Delahaye 175

Delahaye 175/178/180
1947 Delahaye 175 (Henri Chapron)
Overview
Manufacturer	Delahaye
Production	1948–1951
Designer	coachbuilders
Body and chassis
Class	Luxury car
Body style	coachbuilt styles
Layout	FR layout
Related	Delahaye 135
Powertrain
Engine	4,455 cc type 183 OHV I6
Transmission	4-speed pre-selector (Cotal)
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2.95-metres
Length	4.62-metres
Width	1.69-metres
Height	various
Chronology
Predecessor	Type 165
Successor	Type 235

Due to a devestating fire in the factory, sometime during 1953, that decimated the company administration facilities, very little data survived, resulting in little being known about the 'Delahaye Type 175' including its two siblings, the sequentially longer wheelbase Types 178, and 180. Only one-hundred-and-seven examples were built in total, of which a mere twenty-four have been recorded as Survivors by Club Delahaye, the global authority on the marque, and permanent holder of the registered DELAHAYE trademark.

There was not one, but rather two damaging fires, that occurred between 1944 and 1953. (Robb Report article on Delage authored by Dennis Adler; Club Delahaye Journal article). In the latter, alleged to have been purposely caused by a small group of disgruntled workers that failed to get senior management to address their issues and grievances after two hundred workers were let go when the French army cancelled its Light Reconnaissance Vehicle, or VLR contract in 1951. The conflagration virtually put Delahaye out of business. Managing director of operations, Charles Weiffenbach, convinced company president Pierre Peigney, and the board of shareholder-directors, to amalgamate, as last resort, with arch-rival Hotchkiss, in early 1954. By calendar year-end, Delahaye was out of business having itself, it's captive Delage brand, and controlling interest Hotchkiss, absorbed by the gigantic Brandt Organization, ostensibly for the automakers premises and machine tools.

Club Delahaye reportedly had "no technical information whatsoever" on this 4.5-litre, six-cylinder, modern chassis-series (Club Delahaye historian and archivist Andre Vaucourt). Technical production drawings and so much more business and historical record information, was lost to posterity.

The first blaze was an accident that occurred as Canadian soldiers liberated the factory from German guards in late August 1944. The second fire decimated the drawing and administration offices. Most of the company's records were gone (Club Delahaye members'Journal).

The 'Delahaye Type 175' and optional 175S were the shortest of three mechanically cloned, inline, 4.5-litre, six-cylinder engined chassis, introduced after the second World war. The new chassis and engine were under development prior to the global conflict (page 26,'DELAHAYE Styling and Design' by Adatto and Merideth).

These platforms carried coachbuilt bodywork. The factory had no body building capability of its own.

The Type 175 was to supersede the costly Type 165, of which only four were made. Both Figoni roadsters exist (Mullin Motoring Museum; Club Delahaye; various magazine articles; Pebble Beach Concour d'Elegance). But both Chapron cabriolets were destroyed during WW2.(Club Delahaye Journal article).

The Type 175 was to be introduced by or before the October 1940 Paris Auto Salon, to sustain public interest generated by the Type 165. But the 1939 show was cancelled without notice. There would be no recurrence until October 1946.

Jean Francois, Delahaye's chief design engineer, delivered new products amazingly quickly. It was expected that his new Type 175 would follow suit. It is recorded that "all three (Types 175, 178 and 180) were under development before the war" ('DELAHAYE Styling and Design' by Adatto and Merideth). The first example debuted in October 1946, as a Type 175S show-chassis (Club Delahaye, and historic Internet photos).

The prototype was fabricated and assembled in compliance with Jean Francois' preliminary documentation. The pioneer machine was demonstrated to the two families of shareholding directors by the company's managing director of operations, Charles Weiffenbach, in March 1944, for approval (Club Delahaye Journal article). Jean Francois could not attend the unveiling of his opus magnus. He had a terminal lung disease, and died, at the Imbert family's mountain retreat near Guillestre, in the Southern French alps, in April 1944 (Club Delahaye Journal article; DELAHAYE Le Grand Livre, by Jacques Dorizon and associated auto historians). There, he reportedly completed his preliminary engineering data, and couriered it to Paris. Less than a month before he died, approval was granted to put his new series into "immediate production" (Club Delahaye Journal article).

The shareholders decided in mid 1938, to replace the Type 165 with a new model needed to compete with Talbot-Lago, Bugatti, Hotchkiss, and several others. The Type 175 would perpetuate the Type 135, 145, 155, and 165 sequence. A rationalized, large-displacement chassis-series was urgently needed to replace its outdated, smaller engined, Types 134, 135 and 148. Production of the V12 engined Types 145, 155 and 165 had already ended. From the twelve sets of V12 engine parts made, nine cars resulted (four Type 145 sports-racers; one Type 155 grand-prix monoposto; and, four Type 165 touring cars). Ecurie Blue's racing efforts consumed the other three sets, and the internals of another. The fourth Type 165 was built as a 1939 New York World's Fair exhibit, with only a shell of an engine.

