Delahaye

France, 1894 – 1954

(1) Emile Delahaye, Tours, Paris, 1894 – 1898

(2) L. Desmarais et Morane, Tours, Paris, 1899 – 1906

(3) Automobiles Delahaye, Paris, 1906 – 1954

The Delahaye firm was established in 1845 and initially produced brick-making machinery, later launching out into stationary engines. The first Delahaye cars were very much on Benz lines with slow-running, rear-mounted horizontal engines and belt transmission. Radiators and frames were tubular; Archdeacon and Delahaye himself took 4th and 6th places respectively in the Paris-Marseilles-Paris Race of 1896, though the Delahaye firm took little interest in competition and their last appearance was in the Paris-Vienna (1902). By contrast, Delahaye were very interested in commercial vehicles, which made their debut in 1898 and bulked larger and larger in later years. In 1898 a 1.4-litre single and twins of 4½hp and 6hp were being made, the Paris Delahaye works were opened, and Charles Weiffenbach joined the Delahaye firm as Chief Engineer, a post he was to retain until after World War 2. By 1899, 600 Delahaye cars had been delivered, and production was running at 20 Delahaye’s a month. Emile Delahaye himself retired in 1901, when wheel steering was standardized, though the old belt-driven designs were still catalogued as late as 1904, and there was even a short-lived 1902 Delahaye model with front vertical engine and belt drive. More advanced was Delahaye Type 10B, a 2.2-litre 4-cylinder, still with aiv, but with Panhard styling, final drive by side chains, and detachable cylinder heads; this was followed by a bigger 4.4-litre Delahaye car said to develop 28bhp.

In 1904 detachable heads were found on both the 2.7-litre Delahaye Type 15B twin at £420, and on a big 4.9-litre 4-cylinder Delahaye car which also had a water-cooled exhaust system. T-head engines, gate change, and ht magneto ignition made their appearance in 1905, when the range included two twins and three 4-cylinder cars, the largest an 8-litre. The King of Spain bought one of these big Delahaye cars, with two hand and two foot brakes, and a foot-operated decompressor, in 1906. In 1907 licence-production of the Delahaye make was undertaken in Germany by Presto, transverse rear suspension was featured, and the small 2-cylinder model acquired shaft drive. In the usual French tradition L-head Monobloc engines appeared in 1908 on the 1.9-litre 12/16hp (Delahaye Type 32), but the chain-driven cars were listed as late as 1911. An even smaller 1.2-litre 4-cylinder Delahaye sold for £240 in 1909, and the new monobloc engines were used by White in America as the basis for their first petrol car, the 20/30. 1911 brought an interesting departure in the shape of the 3.2-litre Delahaye Type 44, a blockcast V6 with 4-speed gearbox. It sold for £470 in England, and this Delahaye was still being made in 1914. A 4-cylinder car was used for tests with the Parry Thomas electric transmission. Apart from such ingenious features as pressure lubcrication to the spring shackles, the other 1914 Delahaye models were conventional monobloc 4-cylinder machines, available with detachable wheels and electric lighting. They came in 1.6-litre, 2.3-litre, 2.6-litre, 3-litre, 4-litre and 5.7-litre sizes, all but the smallest with 4-speed gearboxes.

After World War 1 the Delahaye company settled down to 14 years of stodgy, dependable, and uninteresting cars, now with full electrical equipment and V-radiators, though at first the foot-operated transmission brake was retained. 4-cylinder Delahaye models were sold with 2.6-litre and 3-litre sv engines, but there was also a 4.1-litre six (Delahaye Type 82), with the unusual combination of detachable head and valve caps, which acquired front wheel brakes in 1921. All other Delahaye models were so equipped by 1925, but in the meanwhile the firm was ringing the changes on a complicated and dull range which included a 1.8-litre in sv and ohv versions, and two bigger inlet over exhaust fours, the 2.4-litre Delahaye 15/35hp and the 2.9-litre Delahaye 18/40hp. 4-speed gearboxes, pump cooling, and wooden wheels were regular features. In 1927 Delahaye formed a consortium with Chenard-Walcker, Donnet and (for a short while only) Unic, which was supposed to rationalize production, and did to the extent that it was hard to distinguish the 6-cylinder Delahaye for sale from its Chenard-Walcker counterpart, though the former had full overhead valves and the latter inlet over exhaust. These sixes appeared in 1928, the Delahaye cars coming in 2.5-litre and 2.9-litre sixes, with magneto ignition up to 1929, and coil thereafter. 1929 was also the last year for the V-radiatored Delahaye for sale, which gave way to an American-style ribbon-type. In 1930 there were also two 4-cylinder models, the smaller a straight-forward sv 1½-litre (Delahaye Type 109), which was still listed in 1932. A bigger 6-cylinder for sale (Delahaye Type 126) pointed the way to better things, and in 1934 independent front suspension was offered on the 2150cc Delahaye Super 12 4-cylinder and on the Delahaye 18CV Superlux, an ohv 6-cylinder which was also available with a Wilson gearbox.

