The show-winning French car
named after a whale
named after a whale
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.
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