Delahaye, 1939, 135 M

Delahaye 135 M, Henri Chapron, 1939

In 1879 the engineer Emile Delahaye took over a firm established in 1845 that produced machinery for the bricks industry. He named the company after him and converted it to the production of internal-combustion engines and in 1894 he started making cars.
Delahaye remained active until 1954 and greatly represented, together with Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, and Delage, the French “grandeur” in motoring history.
The 135 model, both in touring and racing versions, was perhaps the one that granted the highest international reputation to the French brand. The 135 model was dressed by the most “flamboyant” creations of the great French coachbuilders. On the car shown in the Museum, you can notice the building quality and care which Henry Chapron put in the soft hood: it is possible to place it in the “milord” position, partially closed to protect just the rear passengers.
This car is euqipped with a Cotal electromagnetic gearbox, the ancestor of the modern automatic gearbox. It had 4-speed and 4 reverse gears!
In 2008 the car was the protagonist of the movie “Wild Blood” where Luca Zingaretti and Monica Bellucci drove the refined 1939 Delahaye 135. The movie was launched at the Cannes Festival of Cinema di Cannes in the same year by the film director Marco Tullio Giordana.

“Giordana reflects on the Italian population during the Fascist regime by talking about two characters who really existed. The human and artistic parable of Luisa Ferida and Osvaldo Valenti, two famous actors of the Fascist cinema that joined the Republic of Salò. The movie was nominated twice and won an award during the Nastro d’Argento and  2 David di Donatello nomination.”
Source https://www.mymovies.it/film/2008/sanguepazzo/

2004, Shooting, Fasoli Gioielli.
2007, Shooting, Calze Levante.
2008, Wild Blood, with Monica Bellucci and Luca Zingaretti.
2012, Shooting, Ruoteclassiche.
2014, Concorso di Eleganza “Stelle sul Liston“.
2014, Videoclip, Modà, La sua bellezza.
2016, Videoclip, Annalisa, Il diluvio universale.
2018 Mostra Passione Volante, Delahaye.