The next year, the new 14 hp (10 kW; 14 PS)
In 1923, a hillclimb car with DI chassis, larger wheels and tires, and 5,107 cc (311.6 cu in) (85 by 150 mm (3.3 by 5.9 in)) CO block (with three Zenith carburetors) was produced.[7] Delage scored successes at La Turbie and Mont Ventoux. This car was joined by a 10,688 cc (652.2 cu in) (90 by 140 mm (3.5 by 5.5 in)) V12, which broke the course record at the Gaillon hillclimb, with Thomas at the wheel.[7] Thomas would set the land speed record at Arpajon in this car, at a speed of 143.24 mph (230.52 km/h), in 1924.[8] A 1925 car had a 5,954 cc (363.3 cu in) (95 by 140 mm (3.7 by 5.5 in)) six, again using the GL block, with four valves per cylinder and twin overhead cams.[9] Driven by Divo, it broke the Mont Ventoux course record in its debut.[9] The car was destroyed by fire at the Phoenix Park meet in 1934.[9]
The 1924 and 1925 DIS, with a 117 in (3,000 mm) wheelbase, switched from Rolls-Royce-type locking wheel hubs to Rudge knock-ons, better cam, and bigger valves, while the 1925 and 1926 DISS on the same wheelbase.[7] Some of the DISes were bodied by Kelsch.[10] The DIS became the Series 6 in 1927, switching to coil ignition and water pump.[7]
In 1926, Delage introduced the DM, with a 3,182 cc (194.2 cu in) (75 by 120 mm (3.0 by 4.7 in)) six, which made it emblematic of the era for the marque.[9] The high-performance DMS had hotter cam, twin valve springs, and other improvements. A DR, with a choice of 2.2- and 2.5-liter sidevalve engines, also briefly appeared.[9]
Competition
Delage entered the 1911 Coupe de l'Auto at Boulogne with a 50 hp (37 kW) 2,996 cc (182.8 cu in) (80 by 149 mm (3.1 by 5.9 in)) four with two 60 mm (2.4 in)-diameter bellcrank-operated valves per cylinder controlled by camshafts in the crankcase.
Delage moved up to
In 1913, the new type Y set the fastest lap time at the
In 1914, Delage emphasized its focus on competition by creating the type O Lyon Grand Prix, while at the same time moving towards the luxury car market with 6 cylinders of a large class. However, racing was severely curtailed during World War One.
In 1923,
Delage's Grand Prix effort saw a Plancton-designed 1,984 cc (121.1 cu in) (51.3 by 80 mm (2.02 by 3.15 in)) four overhead cam V12.
This car was supplanted in 1926 by a Lory-designed supercharged 1.5-liter twincam straight eight of 170 hp (125 kW); capable of 130 mph (210 km/h), it was the company's last Grand Prix entrant.[9]
Always passionate about racing, Louis Delage designed an 8-cylinder 1500 cc, the type 15 S 8. This car won four European Grands Prix races in 1927, and won Delage the title "World Champion of Car Builders" that same year.
A 2,988 cc (182.3 cu in)-powered D6 won the 1938 Tourist Trophy at Donington Park and came second at Le Mans.[9] A single V12-powered car, intended for Le Mans, caught fire at the 1938 International Trophy at Brooklands.[9]
Postwar, the best results Delage had were seconds at the 1949 Le Mans and 1950 Paris Grand Prix.[9]
The D6 and the D8: The Classic Era
1930 saw the launch of the 6-cylinder Delage D6 which would form the mainstay of the manufacturer's passenger car range until 1954.
For 1930 Maurice Gaultier designed an 8-cylinder in-line 4,061 cc, evolving the type D8 into the type D8 S (S for Sport).
