Highly Awarded 1936 Delahaye 135 Competition Streamlined Disappearing Top Convertible, Figoni-Falaschi Masterpiece
This is the 1936 "Talk of Paris" car, the beginning of the famed Figoni Streamlined Teardrop Period, an objet d'art
One of the most highly awarded cars in the world....Best of Show, Most Elegant, Best Paint, Best Pre-War, People's Choice, etc.
Classic Car Club of America (CCCA), First, perfect 100-points at every Grand Classic shown over nineteen years. Premier level
One of a very limited number of Figoni Streamlined Competition cars remaining in existence and rarely available
First of the Figoni Streamlined Competition Convertibles with Figoni-patented Disappearing Top and folding windshield
Complete tool kit, correct French jack, all in concours condition
Piece Unique, The only car of this design
All matching numbers throughout, verified by Club Delahaye and Figoni records
Completely authenticated by Club Delahaye France, extensive provenance, history book, build sheet, etc.
Original Figoni Body #581
Original Engine & Chassis #46864
All owners known from new
Consistently judged to be among the very best...Over 25 Best of Show Awards
Copy of original build sheet & Owner's Manual (English Version)
One of one, "piece unique", the only car of this design
This 1936 135 Competition Disappearing Top Convertible is notable for many reasons, including its streamlined flowing objet d'art design by Joseph Figoni, with the Figoni et Falaschi patented (795.769) disappearing top, pioneered on this car (copy in car history book). It was specially ordered when new to be equally at home on a boulevard... or on a racetrack. It has a racing engine, gearbox and chassis. It is restored to 100-point level for Concours d'Elegance competition, and is the winner of numerous prestigious concours awards. But most importantly, as the premier example of 1930s French coachbuilding, this beautiful automobile can be seen and valued as fine art, with all the implications for further appreciation that the fine art market commands. Mobile art; “A true movable feast for the eyes.”
“The chassis 46864 is correct in all respects”
-- Club Delahaye France Archives
Rarely do competitive racing chassis and engine and imaginative aerodynamic coachwork come together in the same car. This was Figoni et Falaschi's signature style applied to a convertible... the new flowing streamlined coachwork for which Figoni-Falaschi would become internationally famous. It most dramatically illustrates Figoni’s famed streamlined creations, in this case for a wealthy Parisian named Wolf, a personal friend of Figoni’s. Wolf could afford the best of the best, so he challenged Delahaye and Figoni to create a car with elegant line, fine et elancée, with the fast and reliable Competition 3.5 liter six-cylinder engine, and the competition chassis... bearing in mind his intent to race the car and enter in rallies, as well as concours events and various showings for Figoni.
“This is one of the most elegant creations of Joseph Figoniand one of the most important Delahaye cars.”
-- Club Delahaye France Archives
This Delahaye 135 Competition Convertible has been authenticated by Club Delahaye France, and Figoni records, as the original body (Figoni # 581) and chassis (Delahaye # 46864) with all pertinent numbers on the car matching the original Figoni and Delahaye records.
When Joseph Figoni took delivery of Wolf's rolling chassis from the Delahaye factory, he set out to make the most streamlined body possible. He wanted the convertible top to be lowered within the body. Today, we take this complex process for granted. But back then, Figoni, a streamlining pioneer, had to invent a very effective disappearing top for this car. The folding mechanism is described in French Patent 795.769, «Perfectionnements aux véhicules décapotables», applied for October 1, 1935 and issued January 13, 1936, just preceding the construction of this car.
The Type 135 Competition would be successful on nearly every venue in which it competed. It earned victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Monte-Carlo Rallye, the Paris-Saint-Raphael race, several Grand Prix races, and many other events both before and after WWII. In 1937, a year after this long-wheelbase 135 Competition was delivered to Monsieur Wolf, similar Type 135 Competitions won the Monte Carlo Rallye, and placed first and second at Le Mans. And our car, so beautiful at Concours showings, is an integral part of that championship heritage, itself placing 6th in the 1949 Monte Carlo Rallye out of a field of 230 cars, in an extremely difficult and dangerous race on the rutted muddy wreck-strewn roads of post-war Europe.
Refined meticulously detailed elegance and streamlined design combine masterfully with competition engine and chassis in this piece unique objet d’art, consistently judged to be one of Joseph Figoni’s finest creations. Show, tour or simply stare at her; a visual feast.
