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Topic starter
04/01/2025 12:40 pm
Picture a bucolic small French village in 1951. Now the local mayor might be driving this:
but the locals mode of transportation is more like this:
Imagine the local reaction when you drive through the village in this '38 Delahaye 165 Cabriolet that you recently got out of mothballs after hiding it from the Germans during WWll. The brilliant red and flashy chrome scream "Figoni et Falaschi" who designed and built this Art Moderne aerodynamic machine on the V12 powered type 145 race car. For these simple villagers still struggling in France's dismal post war economy, this car may seem like it came from another planet! This car has a history of many owners that even included the son of Arthur Conan Doyle of "Sherlock Holmes" fame and now resides in the Robert M Lee collection.
Model by Automodello.
Geno and Tony Perrone reacted
04/01/2025 1:53 pm
Cool models Rich, especially the donkey, cart and driver. Really life like.😉😊😎
Topic starter
04/01/2025 2:59 pm
@geno LOL It's actually a farmer in northern Bulgaria in the Danube Valley. If you run into him, say "Hi" for me.
04/01/2025 4:57 pm
Rich, this Delahaye is the posterchild for French Art Deco automotive design on steroids. This masterpiece made its way to the 1939 New York World's Fair in the throws of World War II. French pride and elegant styling demanded nothing less. Unfortunately Emile Delahaye was unable to return the automobile back to France at the close of the '39 World's Fair as war raged on overseas. The car was stranded for 7 years in US Customs. In 1947 the car was sold and has had several owners. This automobile was recently in the Mullin Museum in Oxnard, CA. which closed in February 2024. Robert M Lee must have been the lucky bidder to own this iconic machine.
05/01/2025 1:49 am
this really is at the top of my favorite tree, remarkable car, history, model and pics, thanks Rich.
Rich, I was thinking maybe Nigel had fallen on hard times?
Rich Sufficool reacted