In 1935 Delahaye bought the ailing Delage company, and in 1936 Delahaye were supplying 2.2-litre ohv 4-cylinder engines to Amilcar for installation in that firm’s Pégase model. More important, they had come out with two exciting 6-cylinder sports Delahaye models, both with ohv push-rod engines, independent front suspension, Bendix brakes, and synchromesh or Cotal gearboxes; the 3.2-litre Delahaye Coupe des Alpes had 110bhp, and the 3.5-litre Delahaye Type 135 120bhp. Both were capable of over 100mph in standard form, and the Delahaye 135s proceeded to take 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th places in the 1936 French Sports Car Grand Prix, following this up by wins in 1937 and 1939 Monte Carlo Rallies, and at Le Mans in 1938. A Delahaye type 135 also won the controversial ‘Fastest Sports Car Race’ at Brooklands in 1939, where the opposition included a 2.9-litre Alfa Romeo. There was a long-chassis version of Type 135, the Delahaye Type 148, and in 1937 came the Jean Francois-designed Delahaye Type 145, a short stroke 4½-litre ohv V12 with Cotal gearbox and De Dion rar axle; its output was 238bhp, and the two-seater was capable of 165mph. Delahaye tried very hard with this car during the 1938 GP season, even beating Mercedes-Benz at Pau, as well as finishing 4th in the Mille Miglia – a remarkable double. The Delahaye was outclassed, however, and even more so in 1939, despite the introduction of a single-seater version. A very few ‘cooking’ V12s with conventional rear axles, hydraulic brakes, and exotic roadster coachwork were sold by Delahaye in 1939 at £1485; though the 135 continued to do well.

During World War 2 Delahaye joined Baron Petiet’s G.F.A. (Groupe Francaise Automobile) selling organization, these initials appearing on the radiator badges of all post-war Delahaye cars, though the group ceased production in 1952. Production of the 4-cylinder Delahaye 134 as well as the Delahaye 135 was resumed in 1946, though the former did not last long. Output of the sports cars was now 130bhp, and narrower, more ornate radiator grilles were used. In 1948 came the 4½-litre Delahaye Type 175 series with hydraulic brakes; output was quoted as 185bhp, but they were not a success and were dropped from the range in 1951. Penal taxation was in any case making life difficult for France’s quality-car makers, and combined Delahaye and Delage sales dropped from 483 in 1950 to only 77 in 1951. In which year Delahaye won the Monte Carlo Rally for the second and last time. It also marked the introduction of the Delahaye company’s last new designs – a Delahaye jeep-type 4x4 with all-round independent suspension, and an improved 3½-litre, the Delahaye Type 235 with aerodynamic bodywork, its output increased to 152bhp, and still with mechanical brakes. The marque was still exhibiting at the Salon in 1953, but the following year Delahaye merged with Hotchkiss, and under the new management only trucks were made. After 1956 these too only bore the name of Hotchkiss.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Hotchkiss

France, 1903 – 1955

(1) Hotchkiss et Cie, St. Denis, Seine, 1903 – 1936

(2) Automobiles Hotchkiss, St. Denis, Seine, 1936 – 1955

The American Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss set up his ordnance Horchkiss car factory at St. Denis in 1867; the Hotchkiss cars were the result of an arm slump. The work of Terrasse, these first Hotchkiss cars were T-headed fours with pair-cast cylinders, 5-ball-bearing crankshafts, low-tension magneto ignition, round honeycomb radiators, 4-speed gearboxes, and the famous Hotchkiss drive by live axle and open propeller shaft. Initially cylinder capacities of Hotchkiss cars were 4.6-litres and 7.4-litres, but the Hotchkiss car company’s first racers of 1904 were 17.8-litre monsters notable for their aiv and chain drive. Though their 1905 successors conformed once more to touring-car practice, they were even bigger Hotchkiss cars, with 18.815cc and an alleged 130bhp. Hotchkiss’s last racing season was 1906 with their Grand Prix Hotchkiss cars had 16.3-litre L-head units and quick-detachable wire wheels. Though these Hotchkiss cars were unsuccessful, Hotchkiss sold 167 cars that year, with gate change standardized, and a choice of five Hotchkiss car models: a short-lived 4.2-litre petrol brougham, fours of 18, 30 and 42hp, and their first six. The last-mentioned Hotckiss car was the large V-type that evolved into a 9½-litre machine and was still being offered in 1912 as a Hotckiss car. Chassis price was £1.000 and it was capable of 60mph.

The slump following the Agadir crisis led to the abandonment of ball-bearing crankshafts on Hotchkiss cars; at the same time there was a move towards smaller Hotchkiss cars with the 3.1-litre T-type, with side valves in an L-head and high-tension magneto ignition. Two years later came something even smaller and more modern, the 12/16hp Hotchkiss X-type with 2-bearing crankshaft and three forward speeds at £390. Soon monobloc engines spread up the range to the 3.7-litre Hotckiss AB of 1912. From 1911 there were some smaller L-head sixes, the 4.678cc Hotchkiss X6 and the 5½-litre Hotchkiss AC6; 1912 sales were a record 598 Hotchkiss cars. Electric lighting was available from 1913, and all the 1914 Hotchkiss car models – the 2.6-litre Hotchkiss AG, the 4-litre Hotchkiss AF, the 5.7-litre Hotchkiss AC, and the 6-cylinder Hotchkiss AC6 – had semi-elliptic suspension all round.