The Type 175 was a technological tour-de-force, with Dubonnet independent front suspension, built by Delahaye under license; an independent DeDion rear suspension system; large, finned, Lockheed hydraulic brakes; the new four-speed, semi-automatic Cotal transmission; and an entirely new chassis. (Club Delahaye Journal; and, every book on this marque).

Developmental evolution was adversely impacted by the death of Jean Francois. Delahaye had nobody qualified to assume his pivotal role, resulting in unavoidable delays (Club Delahaye archive; DELAHAYE Le Grand Livre by Jacque Dorizon and others).

The first example seen in public was the 1946 Paris Auto Salon show-chassis, constructed in glitzy show fashion as the optional Type 175S.

The unanticipated delay caused Delahaye to reintroduce it's outdated Types 134, 135, and 148, to generate essential revenue. The postwar production numbers start with '8'instead of '4'; as did those of the Types 175, 178 and 180. (Club Delahaye Journal and archive).

There were fifty-one Type 175 cars, but Delahaye did not denote which were the optional 175S variants. The factory differentiated a Type 175S from a standard 175, by its sportier option, consisting of three Solex carburetors rather than one; and, chrome Rudge-Whitworth wire-wheels, instead of five-bolt, painted, stamped steel wheels with hubcaps.

Of those built on the 2.95-meter wheelbase, twelve Type 175 cars reportedly exist, most being the optional 175S variant. The Type 178, built on a 3.15-meter wheelbase, was a four-passenger, touring model, of which thirty-eight were built, and six, including 820001 and 820038 are recorded Survivors. The eighteen Type 180 cars, built on the 3.35-meter wheelbase, were more formal. Two, were built as armoured limousines, for the senior executives of France's Communist Party, by Henri Chapron (numbers 825007, and 825008). Those two and four others are recorded Survivors (Club Delahaye Journal; Club Delahaye archive, and research by Club Delahaye president Jean-Paul Tissot).

Prior to parts manufacturing getting underway in late November 1947, there were six pre-production units known about. These were: the prototype; the initial partially evolved Type 175S; a second more-resolved Type 175S; a third 175S built as a mix of approved and obsolete details as the Paris Auto Salon show-chassis; a production-ready Type 178; and, a production-ready Type 175.

Deliveries to coachbuilders was announced by Charles Weiffenbach in October 1947, to commence in early 1948. Several cars already existed before the announcement (a Type 175S bodied as a show-coupe by Figoni; a Type 175 bodied as a four passenger coach by Guillore, for final testing by the factory; and, a Type 178 show-coach bodied by Chapron (determined by Club Delahaye, and the Chapron Archive curated by Noelle Chapron-Paul). None were stamped with build numbers until early 1948, to be homologation certified, and sold.

The six pre-production chassis were referred to by the factory with painted reference numbers: 90001; 91001; 91002; 92001; 92002; and, the unnumbered Paris show-chassis. (auto-historian Jean-Paul Tissot, author, and Club Delahaye president).

Managing director Charles Weiffenbach devised the sequence to intentionally obfuscate the identity of the prototype, so that it could be surreptitiously liquidated. His strategy was eventually discovered. (Club Delahaye president Jean-Paul Tissot).

Technical information on this series was lost in 1953, to the fire allegedly set by some factory workers after failing to get senior management to address their issues. In desperation to salvage the company, and keep his remaining workers employed, Weiffenbach attempted to amalgamate with various French auto-makers. He finally came to a merger agreement with arch-competitor Hotchkiss, but by December 31, 1954, Delahaye was forever gone. Hotchkiss and Delahaye, and therefore Delage, were absorbed by the giant Brant Organization, ostensibly for their premises and machine tools. Brandt had no interest in automotive products.

There were 51 Type 175 and/or 175S cars; numbering from 815001 to 815051 inclusive; 38 Type 178 cars numbering from 820001 to 820038 inclusive; and, 18 Type 180 cars numbering from 825001 to 825018 inclusive. The production run totalled 107 cars that included all six pre-production units. (documented data provided by Club Delahaye president Jean-Paul Tissot, from France's Ministry of Mines archive).

The twenty-four surviving cars include twelve Type 175s; six Type 178s; and six Type 180s.

Both the prototype, initially referred to as 92002 and later stamped as the first Type 178, "production build number 820002", and the last car built in the series,Type 175S stamped as "production build number 815051" continue to exist.

Initial design

Creation of the last of the large displacement Delahayes, the type 175, and its two longer wheel-based siblings, the Type 178 and 180, was an ambitious project. The company's shareholders, which comprised its board of directors, arrived at the realization that a 4.5-litre-engined chassis was essential to meet public expectation, especially with Talbot Lago being the prime competitor. Delahaye had no choice but to remain on the path that their Type 165 b blazed, with its impressive V12. But the V12 could not be cost effectively made in small numbers; and, the Type 135 based chassis was outdated. They understood clearly, that their chief design-engineer had to be mandated to create a successor to supersede the Type 165. It had to have the same displacement and deliver comparable horsepower. The new engine had to be an overhead-valve, inline, six-cylinder. The engine had to be much less expensive to build; and, of a type familiar to the workers. The chassis had to be entirely new, and modern in every way. There was virtually no parts interchangeability with the prior models.

