The 'most original' 135 S: Le Mans star Delahaye confirmed for Montlhéry

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In the 1930s, Delahaye had its sights set on joining motoring's high society. There existed two parallel worlds of automotive celebrity, the glamorous concours d'élégance scene where chassis competed for the adoration of æsthetes by sporting the most elegant or outlandish haute couture from the leading coachbuilders of the day, and the oil-soaked racing scene, where daring souls drove a fast and dangerous road to glory.

There was no reason, of course, why one chassis couldn't excel in both worlds, as many already did, and so was the Delahaye 135 conceived. After building a run of solid but undistinguished cars through the '20s and '30s, the 135 marked a clear change in direction; sporty performance and luxurious appointments were combined into one very elegant grand-touring package. As soon as it was launched, the 135 proved its worth by winning the testing Coupe des Alpes, its 3.2-litre overhead-valve straight-six proving more than adequate for the job.

With so much potential for competition, it didn't take long for the Paris factory to start producing purpose-built racing models, such as the 135 Competition Spéciale, which were campaigned by leading drivers of the time. Though racing bodywork is typically of light and simple construction, many of the racing Delahayes were still clothed by some of the leading Parisian carrossiers, notably Figoni and Pourtout.

Just as France had no shortage of fine car-makers in the 1930s, she also raised a generation of talented and very dashing drivers, among them Louis Villeneuve, the first owner of this 1936 135 CS, chassis 46626, which was despatched to Figoni for bodywork with instructions for it to receive carrosserie son règlement des 24 Heures du Mans. Villeneuve was very fortunate to get his hands on such as car, as it was one of only seventeen CSs to be produced, all of them boasting a shortened chassis and suspension and brakes uprated to racing specification.

With Villeneuve to Le Mans

As an enthusiastic privateer, he raced all over the place and formed quite a strong attachment to 46626 campaigning it in dozens of events up to 1949, by which time most racing cars of a similar vintage would have been sold and possibly modified several times. Their career together was not an insignificant one—the well-suited pair raced four times in the Le Mans 24 Hours, impressively finishing fourth in 1938 (when 135 CSs also finished first and second) and sixth in 1939 (Delahaye's best result in that year's race, finishing ahead of Rob Walker), plus second-place in the 1938 Paris 12 Hours.

While prewar cars were the mainstay of motor racing for a few years after the war, 46626 was not as competitive in the 1940s as it had been in the 1930s, and after Villeneuve retired it in 1949, he sold it to Jacques Devinot in 1952. The Delahaye's competition career was revived for one year only, with Devinot entering several events including the Coupe des Alpes. Immediately after the 1952 season, 46626 was acquired for preservation by Pierre Bardinon, who had founded the Circuit du Mas du Clos and was just starting to establish his collection of important historic racing cars.

The collectors' dream

Bardinon enjoyed the 135 as a road car, but in the late 1950s he sold it to Jean-Pierre Bernard, a founder of the Delahaye Club, who started to race it again and, while committing to its preservation, had new wings made at the atelier of Figoni. Notably, Bernard and 46626 led the opening lap of a race held at Le Mans in 1958 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Bernard retained it until the 1980s, when he sold it to noted collector Hervé Charbonneaux, whose father Philippe had been responsible for the design of post-war Delahayes, and he continued to race it during his 33 years of ownership, including in the Mille Miglia and at Goodwood, and exhibited it at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este.

Most recently, the car was sold last year by Fiskens, which described it as "surely the most original 135 S in existence." With its new owner, the brilliantly-preserved 46626 will be reliving its heyday once more at the Vintage Revival Montlhéry, which takes place on May 11th and 12th.

If you'd like to see the Villeneuve Delahaye and other stars of pre-war motor racing in action, the Vintage Revival is not to be missed. To buy tickets or find more information, visit www.vintage-revival.fr

Words: Zack Stiling
Photographs: Fiskens

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