Have you ever been in the middle of a restoration project and wondered how many other people are working on the same make and model vehicle, making the same progress, and buying the same aftermarket reproduction parts as you are? Have you ever thought of how unusual it would be to tackle a custom-designed car that there was almost a guarantee that nobody else in the world was doing exactly the same thing? If you like the thought of the latter and have an amazing set of automotive skills, plus happen to have an extra $185,000 lying around, this 1939 Delahaye 135M Cabriolet may be worthy of your consideration. It’s located at The Beverly Hills Car Club in East Los Angeles, California, and can be found for sale here on eBay. Many thanks go out to Barn Finds reader Ian Grant for the tip on this one.
The story goes that this 1939 Delahaye 135M Cabriolet is one of only two examples of this particular model that were ever made, and the seller says that the other one has been lost to time and space, which I’m guessing means it’s unaccounted for. So there’s a really good chance you’ll have the only known variety of this one on the planet! A bit of the automaker’s history is that the manufacturer, Delahaye, was founded by pioneering French automaker Emile Delahaye in 1894. Emile retired from the company 7 years later, but his partners went on to expanded the company’s offerings to trucks, buses, and even fire trucks.
In 1932, the company brought in an engineer named Jean Francois, who designed the Delahaye 135. The customers choosing to have their car bodies customized by a coachbuilder would sit down with them and a sketch of the car you wanted would be made, and once the details were on paper they would build the car to your liking. This particular vehicle’s bodywork was designed by coachbuilder Letourneur et Marchand, and the seller claims that they do know that Marchand’s bodywork design for this and its missing sister car was ordered by the manufacturer itself. The car was delivered to its owner in 1939, but beyond that nothing is known of the car’s history until 1960 when it was purchased by a buyer in Connecticut, who just put the Delahaye into storage.
Unfortunately, the passing of time has not been a friend to this 135M, and just about everything on the car is going to need attention if the next owner attempts a restoration. Although a lot of the car is still there and intact, other parts are missing, including quite a bit of the interior. Things like the convertible top material can probably be re-created without too many headaches, but I wouldn’t know where to start on that dash.
After all those years of sitting, the engine was understandably stuck, but the cylinders were sprayed with penetrating oil, the connecting rods loosened and given a gentle nudge, and they indeed began moving up and down. The crankshaft was still stuck, but after more work, it broke free and the rods were re-tightened. Every individual valve train part was removed, cleaned, and lubricated, then the engine was spun with its own starter but not actually started, although the seller thinks that most likely it would start with little effort. What are your thoughts on this 1939 Delahaye 135M Cabriolet?
If the BHCC won’t do the work without a customer pre-funding, then they’re getting out while a pre-work profit can be realized.
Every Delahaye I have seen restored are really quite beautiful. Styling is over the top but as the parts supply is nearly non-existent this will cost somebody a small fortune to get it right.
The “other one” sold for 330k euros a couple of years ago. This car would cost easily twice that to restore. Buy someone else’s folly, is what I always say.
I’d like your definition of small fortune. LOL!
Old Beach Guy; Not a definition, but your question reminded of the old Wall Street adage, “The best way to make a small fortune investing in the stock market is to start with a big fortune.” maybe this applies to car collecting as well? :-)
Very sexy looking car, but I suspect the purchase price will be a drop in the bucket compared to what the total restoration bill will ultimately be.
A whatdehey? Looks like a perfect 1st project for the amateur restorer,,( cough), you have got to be kidding. 1st, who would let a beautiful car like this, deteriorate to this condition, especially from California, and 2nd, I couldn’t imagine restoring a Pinto today, much less this. The mind however, reels at what celebrity might have owned this car new.
Howard!!! ♥️♥️♥️ lol. Talk about hitting the nail on the head.
Is this Jessica Rabbits car ? From the movie Roger Rabbit?
Back then all Toons drove Chevys, bought from Felix the Cat’s dealership.
To be clear, this is one of two 1939 Delahaye 135M Cabriolets bodied by Letourneur et Marchand. Others were bodied by Chapron and Tuscher, and perhaps others. That doesn’t affect its rarity much, though. I can’t imagine total 1939 135M Cabrio production got into double-digits.