The engineer responsible for the Type 175's conception and development, did not survive the second World war.

It is published that the Type 175, 178, and 180 series, was under development prior to the outbreak of war in I939. It had an engine of one-litre larger displacement than the Type 135. It had four-wheel independent suspension for the first time by Delahaye, and was built exclusively in left-hand drive. It had a semi-automatic, four-speed, epicyclic transmission that was shifted electrically; and, large diameter, deeply-finned brake drums on its dual Lockheed balanced hydraulic braking system, instead of the cable-actuated mechanical brakes of the Type 135. type 135.

The postwar front design was created by in-house industrial designer Philippe Charbonneaux who developed the distinctive Delahaye "face". His effort provided the design of the entire front, with a much narrower, elongated, heart-shape grille with horizontal bars, and low horizontal grilles on the sides.

Delahaye required ts coachbuilders to use the new front, although the more famous that included Figoni et Falaschi, Henri Chapron, Jacques Saoutchik, and Marcel Pourtout, were given artistic license, subject to the managing director's approval of their proposed design rendering.

There were two versions of the engines: the initial 'Type 1Al-183' and the subsequent 'Type 2AL-183'. The engine-block and cylinder-head molds were modified, early in production, to realize economies. Yet Type 1AL engines appeared sporadically throughout the production run, particularly the optional performance enhanced Type 175S cars.

The engine and chassis was presented by Charles Weiffenbach, for production approval by the families of shareholders, in March 1944; and was granted. The death of Jean François, Delahaye's design-engineer weeks later, disrupted developmental evolution because Delahaye had nobody qualified to assume his pivotal role and responsibilities.

Automobile production in France was suspended by the government, in June 1939. War erupted that September, with Germany's invasion of Poland. The October 1939 Paris Auto Show was cancelled without notice. The Type 175's debut had to be postponed, until the venue was rescheduled, for October 1946.

Testing, and change-orders, continued into early 1947, under the supervision of service manager George Monciny. Errors occurred, compromising the success of the last large displacement series. Parts and chassis manufacturing commenced in late November 1947, for deliveries to coachbuilders to get underway in early 1948. The lengthy delay after the war prevented Delahaye from hitting the market with its new product, ahead of its competitors. To generate revenue, it reintroduced its outdated prewar models.

In October 1946, the Type 175S, in glitzy show livery, was seen in public for the first time, rotating on Delahaye's raised platform at the inaugural postwar Paris Auto Salon.

General von Choltitz had unconditionally surrendered the German occupation of Paris on August 25, 1944, and led his troops back across the border to defend Berlin. The factory was only then able to concentrate on the development of its prototype, and the evolution into production.

Through lack of prospective purchasers interest, Delahaye's second, and last, large displacement series was taken out of production in mid 1951. Early unresolved mechanical issues had damaged the new series credibility. That loss was exacerbated by massive postwar inflation, raging unemployment and socio-economic strife. The desperately struggling French economy resulted in a repeatedly devalued franc, and an onerous luxury tax was imposed. Delahaye was denied the potential to derive sufficient sales to justify its continuance.

The only product making worthwhile money was the clever VLR military utility vehicle, but the French army cancelled it's contract in 1953. Delahaye had to lay off a reported two hundred employees. That fact, was what triggered the second devastating conflagration that literally put Delahaye out of business in 1954.

In total, 107 cars were recorded in the 4.5-litre six-cylinder series comprising the Types 175, 178 and 180. Club Delahaye recorded 24 Survivors, consisting of 12 Type 175 and/or 175S cars, most being the optional version; 6 Type 178s; and, 6 Type 180s.

Production comprised 51 of the 2.95-meter wheelbase Type 175 and 175S cars; there were 38 of the 3.15-meter wheelbase Type 178 model; and, 18 longer, more formal, 3.35-meter wheelbase Type 180 cars.

All six pre-production units were stamped, and sold, as though each was a "production" chassis.

The prototype was the first of the early pre-production six units, and the only one built in strict conformance with chief design-engineer Jean Francois' original, preliminary, engineering drawings, generated between mid 1938, and his death in April 1944.

Development

Although production commenced officially in early 1948, there were six pre-production units in existence by 1946, that were known about to a select few factory-workers and those with inside knowledge of the company, one of those being Fernand Lacour, the owner of The Wilson Garage, who was a regular engine consultant, even before chief design-engineer Jean Francois' death in April 1944. The earliest six were referred to at the factory, for their continued development, as: 90001; 91001, 91002, 92001, 92002; and, the un-numbered 1946-1949 Paris Auto Salon show-chassis: exhibited in optional Type 175S guise.

One of the six was the Type 175/178/180 series prototype. It was eventually identified through research jointly conducted by Club Delahaye president Jean-Paul Tissot, in conjunction with auto-historians Brian Arthur Johnston, Andre Vaucourt, and Philippe Bavouzet, in 2014, as being 92002. Delahaye managing director Charles Weiffenbach personally devised the intentionally convoluted, purposely confusing, reference numbering strategy, to obscure the identity of the prototype. He was determined to sell it, instead of scrapping it, as was common procedure for a pioneer unit varying significantly from the later tested and approved production variants. Four years after Delahaye locked its doors forever, Charles Weiffenbach took the secret identity of the prototype to his grave, in 1958. It took over half a century of research to determine his strategy, and arrive at conclusions about what happened to the early pre-production chassis. All six were sold off, after having been formally stamped with production build numbers in early 1948, to be homologation tested, certified, registered, and licensed, as coachbuilt motorcars.