The D8 was the pinnacle of the marque. It was offered in three wheelbases, "S" or "C" at 130 in (3,300 mm), "N" at 140 in (3,600 mm), and "L" at 143 in (3,600 mm), all powered by a 4,061 cc (247.8 cu in) (77 by 109 mm (3.0 by 4.3 in)) straight eight,[13] making it capable of 85 mph (137 km/h).[9] Delage followed in 1932 with the Grand Sport, on a 123 in (3,100 mm) 130 in (3,300 mm) in 1934) wheelbase, capable of 100 mph (160 km/h).[9]
But the backlash of the economic crisis of 1929 arrived and manufacturers of luxury cars all over the world suffered from poor sales. The commercial and financial situation of the firm was badly shaken. In 1932 Delage introduced the type D6-11 (6-cylinder 2101 cc), and two years later the new eight-cylinder Delage, type D8-15 (2768 cc). These two models, equipped with independent front wheel suspension did not increase sale figures. The transverse leaf and wishbone independent front suspension was licensed by Studebaker for their cars.[9] Delage also produced a very limited number of higher-performance D6-11S models during 1933 and 1934. These "S" models ("S" being an abbreviation for Surbaisse, which means "lowered" in French) were built on a lowered and shorter chassis. [citation needed]
The junior D6s shared Delahaye front suspension design, but had hydraulic rather than Delahaye cable-actuated brakes, also shared the Cotal gearbox with the D8. The D6/70 of 1936 was powered by a 2,729 cc (166.5 cu in) (80 by 90.5 mm (3.15 by 3.56 in)) six, the 1938 D6/75 a 2.8-liter six, and the postwar D8/3L Olympic a 3-liter six.[9] At the bottom of the range was a 1.5-liter four that lasted until 1936.[9]
Financial pressures never disappeared, however, and during the spring of 1932
The last models to emerge from the factory in Courbevoie were the types D6-65, D8-85 and D8-105, designed by engineer Michelat. On 20 April 1935 the factory in Courbevoie went into voluntary liquidation.
But Louis Delage would not admit defeat, and with the help of a businessman called Walter Watney created the Société Nouvelle des Automobiles Delage (SAFAD), to market Delage cars, assembled from production Delahayes. This union created the 4-cylinder DI 12 and the D8 120, and also the 6-cylinder D6 70. Watney had taken control as president of SAFAD, but he was a British national and in June 1940 he was obliged to leave Paris as the
Racing aero-engines
Delage produced at least two types of racing aero-engine during the early 1930s. The Delage 12 CED was fitted to the Kellner-Béchereau 28VD racing aircraft, intended to compete in the 1933 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe air race. Unfortunately the aircraft crashed during qualification trials for the race on 12 May 1933.[16] The second engine type, the Delage 12 GV, remains a mystery, with very little information available.
After the Second World War
A large prototype Delage D-180 limousine appeared at the 1946 Paris Motor Show, but there were evidently no further developments on this project, and by the next year the big prototype had quietly disappeared.[17] At the 1947 Paris Motor Show only a single model was exhibited as the business focused on its six-cylinder 3-litre Delage D6[17] which in most respects will have been familiar to anyone who had known the 3-litre Delages of the 1930s. The car was offered with bodies by firms such as Chapron, Letourner & Marchand and Guilloré. A variety of coupe and cabriolet bodied D6s were produced. In addition, both Guilloré and Chapron produced a large saloon/sedan body. The two were remarkably similar, both being six-light four-door cars with conservative 1930s style shapes. Something else the two had in common was unexpectedly narrow rear doors, enforced by the combination of a long body, a long rear overhang and a relatively short wheelbase provided by the D6 chassis.[17] A longer wheelbase 1952 special version, bodied by Guilloré, was owned by National Assembly president Édouard Herriot.[18]
Nevertheless, these were difficult times for luxury auto-makers in France and by now the company's registered head office was the same as that for Delahaye: production statistics from the period group Delage and Delahaye together.[18] Louis Delâge himself, who had lived in poverty and quasi-monastic isolation since bankruptcy in 1935 had enforced the transfer of his company to Delahaye,[9] died in December 1947, and during the next few years any residual autonomy that the business had enjoyed disappeared.[17] Increases in motoring taxes, most notably in 1948 and most savagely targeting cars with engines of above 2 litres, combined with the depressed economic conditions of post-war France to create a difficult market for luxury car manufacturers. In 1950 Delahaye produced 235 cars which will have included a significant number of Delages. In 1951 the combined production figure for the two brands slumped to 77: in 1952 it was down to 41.[18] In 1953 Delage production ended.
Delage was absorbed into Hotchkiss along with Delahaye in 1954, and car manufacturing ended.[9]
Refoundation
On 7 November 2019, at the Lyon Époqu'auto show, Les Amis de Delage and entrepreneur Laurent Tapie, son of Bernard Tapie, announced that they had signed an agreement for relaunch the Delage Automobiles brand.[19] Tapie becomes president of Delage Automobiles. The new Delage planned for this project is called the Delage D12. It is a hybrid street-legal Hypercar powered by a normally aspirated V12 engine of 990 hp (728 kW), coupled to an electric motor of 110 hp (81 kW), for a cumulative power of 1,100 hp (809 kW).[20] It will be produced in France like all Delages. Delage Automobiles has joined forces with racing driver Jacques Villeneuve as the development driver for the future production model. The car was presented at private events in Los Angeles and Orange County in California in December 2019, then in Monaco in September 2020, Geneva in November 2020 and Dubai in December 2020.
