The ex-Louis Chiron, Monte-Carlo Rally and Carrera Panamericana
1950 Delahaye 175 S Coach

• Significant in-period competition history
• Overall winner of the 1951 Rallye Monte Carlo
• One of only 14 known survivors of the 51 cars built
• Delivered new to Jean Trévoux and driven by Louis Chiron
• Comes with an illustrated report by Jean-Paul Tissot of Club Delahaye

One of only 51 Type 175 and 175 S chassis built, '815042' was delivered new on 10th November 1950 to the French racing driver Jean Trévoux and has significant in-period competition history. Only 14 Type 175/175 S models are known to survive.

Based initially at Tours and from 1906 in Paris, Delahaye built its first automobile in 1894 and soon branched out into commercial vehicle manufacture. Up to the mid-1930s its products tended to be rather lacklustre but then in 1935 came the first of a new generation which would change the marque's image forever: the T135 Coupe Des Alpes. A fine sporting car, the T135 was powered by an engine which, although designed for car use, had first appeared in a Delahaye commercial vehicle. The 3.2-litre, six-cylinder, overhead-valve unit produced 110bhp on triple Solex carburettors, while the chassis featured transverse-leaf independent front suspension, four-speed synchromesh or Cotal gearboxes, centre-lock wire wheels and Bendix brakes.

Delahaye improved on the formula the following year with the 3,557cc, 120/130bhp T135 MS, and the sports version was soon making a name for itself in competitions, taking 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th places in the run-to-sports-car-regulations 1936 French Grand Prix and winning the Monte Carlo Rally and Le Mans 24-Hour Race outright in 1939. In England, Prince Bira contested the 1938 Donington 12-Hour Sports Car Race in Prince Chula's example, winning the event and going on to take victory in Brooklands' 'fastest road car in England' race against some formidable opposition.

Government legislation had effectively killed off France's few surviving luxury car manufacturers after WW2; undeterred, and fortunate not to be entirely reliant on passenger car production, Delahaye soldiered on, at first with the 3.6-litre 135 M, which was identical to the pre-war model. Delahaye's first new designs of the post-war era were the Types 175, 178 and 180, its first with left-hand drive. These three models were built on different wheelbases: 2.95m for the 175, 3.15m for the 178 and 3.33m for the 180.

Introduced at the Paris Salon in 1946, the newcomers featured an entirely new and stronger chassis with Dubonnet-type independent front suspension and a leaf-sprung De Dion axle at the rear, while the engine was a development of the existing overhead-valve six. The latter now featured a 12-port cylinder head and a seven-main-bearing block with a 94mm bore, which, combined with the existing 107mm stroke, gave a capacity of 4,455cc. Maximum power output depended on the induction system: 120/125bhp (single carburettor); 140/148bhp (twin carburettors); and 160/164bhp (triple carburettors). Other notable mechanical features included dual-circuit Lockheed hydraulic drum brakes and Cotal four-speed semi-automatic transmission.

Delahaye had no in-house coachworks, so all its chassis were bodied by independents, making every car unique. The gifted French designer Philippe Charbonneaux was responsible for the Type 175's frontal aspect, which was featured on the otherwise naked chassis displayed at Paris in 1946, although several coachbuilders would depart from Delahaye's preferred look.

The Type 175 was produced in limited numbers, its high price and stiff competition from foreign manufacturers restricting sales to a mere 51 cars by the time production ceased in 1951. Sadly, the once-great firm of Delahaye would not last much longer, disappearing from view following its merger with Hotchkiss in 1954.

Delahaye Type 175 S, chassis number '815042', carries unique 'three-box' coach coachwork by the Italian Carrozzeria Motto, a company Charbonneaux had commissioned to build the prototype body of the Type 235, Delahaye's final model. Based in Turin, Rocco Motto's company specialised in lightweight sporting coachwork and had extensive experience in the construction of barchetta-type competition bodies for the likes of Alfa Romeo, FIAT and Cisitalia.