The new chassis bore little resemblance to the preceding Type 135 and derivatives, other than a structural familiarity in the cockpit area, with its welded driveshaft tunnel, and welded stamped-steel floor-pan. This latter functioned as a stressed structural member, introducing the semi-monocoque chassis to the industry. This approach allowed the seat-rails to be mounted on the bottom-plane of the chassis, instead of sitting on top of it, as every competitor was doing. Other auto-makers' chassis typically had a cruciform structure under the middle of the passenger compartment, with the driveshaft passing through the central opening at the intersection of the diagonal members. Depending on wheelbase length, certain manufacturers (such as the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith ) employed a trunnion-bearing at this intersection, thus using two shorter driveshafts to connect the transmission to the differential. The new approach enabled the coachbuilt Delahaye to be considerably lower in profile than the competition. The heavy, but very rigid new chassis was the delight of coachbuilders for its low profile stance, wider, and rectilinear, rather than tapered cockpit.

After the second World war, Delahaye finally had a thoroughly modern chassis, with four-wheel independent suspension, hydraulic brakes; a semi-automatic transmission; and, left-hand-drive for the first time by the company. The second generation large displacement chassis series was evidently destined for the export market, ostensibly in North America. But Delahaye had not established a real presence in the United States and/or Canada, with its francophone province of Quebec. Montreal could have been a more likely prospect than New York.

Austrian-born Max Hoffman, of half-Jewish parentage, to avoid potential Nazi persecution in France, abandoned Europe and sailed to America in 1939. Max had been a partner in Hoffmann and Huppert, a successful imported luxury automobile brokerage firm in pre-war Vienna, and was well connected in Europe and England. After establishing himself as a producer of affordable costume jewelry in America, Max opened his downtown New York City imported luxury auto emporium in 1947. The only car behind his showroom windows was a Delahaye Type 135M, bodied in white as a seductively curvaceous, Figoni-bodied, white, sports-coupe. It was well presented, and impressively publicized and promoted, but it was princely expensive, and consequently not all that well received. Hoffman quickly accepted the error of his marketing, and switched allegiance to Jaguar, a comparably performing product at an assured lesser figure. Money talks. Delahaye was dropped, in favour of Jaguar. Max did not rest there. Jaguar was augmented by securing exclusive distribution rights to Porsche; Volkswagen; Mercedes-Benz; BMW; Simca; and Volvo, for the American East coast and beyond.

Delahaye's new 4.5-litre engine was an overhead-valve, inline, six-cylinder, similar to the successful, preceding Type 135, but a litre larger in displacement, and internally improved, with seven main bearings, versus four, and the cylinder-head had six intake, and six exhaust ports, twelve in all, versus nine in the Type 135 (there were two Type 135S factory racing-engines with special twelve port heads). The new larger engine was stronger, likely no heavier, and had improved breathing. Unlike the cast-iron block and head of previous models, the 4.5-liter engine had a cast aluminum block under its cast-iron head, separated by an asbestos and copper head-gasket. The compression ratio was a modest 6.5:1, but was subtly increased in the optional more sporting Type 175S that had three Solex 40AiP carburetors;and, chrome Rudge-Whitworth wire wheels on splined hubs, instead of five-bolt, stamped steel wheels. Those standard wheels were seen on most Delahayes, as well as Citroën, Peugeot, Talbot, and others. There were few wheel manufacturers.

Rudge invented the wire-spoked wheel and splined hub. Borrani, in Italy, licensed Rudge's patent and produced clones in steel, as well as sports-oriented versions with polished aluminum rims and chromed steel hubs, as seen on prewar Maseratis and postwar Ferraris.

There is a fallacy that wire wheels reduce unsprung weight. In fact, the wheel with its indispensable splined hub, and the hefty, threaded, chromed-brass knock-off cap, wire wheels weigh more than stamped-steel wheels, and require more effort to service, tune, and clean. The ubiquitous steel wheel has advantages, but are less "sporting". It is that impression that is sought by sportscar purchasers: thus wire-spoked wheels prevailed, until the advent of much lighter cast magnesium and aluminum wheels.

The production build record did not differentiate which Type 175 chassis was standard, or, the optional 175S. All fifty-one built were recorded as a Type 175. Photographs show that the vast majority of surviving cars have the optional chromed Rudge wire-wheels and three Solex carburetors, being Type 175S cars. Nobody knows how many Type 175S examples were built, and there is no way to find out. The records no longer exist.

