Делаж: Француздық автомобиль тарихы және жаңа өркендеуі

1905 1953 French automotive brand manufacturer

Delage is a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge in Levallois Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953. On 7 November 2019, the association "Les Amis de Delage" created in 1956 and owner of the Delage brand, announced the re founding of the company Delage Automobiles with the Delage D12.

The company was founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge, who borrowed Fr 35,000, giving up a salary of F 600 a month to do so. Its first location was on the Rue Cormeilles in Levallois Perret. The company at first had just two lathes and three employees, one of them Peugeot's former chief designer. was wrecked in the rain on the fifth; nevertheless, Ménard, the other works driver, came second in the event, behind a Sizaire Naudin. (built by Nemorin Causan) in the hands of Delage dealer Albert Guyot. Guyot won at an average , not needing to stop for fuel. All three Delages finished this time, Thomas the quickest of the two cylinder cars, while the team also took home the regularity prize. These good results contributed to total sales exceeding 300 cars for the year. The CO plans had been drawn up during the conflict; this was the first passenger car with front brakes. It was joined by the DO with a 3 liter four. The 1920s were really the first "Golden Age" of Delage. The most famous were the DE and DI: 4 cylinders of about 2 liters and 11 hp. Delage also attempted to compete with Hispano Suiza, with the GL of 30 hp and 5954 cc, with some success. After that came a new generation of six cylinder cars, like the MD (3174 cc) and DR (2516 cc), the best selling vehicle in the history of the brand, designed by engineer Gaultier. Both the CO and DO were replaced in 1922. A 1925 car had a six, again using the GL block, with four valves per cylinder and twin overhead cams. Driven by Divo, it broke the Mont Ventoux course record in its debut. The DIS became the Series 6 in 1927, switching to coil ignition and water pump. with Duray coming in fifth in the third Delage. The car, driven by Thomas, fell out of the French Grand Prix in 1923, but went on to perform well for the bulk of the 1923 and 1924 season. making it capable of It was at this time that he also entered into negotiations with Peugeot about using their dealership and service network. Watney stayed in France, at his villa in Beaulieu, until the end of 1942 after the Germans had completed their occupation, but already in December 1940 the presidency of the SAFAD business had passed directly into the control of Delahaye. The second engine type, the Delage 12 GV, remains a mystery, with very little information available.

A large prototype Delage D 180 limousine appeared at the 1946 Paris Motor Show, but there were evidently no further developments on this project, and by the next year the big prototype had quietly disappeared. At the 1947 Paris Motor Show only a single model was exhibited as the business focused on its six cylinder 3 litre Delage D6 Louis Delâge himself, who had lived in poverty and quasi monastic isolation since bankruptcy in 1935 had enforced the transfer of his company to Delahaye, Tapie becomes president of Delage Automobiles. The new Delage planned for this project is called the Delage D12. It is a hybrid street legal Hypercar powered by a normally aspirated V12 engine of , coupled to an electric motor of , for a cumulative power of It will be produced in France like all Delages. Delage Automobiles has joined forces with racing driver Jacques Villeneuve as the development driver for the future production model. The car was presented at private events in Los Angeles and Orange County in California in December 2019, then in Monaco in September 2020, Geneva in November 2020 and Dubai in December 2020. Voted "most beautiful car in the world" (best Design) by the jury of the Automobile Awards 2020/2021, only 30 units of the Delage D12 will be produced and sold at a price tag of 2 million Euros per car.

During their years of independence, Delage made almost 40,000 cars at their workshops in Levallois and Courbevoie. After Delage production was subsumed into the Delahaye operation, approximately another 2,000 Delage badged cars were manufactured between 1935 and 1940. With the post war resumption of passenger car production, 330 Delage cars appear to have been produced by Delahaye between 1946 and 1953.