This was the first vintage racing car that I purchased. My intention in starting a collection was to have an open car, a closed car, and a race car representing each marque, and having already purchased my first Delahaye, I thought that this would be a fine companion to it. That said, those intentions went awry because my appetite for variety ran away with me! – S.M.

While most often seen stateside as a dramatically styled coachbuilt grand routier, it should be remembered that Delahaye’s fabled 135 was at its heart a competition machine. In-period the 135 more than held its own in European racing, sweeping the top six positions at Marseilles in 1936, then would cement its reputation by taking 2nd Overall at Le Mans in 1937 and 1st, 2nd, and 4th the following year, as well as winning the Rallye Monte Carlo in both 1937 and 1939.

The 135s that were so victorious much resembled this one, built in France between 1987 and 1988 by Pascal Morel. Correspondence on file notes “it is a reconstruction rather than a replica; it has original Le Mans-type suspension carriers and cross-member of the short-chassis type. In addition, the front 2/3 of the chassis is of correct lightweight specs. The engine is equipped with a 135MS-style Le Mans cam, ported and polished manifolds and head, and three 44HD carburetors, which appear to be original…The body is of French manufacture and appears to have some age, probably from the 1950s.” Other documents indicate that the body may have been one that ran on a Delahaye piloted at Le Mans in 1949 by Henry Leblanc and Jean Brault, though if so, the nose has since been restored in a more pre-war style. The chassis plate appears to be one from another Delahaye 135, a Figoni et Falaschi cabriolet. Workmanship throughout was to an exceptionally high standard of fit and finish.

At its completion, the car was sold in England via Dan Margulies into the hands of Peter Leach, later passing to his fellow British enthusiast Ed Hubbard. Sam Mann acquired the Delahaye from Mr. Hubbard in August of 1994. With Mr. Mann’s beloved Cotal gearbox, a semi-automatic unit that allows the driver to make lightning-fast gear changes with or without using the clutch, it proved a flexible and highly able competitor against others of the finest European marques during two decades on the track. It was studiously upkept in meticulous fashion, including much early work by Don Koleman’s renowned Competition Engineering, and an engine rebuild in 2000 by Marcovicci-Wenz Engineering of Ronkonkoma, New York, invoices for which are included within its file. Dynamometer tests indicate that horsepower was worked up to around 212, from a standard 135, during years of refinement, including the aforementioned rebuilds, enlargement of the carburetor venturi, and eventual installation of an aluminum cylinder head.

We spent many years racing this car at Lime Rock, Laguna Seca, and other tracks, and I can safely say that we rarely did not finish 1st or 2nd at Lime Rock, and seldom below 5th or 6th at Laguna Seca, running against Alfas, Aston Martins, Bugattis, and others of the era. We spent the better part of a decade improving the performance of this car, both in its handling and its horsepower output, and with the Cotal gearbox, it is a thrill to drive. In all the years that I raced with the car, I don’t recall it having left me behind. – S.M.