Delahaye offered the "S" option exclusively, on its performance-enhanced Type 175S. However: there are at least two known Type 178 chassis that were originally built with one or both factory options. The Petersen Museum's Chapron-bodied Type 178 cabriolet, production build number 820034, was originally equipped with triple Solex carburetors and chromed Rudge wire wheels; and, the 4.5-liter six-cylinder prototype referred to by the factory until November 1947 as "92002" was originally fitted for its experimental racing-engine development in late 1946, with three downdraught Stromberg dual-choke, single-venturi carburetors, drawn from the parts shelves for the competition Types 145 and 155. But unlike 820034, factory reference number 92002 was equipped with standard stamped-steel wheels. As well; both Type 180 armoured limousines (820007 and 820008), bodied by Henri Chapron for the senior executives of the French Communist party, had triple Solex 40AiP carburetors, as needed to compensate for the greatly increased vehicle weight. There could be others. It has been fairly alleged that: "The only consistency at Delahaye, was its inconsistency".

The prototype was sold on October 31, 1947 (reported by Club Delahaye president Jean-Paul Tissot, further researched by auto-historians Philippe Bavouzet, Andre Vaucourt, and Jacques Dorizon). In doing so, after removing its light, aluminum, Montlhèry track-tested, Lecanu designed and built sports-racing bodywork that was transposed by the racing department from Charles Pozzi's prewar Type 145, number 48775, the chassis underwent a structural reconfiguration, returning the 2.70-meter wheelbase to that of a standard 3.15-meter wheel-based Type 178. The pioneer Type 175S racing-engine (later factory-stamped as Type 1AL-183, number 820001 in February 1948) was detuned, with the substitution of distributor ignition for the Vertex magneto; and, the Stromberg carburetors were replaced with a standard cast aluminum intake manifold, and a single Solex 40AiP carburetor. Everything was mechanically reconditioned, and the chassis repainted, to appear as if brand-new. Before leaving the factory on Friday, February 13, 1948, the prototype chassis and engine were formally stamped as being the first Type 178, recorded as production build number 820001. This pivotal machine had two distinctly different existences: It was both the test-mule prototype referred to as 92002, and then became the first Type 178, recorded as production build number 820001. Number 92002, and 820001, were thus one and the same machine. That happenstance was not unique to the prototype. The other five pre-production units had similar fates, as likely did earlier Delahaye pre-production models.

Both the prototype and the Petersen Museum's Type 178 (820034) have "early-series" Type 1AL-183 engines. The prototype's dates back to March 1944. The pioneering chassis it was in was referred to as '92002' between late 1945 and the commencement of parts production in November 1947. On February 13, 1948, the much used and abused prototype was transformed to become the first ever Type Type 178, stamped, dated and recorded as 'production build number 820001'. The Petersen Automotive Museum's Type 178 (820034) was built toward production cessation in 1951, but was not bodied and completed, and homologation certified to be registered and licensed, until 1953. There is about a decade between the two engines, but there is no record of how many "early-series" Type 1AL-183 engines were made. At least ten are known, in existing matching-number cars. The Type 1AL version appeared in Type 175 cars throughout a brief production run, and were not limited to only the first few examples to emerge in 1948. Inconsistency reigned supreme.

By 1946, those familiar with the workings of Delahaye knew of the six pre-production chassis-units. They included: the developmental experiment that was presented to the shareholding directors in March 1944, personally, by Charles Weiffenbach, in the unavoidable absence of chief design-engineer Jean Francois, for production approval. The new chassis-series designer had abandoned Paris for safer environs, to complete his engineering drawings and specifications. He relocated to the Southern French alps, at his friends the Imbert family's mountain retreat near the ski-resort town of Guillestre (Club Delahaye members' journal). War was still raging across Europe, with travel being ill-advised. Francoi's health was fast failing. He never returned to Paris, having succumbed to a terminally diagnosed chest disease, in April 1944 . That prototypical chassis went unidentified until late 1945, when it became referred to as 92002, as was necessary when the second and third pre-production units (reference numbers 90001 and 91001) were being sequentially fabricated in late 1945, to be assembled in early 1946. The 1946 -'49 Paris Auto Salon Type 175S show-chassis was the fourth unit built. It could not be confused with the other five, due to its fanciful show-finishes in gloss-white paint accented by chromed-steel and polished aluminum features, standing on chromed wire-laced wheels fitted with Dunlop white-wall tires. The show-chassis was not an operational example, as it was not fully completed prior to being shown, There was no fuel-line, nor a battery and cables, as evidenced by published period photographs when it was on display.

Five of the initial six units were reference numbered, and not stamped. Factory-workers' needed identification to differentiate one from another for continuing modifications, production oriented change orders, and testing. There were reference numbers hand-painted on the left front frame-rails (Club Delahaye president Jean-Paul Tissot) these being: 90001; 91001; 91002; 92001 and 92002. The glitzy finished show-chassis had no need of a reference number. It was the fourth of the six, and was a strange amalgamation of approved production changes, blended with Jean Francois' unproven original details. The numerical sequence was Weiffenbach's strategy to thoroughly obfuscate the prototype's identity, so that it could be surreptitiously liquidated with nobody any the wiser. His objective was to recover the new chassis-series' development costs. It was a devious, not entirely ethical and honest strategy, that worked. No record ever existed, and Monsieur Charles took his secret to the grave, about four years after he locked Delahaye's doors for the last time, on December 31, 1954.

