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 By
the early '30s the French motor industry was in crisis and with Delahaye's
private cars being technically way behind the competition, Weiffenbach
realised that dramatic changes had to be made if the company was to survive.
Several of his rivals were into sports cars and Weiffenbach decided to
go the same way, a bold move for a managing director who was already 62
years old and for a company that had never constructed a car to go faster
than 110kmph.
A young designer named Jean Francois had joined the firm at this time
and was assigned this task. Using a 3.5-litre overhead cam six-cylinder
engine called the Type 103 (introduced in 1932 for a 3-4 ton truck) he
proceeded to develop a sporting car of the grand routier type to rival
those being made by Bugatti, Delage and Talbot-Darracq. For its era the
engine was an advanced design for a commercial vehicle, with a formidable
65mm crankshaft with internal lubrication and the company used it in applications
- such as fire engines and military vehicles - both of which necessitated
better than average performance. Putting it into a car was an excellent
move and though not as smooth as some of its more sophisticated competitors,
it was very powerful.
The new Delahaye was called the Type 135 and was introduced at the Paris
Motor Show in 1934. The 90-horsepower of the standard engine was extended
to 155 for competition use and the car soon gained a good reputation among
enthusiastic drivers (see side bar). The chassis of the 135 contributed
a great deal to this success. Delahaye acquired a license for the Talbot
independent front suspension and mounted it on a low-slung and strong
chassis with box-section side members, placing it among the best of the
day. Soon competition success followed and served to enhance the company's
reputation.
Realising the potential of the new model, the company went on to produce
more powerful versions in the form of the 135 Sport, the 135M and the
135MS. Each used the basic 103 engine, but capacity was increased from
3227cc of the original to a maximum of 3557cc in the M and MS. In its
final MS form the engine produced 135 horsepower, but that could greatly
be increased for racing and rallying. |
February
2003