1 of 2 and needs parts. Wonder how one can fabricate a dash for example without knowing exactly how it should be? Would like to see it in all its glory whenever it gets fully restored and on the lawn at Pebble Beach Concours de Elegance.
I’m sure RockAuto , Partsgeek or Napa have all the parts for this reasonably priced sitting on the shelves, if not, I’m sure you can get it on EBay!
Rock Auto has “All the Parts your car will Ever Need.”
Uh, no. Always better off dealing with knowledgeable local parts stores. You may have to shop around a little, but generally you can find a reliable person at Advance, Auto Zone, or O’Reilly’s.
The last time I went into a parts store, the guy at the counter asked what kind of car I had and when I said “MG” they said, “what’s that?”…
Excuse my ignorance, but what is a Mano´s goon? — and why wqas he ¨sniffing¨around your collection? Thanx for the enlightenment, GF
For $185,000 you’d think they would at least inflate the tires.
Beverly Hills Car Club is not in Beverly Hills and is not a car club-
I’ve never heard one good thing about the BHCC.
Seriously? I’m going down to East LA next week and was thinking of stopping in to BHCC. Do they really have a bad reputation? Some of their prices look crazy but haven’t seen any of their cars in person.
Amazing car! Haig L. Haleblian- Sounds pretty much like a personal attack to me.
Fabulous example. Bodywork looks like the frame has not rotted or shifted. There’s a good argument for not restoring, but preserving as is.
If you have the money and a clear objective for the car, the buy-in is not ridiculous. Why would unique be cheap?
You could always ratrod it with a ls and 6 speed
I think Jay Leno needs this.🤗
I knew Delahayes were expensive, but $185,000 for a basket case? Holy Moly!
The only place that I think of that would be interested in this, and could restore it properly, would be the Mullin Automotive Museum. I’m sure they are already very knowledgeable about this car and whether or not that asking price is anywhere in the ballpark.
fantastic even in THIS shape. Does not matter “1 of 2” – lookin to it’s future restoration (plenty pic exsist on this one).
Google the co name to see what I call ‘classics’ 1930s thru it’s demise (cords, stuz, etc also all in this same ‘classis’ status) if wanting some eye candy~
Seriously? I’m going down to East LA next week and was thinking of stopping in to BHCC. Do they really have a bad reputation? Some of their prices look crazy but haven’t seen any of their cars in person.
BHCC tend to price cars over what the market guidelines and values should be given condition and rarity. They probably paid less than 100K for the car. They try to make all the money they need to earn from each car they sell. I think before I knew who they were I sent in an offer on a car instead of trying to meet me half way to reasonable they came down a 100 bucks. I believe they have a lot of stuff on consignment. They put crazy prices on stuff because some people actually will pay what they are asking. Then you have offers and they have to clear it with the actual owners who have a reserve price if you will which they encourage to set high. So pretty much assume your going to pay full asking price if you really want what they have to sell. I just can’t deal with unreasonable people.
Buy it, sink another half a mil into it and you would have something that could be shown at Pebble Beach.
Knew about this car when it was rotting away in Ct. Was left to a guy who thought he had hit the Lotto. Sold it for 70k last year to the west coast. Someone is looking for a stooge !!
Probably worth restoring, given its desirability and rarity. Jay Leno has one, but it’s a completely different body. It’s odd that it’s a Cotal preselector gearbox, but you can see a shift lever in the interior pics. Maybe someone got tired of fixing the preselector and converted it to a conventional gearbox?
The preselector looks like the mechanism used on Hudson-Essex cars in the 1930’s. Were the same vacuum mechanics used or was it the same manufacturer? We never did get ours to work correctly, and subsequently changed the car to the wet clutch design. It was a beautiful design, but complicated in operation.
If you are Jay Leno, you might buy this…
185’000¨$ for nothing. Thats enough. I suppose in perfect condition
its worth about 300’000$ O.b.o or ask-prices for bins like this go
around 70k Well, it would look good for shure in prime condition.
Remove the lack of manuals and spares from its uniqueness
because that is what gives the price. 2 cars built are more like
prototypes than like any small series. Which are mostly 15 or more
identical cars. Like the Ferrari 500 superfast which was made in
20 examples.