Chassis

The new chassis-series introduced the semi-monocoque concept for the first time. The chassis was completely different from the foregoing Type 135 in dimensions, proportions, and structural design. The sole commonality was the stressed-steel floor-pan, which, in the new chassis, was dramatically larger, with parallel sides instead of the Type 135'frame rails that tapered progressively narrower from the aft cockpit crossmember forward.

The Type 135 chassis, at its widest point, was approximately 10 centimeters narrower than the new one. Chief design-engineer Jean Francois introduced the stressed steel floor in his earlier Type 135 chassis. He expanded greatly on the proven structural technique that effectively stiffened and reinforced the chassis-structure, eliminating flex and torsional twist. That delighted the coachbuilders, that until then, had been plagued with the vagaries of the dreaded cowl or scuttle-shake under stress.

A distinctive feature of the new chassis, was the nearly completely round, large diameter hoop through both rear chassis-rails, through which the De Dion tube and the splined rear half-shafts extended out to the hub-carriers, bolted onto conventional semi-elliptical leaf springs.

The chassis behind the cockpit was very similar to Bugatti's Type 57, but the two chassis had completely different rear suspension systems. The Bugatti retained its solid back axle and quarter-elliptic rear springs, while Delahaye's was independently suspended. The Bugatti's was outdated, while the Delahaye's was considered state-of-the-art. The Type 57 also retained Bugatti's traditional mechanical, cable-actuated brakes, while the Delahaye had more modern Lockheed hydraulics, with a balanced dual master-cylinder system: one for the front brakes, the other the rear's.

Delahaye's Type 135 had independent front suspension, but it was a proprietary system that was shared with Delage, and competitor Talbot-Lago. The new 4.5-liter chassis had a previously untried, independent front suspension system, that was totally unfamiliar to Delahaye. This was the recently invented Dubonnet system, licensed to Delahaye. It replaced the proprietary system Delahaye employed in the Types 135, 145, 148L, 155, and 165, as well as the Delage D6 and D8 models that were also built by Delahaye at that time (Delahaye acquired the assets of the bankrupt Delage in 1935). The Dubonnet system was not unproven, since it had been licensed by General Motors in 1933, as well as by Alfa-Romeo, Simca, and Vauxhall. After the second World war, only Vauxhall and Delahaye retained the Dubonnet system. Others had moved on to the unequal-length A-arm approach, pioneered by Cadillac's senior engineer, Maurice Olly. Rolls-Royce licensed Cadillac's system in 1935, for use in its 1936 Phantom-111, and Wraith models. That same system persisted after the war, in Rolls-Royces and Bentleys the upper control-arm was a hydraulic lever-type shock-absorber.

The sophisticated and innovative Dubonnet independent front suspension system all too soon proved problematical, unless fastidiously serviced and rigorously maintained. Oil-seal leaks caused component seizures leading to crucial internal parts failures. Front suspension collapses occurred and accident damage resulted. It was this latter that doomed the new chassis series to abject failure, damaging Delahaye's revered reputation for its cars respected as being "Solide comme un Delahaye".

The new chassis' independent De Dion rear suspension system was not exactly "new". It had been around for years. At Delahaye, it was earlier employed by in its Type 155 grand-prix (single-seat) monoposto. With the De Dion system, there was no real pioneering. Like the Type 155's, the Type 175/178/180 DeDion system had a rigidly-mounted differential. The cast aluminum housing contained a Gleason hypoid final-drive gear-set. Behind the differential was a transverse, large-diameter, subtly double-curved, thin-wall steel tube that was sweated into the hub-carriers. The rear wheels were driven by splined half-shafts with universal jointed ends bolted onto the differential, and rear hub-carriers on the rear leaf-springs. It was damped by the recently invented Houdail lever-arm hydraulic shock absorbers, instead of the outdated but prevalent friction-type.

The new chassis was conceived, designed, and preliminarily engineered by Jean Francois, before the outbreak of war, but circumstances prevented it from being refined, tested, and approved before France was invaded and Paris was occupied by Germany's military.

The new inline, six-cylinder, overhead-valve engine produced between 140 and 160 brake horsepower, depending on model, whether equipped with one, or three Solex carburettors. The base compression ratio was 6.5:1, with the optional Type 175S modestly increased for enhanced performance.

The factor adversely affecting the acceleration and speed of these cars, was the weight of the custom coachwork on these already heavy chassis. It was evident that coachbuilders employing antiquated traditional building methods and materials, were oblivious to excess weight. In France, all but Henri Chapron and Olivier Lecanu-Deschamp, who were familiar with working in aluminum, were building their custom bodies with hand-hammered steel panels mechanically fastened over hardwood body support structures. They were inordinately heavy, and contributed to the mechanical failures experienced by an estimated dozen or so, early purchasers. Broken suspension components resulted in Delahaye being obliged to buy back the offending coachbuilt luxury cars, at dramatic cost to the company, as was required to avoid very expensive and damaging litigation.

