1937 Delahaye 135MS Figoni et Falaschi Roadster

This car was Delahaye’s 1937 Paris show car, resplendent in the latest flowing, aerodynamic aluminum bodywork from Paris’s Figoni et Falaschi bodyworks, draped over a short-wheelbase competition chassis. The original design included such innovations as scissors-jacks under the running boards to assist with tire changing, an ultra-light tubular seat frame, a “disappearing top” (meaning it was concealed beneath a rigid tonneau cover), and a windshield that could be retracted into the bodywork. The show car’s styling was somewhat different, lacking a front bumper, and employing a single central headlamp with horns where the driving lights now reside. One of the early owners updated the car to this more conventional appearance, and the white paint job was applied in the 1960s.