Custom Pontiac LeMans at SEMA 2019

"LeMANSter"

Custom Pontiac LeMans 

 

Too often the intermediate size Pontiac LeMans is overshadowed in the automotive world by its muscle car brother, the GTO. This LeMans, built by Blue Sky Performance, displayed out in front of the Las Vegas Convention Center during the 2019 SEMA show sure does a lot to change that commonly-held opinion. 

The “LeMANSter” is powered by a Butler Performance Pontiac 535 cubic-inch all-aluminum crate engine that develops 698 horsepower and 730 foot/pounds of torque beneath a custom flush-mounted functional “Shaker” hood scoop. The exhaust gases are routed through the Roadster Shop “Fast Track” chassis powder coated by Blast Lab in 3-inch exhaust pipes with integrated “Boom Tube” exhaust cut outs.

The interior of the "LeMANSter" is finished in Relicate Millwood leather by Bux Customs accessorized with custom machined trim from EVOD Industries. In addition to the gauge cluster bezel, shifter bezel and “LeMANSter” nameplate in the interior, EVOD provided the front grille insert and rear tail panel molding and taillights.

The car rides on Boze Forged 18x9” & 19x12” “Torque” style 3 piece wheels wrapped in Pirelli tires. Brushed finishes were utilized throughout the build including brushed stainless trim, brushed aluminum and custom brushed nickel trim all done by Ogden Chrome. The "LeMANster" is finished in Land Rover China Black Axalta Chromapremier refinish products.

Check out the builder’s website at https://www.blueskyperformanceandrestoration.com/ 

The show-winning French car
named after a whale

 

 

 

 

The 1947 Delahaye 135 M Figoni & Falaschi Narval cabriolet shown at the Blackhawk Museum is one of only seven cars built with this style coachwork but none of the seven cars are the same. The series was named ‘Narval’ after the car’s noses which resemble a Narwhale, the so-called “unicorn of the sea” because of the single tusk that protrudes from their head.

Designed by young engineer Jean François, the Delahaye 135 was produced from 1935 until 1954, and its low-slung chassis of the 135 made it an excellent candidate for custom coachbuilders such as Figoni & Falaschi and Jaques Saoutchik, while it 3 ½-liter (195-cubic inch) six-cylinder engine produced from 90 to 105 or even 115 horsepower depending on whether it was fitted with one, two, or three carburetors.   

A successful pre-war racing car which won the LeMans 24-hour race in 1938 (as well as finishing second and fourth) the Delahaye 135M production car continued to be built until the company ceased operations in 1954.

 

 

 

The car shown at the Blackhawk Museum, designed by Joseph Figoni and built with his partner Ovidio Falaschi, was sold new to Mark Dietsch of Cleveland Ohio, President of the Prima Shoe Company. As a manufacturer of fine women’s show, in 1954 this car was used in the Prima Shoe Company’s ‘Cover Girl flats’ advertising campaign. Known as the ‘Cover Girl Narval,’ it was found in Switzerland in the late nineteen seventies and purchased by Bob Atwell of Texas who had the engine replaced before he sold the car to collector Russ Jackson of Barrett-Jackson Auctions.

 

 

 

Jackson’s son Craig Jackson (now familiar to television viewers) restored the car and painted it black with dark red snakeskin leather upholstery. The car was sold at auction to a Japanese collector in 1989 but in recent years the car returned to North America where it was returned to its original appearance. at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours de Elegance, this car won the Postwar Grant Touring class and was awarded the French Cup as the most significant car of French origin.  

 

 

 Photos by the author