The Type 175S racing-engines Delahaye developed for Charles Pozzi, and French champion driver Eugene Chabaud, reportedly had a 9.1:1 compression ratio, and with the three Stromberg dual-choke carburetors, delivered slightly in excess of 220 brake horsepower, parallel that of three of the four Type 145 cars (48772, 48773, and 48775). Only the more highly tuned 48771 had a recorded 244.8 BHP.

The Type 175S had just two factory options: Rudge wire-spoked wheels; and three Solex 40AiP down-draft carburetors. The coachbuilders addressed everything else a customer desired and specified.

The new grille, designed in-house by industrial designer Philippe Charbonneaux, was a corporate effort to present a modern, recognizably distinctive, Delahaye "face" after the war. Delahaye required its coachbuilders to use the new frontal aspect, although Joseph Figoni, Jacques Saoutchik, and Henri Chapron were given some artistic licence, subject to managing director Charles Weiffenbach's approval.

The new 4.5-litre engine carried the "183" casting-code, and were made in two visually distinct forms. The initial engines were stamped: Type 1AL-183, as found in all six pre-production units known about by 1946; and, the two Type 175S racing-engines that Delahaye loaned to Charles Pozzi and his Ecurie Lutetia co-owning team-mate, Eugene Chabaud. Three Type 175S racing-engined competition coupes were built for Jean Trevou (815042, 815050 and 815051).

Most production motors were stamped Type 2AL-183 (Auto-historians Andre Vaucourt, and jean-Paul Tissot). These came out of the same, but revised, casting-mold number "183". Modifications had been made for production efficiency, cost effectiveness, and alleged internal reinforcement made to the crankcase. The latter allegation has not been substantiated, and may an assumption. Cost effectiveness was the more probable rationale, especially since a number of examples of the "early-series" Type 1AL-183 engines are found throughout production run, from beginning to end.

The only transmission offered was the recently invented, semi-automatic, electrically shifted, solenoid-actuated, four-speed, epicyclic gearbox made by MAAG/Cotal. The shift lever protruding from the transmission operated forward and reverse only. These cars could be driven in either direction, with the same four gear-ratios. Attempting to go as fast backward, as forward, was only for the brave, or fool-hardy, as demonstrated in period by race-team owner Rob Walker, in his grand-prix Delage, to his chagrin.|'Autocar' magazine article}}

History

After having spent much of the Second World War building railroad rolling stock parts (for freight-train cars) for the German occupiers, Delahaye was included in deputy director General Paul-Marie Pons' 1945 plan Pons for French industry and engineering. His Plan Pons was a five-year program for the reconstruction of French industry, and a source for needed incoming capital for French companies, and the government's vastly depleted coffers. The plan allotted Delahaye the position of building covetable sports and luxury cars for the export market. Over 80 percent of the company's automobile chassis were exported to France's colonies, including those in Africa and Asia. The objective was to generate foreign currency for France's struggling postwar economy. The outdated prewar Types 134, 135, and 148L were revived, but Delahaye still needed a "halo car" like the discontinued, nearly still-born, Type 165. In consideration of the inordinate expense of continuing the limited production of the excessively complicated and expensive V-12, with its exotic alloys, as was used in the Type 145 sports-racers, the solitary Type 155 monoposto (all five racecars were made exclusively for Lucy O'Reilly Schell for her team Écurie Bleue), as well as in the four luxurious and impressive Type 165 grand-touring cars, V12 production ended in 1938, with just twelve sets of engine parts having been made. The excessively complex V12 had three camshafts in the block; four overhead rocker-shafts; twenty-four pushrods, 24 cam followers, 24 rocker-arms; 48 sets of valve-springs; three Stromberg carburetors (in the Types 145 and 155, but a single one for the detuned Type 165); two mechanical fuel-pumps; dual Bosch magneto ignition; and, 24 sparkplugs. The six-cylinder, overhead valve engines had fewer than half the arts, and dramatically less reciprocating mass.

The unreliable V-12 was replaced by a new, much less complex, inline, overhead-valve, six-cylinder engine of the same 4.5-liter displacement displacement. The new Type 175 debuted as a glitzy show-chassis with partial front coachwork, contributed by prominent coachbuilders Letourneur et Marchand, to demonstrate Delahaye's new postwar "face". It was one of very few totally new machines to debut at the first postwar Paris Auto Salon of October 1946. It garnered considerable attention, particularly from the coachbuilders, and was Delahaye's first model produced exclusively in left-hand drive.

The chassis however, was not yet fully developed by October 1946. Nor was it adequately tested before being put into production in late November 1947. Problems were very soon encountered with the Dubonnet front suspension, and sheared rear half-shafts, due to the hefty postwar enveloping-style bodies with hardwood body-frames under them, contributing to massively excessive weight for the chassis' prewar engineering. The same unchanged Show-chassis reappeared on Delahaye's stand in 1947, again in 1948, and finally in 1949, with progressively more but still limited front coachwork. There was nothing aft of the instrument panel. Production did not truly begin until early 1948. Some have said, with reasoned conviction, that this chassis-series was never fully developed. The extended delay into early 1948, instead of an early 1946 start-up, was due to Jean Francois' unanticipated death in April 1944, from a terminally diagnosed chest disorder (likely tuberculosis or lung-cancer). There was nobody qualified at Delahaye to take his place. However, as most of the French grandes marques no longer existed after the war, the coachbuilders descended upon the Type 175S, to prove their art.

