1939 Delahaye 165 Roadster

Figoni & Falaschi      

2006 Pebble Beach Concours de Elegance

1st Place winner

Body, Paint, Fit and Finish by Royal Coachworks

Click image for Restoration Pictures

These are pictures of the car prior to refinishing for Pebble Beach 2006

1939 Delahaye Type 165 Cabriolet

Designed by French designers Figoni and Falaschi

This stunning streamlined car is thought to be the most beautiful Delahaye ever built.

This car is one of two built and still in existence.    The car's windshield rolls down into the cowl by means of a crank handle located under the dash.

The convertible top conceals behind the painted metal panel behind the seats.

There is a rumble seat located behind the convertible top cover panel.

The trunk is located behind the rumble seat.

This car was built to show at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

The functioning 12 cylinder engine could not be installed in time for the show so an empty core was installed and the original engine remained in Paris.

World War II started and the car was stranded in U.S. Customs in New York for 8 years.

After the war the car was purchased by film maker Roger Barlow and the empty engine core was replaced by a Cadillac V8 engine.

In the late 40's the car was purchased by a Beverly Hills dealer and re-sold for $12,000.00 and the car returned to New York.

During the very late 40's to the early 60's the whereabouts of the car were vaguely known.

In 1981 the car was discovered in Fresno, CA. owned by two elderly ladies. The car was in poor shape and was missing several pieces including the dash and instruments.

Peter Mullin and Jim Hull acquired the car and spent about 8 years restoring it.

The original prototype engine built for the car was found in a collection held by Count Dunhoff of Germany. It was purchased and sent to England for a five year restoration process.

This information was collected from various sites on the internet and may not be 100% accurate.