1947 DELAHAYE 135 MS Cabriolet "Vedette"... - Lot 18 - Osenat

Lot 18
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Estimation :
350000 - 400000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 408 000EUR
1947 DELAHAYE 135 MS Cabriolet "Vedette"... - Lot 18 - Osenat
1947 DELAHAYE 135 MS Cabriolet "Vedette" Chapron Serial number: 800486 French registration Two-seater convertible by H. Chapron - Car shown at the 1947 Paris Motor Show - Only 4 survivors - The most accomplished of Henri Chapron's creations - The only one with recessed handles - One of two with rear spats. - Restoration in progress at the Touraine workshops - Sold in its current state After the war, the 135 was still the raison d'être of Delahaye. Although the war interrupted production of the "normal" 135, the Delahaye 135M soon resumed production, still bodied by the same French masters. Henri Chapon, who had already bodied the 135 before the war, launched a new design for the first post-war salon, which was to become his new spearhead: the Vedette. This is undoubtedly one of the most envied and accomplished models by coachbuilder Henri Chapron, the undisputed master and repository of Grand Classicisme Français. As Marc-Antoine COLIN points out in his book on "Delahaye 135", the Vedette has "impeccably balanced lines that happily blend pre-war style with reasonably integrated volumes". What distinguishes the "Vedette" model? the "seagull" wings, the hidden door hinges, the retractable soft top and the two front bench seats. In the course of our research, we found only four surviving examples of the Vedette model, all in the USA in major collections (Sam Mann, Peter Mullin, Jim Hull and Arturo Keller). The example we are offering for sale is the 1947 Paris Salon car. In fact, its Chapron build sheet indicates delivery for the Paris Salon. Archival photos of the Salon show a star cabriolet on display at the Delahaye stand, in a two-tone hue with a light top and dark moldings and fender cheeks. Only chassis 800 486 was given a matching color scheme. What's more, the chassis' date of entry into the Chapron body shop, June 5, 1947, coincides well with a delivery for the show. At the show, it was acquired by the Dandelot couple. We have been able to recover correspondence between the Dandelot family and the Delahaye and Chapron factories, which details the entire purchase process after the car was exhibited at the 1947 Salon, from obtaining the purchase license to the final personalization of the car. Chassis 800486 was delivered on January 24, 1948 and registered 7088 DU 5. The Dandelot couple kept the car for almost 5 years, after which it was registered in December 1952 in the Alpes Maritimes in the name of the Moustiez company, who kept it for a few months before selling it to another enthusiast. The car then returned to Paris, where it obtained its current registration number. It had three successive owners in the capital before being acquired on April 24, 1962 by Mr Sabrié, who kept the car until 2018. Since then, a high-quality restoration has been undertaken in the Touraine workshops. For more information, please consult our Ebook on pages 134 ff. 1947 DELAHAYE 135 MS Cabriolet "Vedette" Chapron Serial number: 800486 French registration Two-seater convertible by H. Chapron - Car shown at the 1947 Paris Motor Show - Only 4 survivors - The most accomplished of Henri Chapron's creations - The only one with recessed handles - One of two with rear spats. - Restoration in progress the Touraine workshops - Solds in its current state After the war, the 135 was still the raison d'être of Delahaye. Although the war interrupted production of the "normal" 135, the Delahaye 135M soon resumed production, still bodied by the same French masters. Henri Chapon, who had already bodied the 135 before the war, launched a new design for the first post-war salon, which was to become his new spearhead: the Vedette. This is undoubtedly one of the most envied and accomplished models by coachbuilder Henri Chapron, the undisputed master and repository of Grand Classicisme Français. In the course of our research, we found only four surviving examples of the Vedette model, all in the USA in major collections (Sam Mann, Peter Mullin, Jim Hull and Arturo Keller). The example we are offering for sale is the 1947 Paris Salon car. In fact, its Chapron build sheet indicates delivery for the Paris Salon. At the show, it was acquired by the Dandelot couple. We have been able to recover correspondence between the Dandelot family and the Delahaye and Chapron factories, which details the entire purchase process after the car was exhibited at the 1947 Salon. Since then, a high-quality restoration has been undertaken in the Toura
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