Delahaye 178 Drophead Coupé (1949), once owned by Elton John.

1947 Delahaye 175S competition version

The company's Production Build Number list verified that 51 Type 175 chassis were built (815001 to 815051 inclusive). That most probably included the Paris Type 175S Show-chassis, that was believed to have ben cycled back into production, after the October 1949 autoshow. It likely went into the tail-end of Type 175S production. Nobody knows with certainty, and the show-chassis never appeared again, in recognizable form, in whole or in part. with no differentiation explaining which of these were Type 175 or optional 175S chassis. While not a grand success in the marketplace, a Type 175S won the 1951 Monte Carlo Rally, the same car (815042) finished twelfth in the Carrera Panamericana, while a second Motto-bodied 175S coupe (815051) was disqualified on a technicality.(DELAHAYE Sport et Prestige by Francois Jolly) The optional 175S came with three carburettors and like the 175, had a short 2.95-metre wheelbase; two longer wheelbased versions, Types 178 and 180, with single carburetors and 140 HP were also built: The Production Build List confirms there were 38 of the 3.15-metre wheelbase Type 178 chassis built; and, 18 of the 3.35-meter wheelbase Type 180 chassis and 180 (333.5 cm) were produced, mainly for heads of state, dignitaries, and the like. Two Henri Chapron-bodied, fully armoured Type 180 limousines were built for the leaders of the French Communist Party in 1948. A prototype "Delage D180" was also developed on this basis, but never entered production, as Delahaye focused its Delage production on the D6-70 model. Production of three-chassis series, including the prototype, and the show-chassis, was 107 total units. (substantiated by Club Delahaye president Jean-Paul Tissot, from archived company records)

Diana Dors' flamboyant 175S Roadster

1948 Delahaye 180 (long wheelbase)

The Type 1AL-183 and Type 2AL-183 engines, when equipped with a single carburetor, produced 140 horsepower (100 kW), allowing a top speed of 130 km/h (type 180), 140 km/h (type 178) and 145 km/h (type 175). The triple-carbureted 175S raised this to about 160 km/h (99 mph), although naturally these figures were subject to variation depending on which sort of body was fitted, and which coachbuilder made it. Coachbuilder Jacques Saoutchik seemed oblivious of weight, and employed flamboyant, heavily chromed-brass embellishments, on his extended, enclosed-fendered bodies. Saoutchik was an artist, much more so than an engineer. Every engineer is taught that "weight is the enemy" and Saoutchik could have cared less.

The rear-wheel drive Type 175, 178 and 180 chassis is considerably more sophisticated than its Type 135 predecessor, the front suspension being independent with pivoting horizontal cylinders that contained a powerful coil-spring and hydraulic shock absorber in an oil-bath Dubonnet. The rear was by de Dion, with semi-elliptical springs. Brakes were hydraulic type made by Lockheed. The brake-drums were of deeply finned cast-iron, actuated by dual master cylinders with a balance-bar.

The custom bodies of these cars were often much too heavy for what the chassis had originally been engineered for by Jean Francois, in 139, leading to collapsing Dubonnet suspension, and sheared differential half-shafts. In dry conditions, these were fast cars, but Wet-weather handling was unpredictable. A shortage of time and money for development was most probably the cause of the 175's failure. Delahaye's reputation for solidity took a serious hit in consequence. The real culprit, however was the grossly inferior quality, in the early postwar era, of crucially essential high-tensile-strength steel. The engineer's specified grade was completely consumed by the war, and what little could be gotten afterward came through the French government; and, it had not prioritized luxury car-makers. Due to buyer resistance, France's exorbitant luxury tax on non-essentials, and the ever diminishing sales volume from consumer reluctance, massive unemployment, exponentially increasing inflation, and the repeatedly devalued franc, the Types 175, 178 and 180 ceased production in 1951. Although Delahaye managed to introduce the seemingly more modern Type 235 in 1951, this was just an updated variation of the Type 135, equipped with three Solex carburetors, wire wheels, and hydraulic brakes. It was much too little, arriving far too late, to make a difference, despite being an excellent automobile. The company did not survive much longer. Its doors were permanently closed and locked on December 31, 1954. Sixty years of car production had come to an ignominious end in defeat. Delahaye had amalgamated with, but was actually absorbed, by arch-competitor Hotchkiss in 1953. Both Delahaye and Hotchkiss succumbed to the reality of changing global circumstances, causing their absorption by the giant Brandt organization, for their assets to be converted into making industrial and commercial items, including household appliances. The Delahaye automobile, and its captured Delage marque, were relegated to history. Delahaye and Delage combined production dropped from 511 in 1949, to 41 in 1952; 36 in 1953; and 7 in 1954.

Bibliography

• Hull, Peter. Delahaye: Famous on Road and Race Track, in Ward, Ian. World of Automobiles, Volume 5, pp. 521–524. London: Orbis, 1974.