RE: Showpiece of the Week: Delahaye Custom Speedster

RE: Showpiece of the Week: Delahaye Custom Speedster

Monday 9th April 2018

Showpiece of the Week: Delahaye Custom Speedster

A classic design and a legendary name, but everything isn't quite as it seems with this week's Showpiece...



There are two distinct ways to consider this week's Showpiece. The first, of course, being as a piece of automotive design. In that regard, however much of an admittedly subjective quality it may be, it's absolutely stunning. The classic hot-rod body, the fantastic pontoon fenders and the perfectly proportioned headlights. And the details, like the 1937 Hudson hood ornaments recycled into the rear lights, the Hispano Suiza stork mascot on the prow, and the eight sculpted tailpipes. It's just fantastic.

The second, likely rather more divisive side, is as a complete vehicle; one with a price tag of nearly £200,000. Because, as you may have figured out, although it looks like something Gatsby would have once used to luxuriantly roar around West Egg - and despite bearing the Delahaye name - the Custom Speedster is a much more modern creation than it seems.


Which is a shame because, while its age doesn't reduce its beauty, or diminish the craftsmanship involved in its construction, it's usually the history with which these kinds of cars are imbued that makes them so special, and so valuable. So what exactly is the Delahaye Custom Speedster?

Well, for starters, it isn't a Delahaye, not in the traditional sense at least. The original manufacturer was founded in 1894 by Frenchman Emile Delahaye and is famous (often in partnership with coachbuilders Figoni et Falaschi) for having made cars like the Cabriolet, 135 and 164 - some of the most beautiful automobiles ever produced. The American company responsible for the Custom Speedster, meanwhile, is much younger, and at pains to http://www.delahayeusa.com/delahaye-name.php confirm that it is "is not connected in any way with the original" marque.

So if you're not getting the age or the name for your $275,000, what are you getting? The car is described as having been commissioned by a dedicated enthusiast who "desired to combine the flamboyant style of 1930s French coachbuilding with the distinctly American tradition of the Hot Rod". To that end the body styling, courtesy of legendary hot rod designer Chip Foose, incorporates a variety of themes. The fenders are inspired by the Delahaye 165M Figoni, the radiator and windscreen pay homage to the Bugatti Type 57SC and the tapered rear end echoes Auburn's Boattail Speedster. The whole thing took over four years to fabricate, with much of it being meticulously handmade.

Underneath is a Ford 302 cubic-inch V8 paired with a C4 automatic transmission, disc brakes and power steering. There's independent front suspension and a custom-built Ford 9-inch axle with air-ride control dampers in the rear.


As with many such things, you're also getting an opportunity to buy into a certain echelon of automotive design for a considerably reduced outlay. An authentic 1937 Delahaye 135 Competition Court Torpedo Roadster by Figoni et Falaschi sold for $6.6m in 2014, making a mere $275,000 seem like a steal.

So, while the Custom Speedster may not be the real deal, it certainly isn't some ham fisted knock off either. Whether the lack of authenticity is a deal breaker will of course vary from person to person, and it's certainly easy to understand how the mishmash of retro elements could be off putting upon closer examination. One thing, though, is for certain. The Delahaye Custom Speedster will stop tracks and turn heads wherever it goes, just as the cars which inspired it did all those decades ago.

See the full ad here.

 

 

 

 


Author
Discussion

Andy665

Original Poster:

3,599 posts

227 months

Monday 9th April 2018
quotequote all
Absolutely stunning and the price seems very reasonable for the amount of work involved

andy43

9,548 posts

253 months

Monday 9th April 2018
quotequote all
Lose those kit car hood latches and I’ll take it smile

Gameface

16,565 posts

76 months

Monday 9th April 2018
quotequote all
When 2 door Range Rovers are 1/4 million this is cheap.

Love it.

V8 FOU

2,970 posts

146 months

Monday 9th April 2018
quotequote all
Just love it. Hyman seem to specialise in this type of car.
Seems incredibly good value to me.

This or some common as you--know-what skanky Ferrari.

Next stop Style et Luxe?

unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Monday 9th April 2018
quotequote all
Andy665 said:
Absolutely stunning and the price seems very reasonable for the amount of work involved
+1


TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Monday 9th April 2018
quotequote all
A Delahaye with a Bugatti radiator, Hispano mascot and Hudson tail lights. With a fake Figoni et Falaschi body. And, being American, they couldn't possibly look further than a yank v8 and slushbox.

It's like a drunken supermarket trolley-dash around the Beaulieu autojumble.

Gameface

16,565 posts

76 months

Monday 9th April 2018
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
It's like a drunken supermarket trolley-dash around the Beaulieu autojumble.
Yes, marvellous fun isn't it.

unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Monday 9th April 2018
quotequote all
It's fun to look online at some of the craftsmen mentioned in the original ad. The third link, below, is two English chaps who live and work in the US.

"The body was constructed and painted over a four year period by Brown’s Metal Mods of New York."
http://www.brownsmetalmods.com/

"Body moldings on the fenders were meticulously hand made by Tommy Caruso of Contour Metalshaping in Plainfield, NJ..."
http://www.contourmetalshaping.com/

"...and Mark Barton of The Panel Shop in Stratford, CT."
http://thepanelshop.net/2016_site/ Their "about us" is buried here.

"...a spectacular, Cubist-style instrument panel (hand painted by Don "The Egyptian" Boeke, of Dayton, OH)..."
http://egyptianbody.com/





PhantomPH

4,043 posts

224 months

Monday 9th April 2018
quotequote all
What a fantastic thing. Swap the Delahaye badge for a Foose one and it’d be perfect.

humblesabot

55 posts

126 months

Monday 9th April 2018
quotequote all
so...
Whatever whatever whatever, recycling bits and bobs from various things, and i can forgive, to some extent, the quoting that borders on copying, but the name thing, i can't wrap my head around. It's not a Delahaye, it won't sound like one, or drive like one, and something feels very off about taking somebody else's name. It bothers me, a lot. The Fignoni & Falaschi coachwork that inspired this was Fignoni & Falaschi coachwork on a Delahaye chassis and engine. Knowing this came out of the US, it's certain to have a needlessly archaic pickup truck derived ladder frame probably stamped with the "'Murica!" somewhere, so it's definitely not a Delahaye there, and as we've been informed, it has a ford engine, so it's not a Delahaye there either. It's quite literally more Hispano Suiza than Delahaye, and the only Suiza thing it carries is the figurehead. I just don't get it.

unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Monday 9th April 2018
quotequote all
humblesabot said:
so...
Whatever whatever whatever, recycling bits and bobs from various things, and i can forgive, to some extent, the quoting that borders on copying, but the name thing, i can't wrap my head around. It's not a Delahaye, it won't sound like one, or drive like one, and something feels very off about taking somebody else's name. It bothers me, a lot. The Fignoni & Falaschi coachwork that inspired this was Fignoni & Falaschi coachwork on a Delahaye chassis and engine. Knowing this came out of the US, it's certain to have a needlessly archaic pickup truck derived ladder frame probably stamped with the "'Murica!" somewhere, so it's definitely not a Delahaye there, and as we've been informed, it has a ford engine, so it's not a Delahaye there either. It's quite literally more Hispano Suiza than Delahaye, and the only Suiza thing it carries is the figurehead. I just don't get it.
"Have a nice day."



hehe