One of the three Type 175 S chassis with racing engines built for Jean Trévoux, '815042' was first registered as '3413 P 75' to him, then to his wife Henriette Trévoux, on 13th January 1951 when they were resident at 5, boulevard Richard Wallace in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris, France. Jean Trévoux was a well-known French racing driver who was a podium finisher on 27 occasions. Having commenced his racing career with a Bugatti, winning the Critérium Paris-Nice in 1932, he later became associated with Hotchkiss, winning two Paris-Nice events and finishing 2nd in the Algerian Grand Prix de Tourisme for the French manufacturer. He also claimed a 7th place finish at Le Mans in 1935, co-driving a privately entered Riley with René Carrière.

By the time Jean Trévoux ordered this car, he had already had two Type 175 S chassis bodied in fastback style by Motto: '815050' and '815051', one white, the other blue.

'815050' participated in the first edition of the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, from 5th to 10th May 1950, driven by Trévoux and André Mariotti (Trévoux was married to a Mexican woman and had been living in Mexico since 1946). The Delahaye carried number '19' and finished 12th in the tough event. After the race, the car remained in Mexico before disappearing, although its engine would reappear later (see below).

Among countless other races, Trévoux took part in the Grand Prix de l'ACF, Liège-Rome-Liège, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Carrera Panamericana and the Monte-Carlo Rally, winning the 1951 Monte overall in this very car (number '277') with co-driver Roger Crovetto. Trévoux had first won this challenging event in 1934 as co-driver to Louis Gas (driving a Hotchkiss); he was joint winner in 1939 and then outright winner in 1949 and 1951. The newspapers at that time reported that Trévoux's Delahaye was the most powerful car in the rally, with almost 200 horsepower on tap. It featured on the cover of various motoring magazines, including the French Action Automobile et Touristique in February 1951 and the British Autosport in January 1952. Associated brands such as Solex, Marchal, and Kléber-Colombes featured the Delahaye in their advertising.

Following its success at Monte Carlo, '815042' was entered in the 1951 Carrera Panamericana, run between 20th and 25th November, and on this occasion was crewed by Chiron and André Mariotti (competitor number '4'). The car was repainted for this race in a darker shade of blue and was fitted with an air intake on the bonnet to improve engine cooling.

Louis Trévoux had accepted an offer from Packard to race for them, so he had set up a syndicate with the agreement of the French Embassy and the French Chamber of Commerce to raise funds for Louis Chiron's trip and participation in the Carrera Panamericana. Unfortunately, the Chiron/Mariotti Delahaye was dogged by tyre failures, leading to its disqualification for turning up three minutes late for the start of the third stage.

Around 1952, '815042' was bought by Baron Jules de Koenigswarter and would remain in Mexico, passing through the hands of several other owners, one of whom removed the original engine and fitted a Ford V8 and three-speed transmission. The Delahaye had been stored for several years when Michel François, a Frenchman living in Mexico, bought it and recovered the original engine and original Cotal gearbox. Around 1986, Jean Gorjat, a prominent collector, bought the car and kept it for some 15 years before selling a French connoisseur.

The current owner has undertaken a major mechanical restoration, during which the engine was found to be stamped '815050'. As related above, chassis '815050' was another of the cars Motto had delivered new to Jean Trévoux. There can be several interpretations: engine '815050' may have been fitted to chassis '815042' on delivery, or it may have been sold to Michel François as the engine for Jean Trévoux's Delahaye 175 S, as we know both cars were in Mexico in the same period.

Accompanying documentation includes several photographs taken in the 1950s; an FIA historic technical passport issued in September 2021; a French Carte Grise, cancelled in 2017; and an illustrated historical study compiled in 2023 by Jean-Paul Tissot, Club Delahaye honorary chairman and associate expert of the Société des Automobiles Delahaye.

Jean-Paul Tissot concludes his study by saying (roughly paraphrased): "This Delahaye 175 S by Motto, number '815042', would be an exceptional acquisition for any discerning collector, who would not only have the satisfaction of owning the winner of the 1951 Monte Carlo Rally, but also an entrant in the 1951 Carrera Panamericana driven by the legendary Louis Chiron.

As far as its condition is concerned, we are advised that the car is particularly well preserved and conforming to original specification, while also benefiting from recent mechanical attention to ensure that it runs excellently.