Voted "most beautiful car in the world" (best Design) by the jury of the Automobile Awards 2020/2021,[21] only 30 units of the Delage D12 will be produced and sold at a price tag of 2 million Euros per car.[citation needed]
Models
- Delage CO (1918, 6 cyl, 4,524 cc)
- Delage DI (1920, 2,121 cc)
- Delage CO2 (1921)
- Delage 2 LCV (1923, 12 cyl, 2L)
- Delage GL (5,954 cc)
- Delage DE
- Delage DH (12 cyl DH, 10,5L)
- Delage DI S
- Delage DI SS
- Delage DMS (6 cyl, 3L)
- Delage DML (6 cyl, 3L)
- Delage 15 S 8 (8 cyl, 1,500 cc)
- Delage GL (5,954 cc)
- Delage DM (6 cyl, 3,174 cc)
- Delage DR (6 cyl, 2,516 cc)
- Delage D4 (4 cyl, 1,480 cc)
- Delage D6-11 (6 cyl, 2,101 cc)
- Delage D8-15 (2,768 cc)
- Delage D6-65
- Delage D8-85
- Delage D8
- Delage D8 S (8 cyl, 4,061 cc)
- Delage D8-105
- Delage DI 12 (4 cyl)
- Delage D8 120
- Delage D6 70 (6 cyl)
- Delage D12 – 2021 (12 cyl, 7,604 cc + 110 hp motor)
Production volumes
During their years of independence, Delage made almost 40,000 cars at their workshops in
Sources and further reading
- ^ Doche, Audric (12 November 2019). "La marque française Delage de retour avec une sportive hybride de plus de 1000 ch". Caradisiac.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Hull, p. 517.
- ^ Hull, p.517. One was de Dion powered, the other Aster-engined; it is unclear from Hull which was involved in this crash.
- thermosyphoncooling. Hull, p.518.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Hull, p. 518.
- ^ Hull, p.518-519.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hull, p. 519.
- ^ Hull, p. 520. It would later be famous at Brooklandsin the hands of John Cobb. In the 1970s, it was still campaigned in veteran and vintage racing by Johnty Williamson and Cecil Clutton.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Hull, p. 520.
- ^ Hull, p. 519 (caption).
- overhead camsix. Hull, p.518.
- ^ Hull, p.520, says 1995 cc, which is belied by the cylinder dimensions.
- ^ Hull, p.520, says 4,050 cc (247 cu in) which is belied by the quoted cylinder dimensions.
- ^ a b c d "Automobilia". Toutes les voitures françaises 1934 (Salon [Paris, Oct] 1933). 22. Paris: Histoire & collections: 30. 2002.
- ^ a b c "Automobilia". Toutes les voitures françaises 1940 - 46 (Les années sans salon). 26. Paris: Histoire & collections: 32. 2003.
- ^ Léglise, Pierre (October 1933). TECHNICAL MEMORANDUMS NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS; No.724; THE 1933 CONTEST FOR THE DEUTSCH DE LA MEURTHE TROPHY; AIRPLANES PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST (PDF). Washington D.C.: NACA. pp. 31–33. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Automobilia". Toutes les voitures françaises 1948 (Salon Paris oct 1947). 7. Paris: Histoire & collections: 9. 1998.
- ^ a b c "Automobilia". Toutes les voitures françaises 1953 (Salon Paris oct 1952). 19. Paris: Histoire & collections: 22. 2000.
- ^ Ménard, Philippe (8 November 2019). "Cognac: la prestigieuse marque Delage ressuscitée en format hybride". Sudouest.
- ^ Kossmann, Maxime (12 November 2019). "Delage: retour annoncé avec une supercar!". Auto Plus (in French).
- ^ "Delage présente l'hypercar D12 à Dubaï". Focal. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- ^ a b c "Automobilia". Toutes les voitures françaises 1954 (Salon [Oct] 1953). 24. Paris: Histoire & collections: 23. 2002.
- ^ The chassis number range runs from 1 in 1905 to 39,100 in 1935.
- ^ Chassis numbers 50,000 to 51,999.
- ^ Chassis numbers 880,000 to 880,330.
- Hull, Peter (1974). "Delage: Speed and Elegance in the French Tradition". In Ward, Ian (ed.). World of Automobiles. Vol. 5. London: Orbis. pp. 517–520.
External links
- Les Amis de Delage, website of Delage-collectors
- Delage World, web site maintained by collector Peter Jacobs