The wartime demand for Hotchkiss machine guns led to the establishment of a branch factory under the Englishman Harry Ainsworth, this subsequently making engines for W.R. Morris until it was absorbed by him in 1923. At home Hotchkiss sold off their surplus works capacity at Lyons and concentrated on a revised Hotchkiss car again, the AF with full electrics and a horseshoe-shaped radiator in place of the traditional round one. Its successor, the Hotchkiss AH of 1921, had cantilever rear springs and torque tube drive, and a year later came the Hotchkiss AL with ohv, and a detachable head; front-wheel brakes were added for 1923. There was also a prototype luxury Hotchkiss car at the 1921 Paris Salon; this Hotchkiss AK had a 6.6-litre 6-cylinder ohc engine, dual ignition, 4-speed unit gearbox, servo-assisted 4-wheel brakes, and a cruciform-braced frame, but it never went into production.

The return of Ainsworth to St. Denis in 1923, coincided with the construction of a new Hotchkiss car factory and a more realistic type of car, the 2.4-litre 12CV Hotchkiss AM, with 4-cylinder sv engine, 4-speed unit box, four-wheel brakes, wire hwwls, and Hotchkiss drive once more. Between 1924 and 1928 it was the Hotchkiss car company’s staple product, selling at the rate of over a thousand a year and offering a 70mph performance at a modest outlay. It persisted until 1932, acquiring ohv in 1926 and rod-operated brakes in 1928, and its engine was used in some Morris-Léon Bollées. Even better was the Hotchkiss AM80 of 1929, largely the work of Bertarione. This was a short-stroke (80x100mm), 7-bearing ohv 3-litre six that owed a good deal to the AM2, though early cars featured torque tube drive; it was to be the basis from which all subsequent Hotchkisses were evolved. A silent 3rd gearbox featured on 1931 Hotchkiss car models, Hotchkiss drive reappeared in 1932, and 1933 improvements included Bendix brakes, cruciform-braked frames, down-draught carburetors and mechanical fuel pumps. Hotchkiss AM80 engines were also fitted to Sizaire Frères and Tracta cars.

The 1933 Hotchkiss car range was expanded both up and down, with new Hotchkiss 12CV (2-litre) and 13CV (1.3-litre) fours for the economy market, and an 85mph fast tourer, the 100bhp 3½-litre Hotckiss AM80S, for the enthusiast. This Hotchkiss car was based on the car with which Vasselle won the 1932 Monte Carlo Rally. Hotchkiss cars repeated this success in 1933 and 1934: in the latter year the Hotchkiss cars collected two Glazier Cups in the Alpine Trial. There were further wins in the Monte Carlo in 1938 and 1939; on the latter occasion a Grand Sport Hotchkiss car tied with a 3½-litre Delahaye. Radiators were moved forward on the 1934 Hotchkiss cars, and the 3-litre gave way to a 2.650cc 15CV that was not a success and lasted only one season. The 1935 Hotchkiss cars had synchromesh and integral boots, and at the top of the 3½-litre 20CV range was the twin-carburettor Hotckiss Paris-Nice, a 115bhp sports car capable of 95mph. Hydraulic brakes appeared in 1936 on Hotchkiss cars (to be quietly dropped halfway through 1937). The sports 20CV engine was now giving 125-130bhp and when allied to a short 9ft 2in wheelbase resulted in the Hotchkiss Grand Sport, a true 100mph saloon.

By 1938 the horseshoe radiator on the Hotchkiss car was now a wire-mesh grille, but despite the exigencies of French rearmament programmes the Hotchkiss car company managed to deliver 2.751 Hotchkiss cars that year, made up of the two fours, the reinstated 3-litre Hotchkiss 680, and the 3½-litre Hotchkiss 686 in various forms, including seven-seater limousines with the single-carburettor 100bhp engine. Hotchkiss also came to the rescue of the ailing Amilcar concern, helping to make the Grégoire-inspired 1.185cc Compound, a small fwd saloon with unitary construction in Alpax; this was sold in England, though not in France, as a Hotchkiss car. A 1.3-litre ohv development, the Hotchkiss B67, was ready for production when France collapsed in the summer of 1940.

Hotchkiss never really recovered from World War 2, though Peugeot were briefly interested in the Hotchkiss car company and Hotchkiss 686 cars won the first two post-war Monte Carlo Rallies of 1949 and 1950. The Hotchkiss 12CV and Hotchkiss 20CV were back in production, unchanged, by 1946, but the first year’s output was a miserable 117 Hotchkiss cars. Hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension did not appear until 1949 on Hotchkiss cars (though Hotchkiss had experimented with the latter in 1937), and a Cotal electric gearbox became a factory option. The 1951 Hotchkiss car models were ‘facelifted’ with V-screens, recessed headlamps and auxiliary coil rear suspension, but in the meantime there had been an expensive mistake: the acquisition by Hotchkiss of the rights to the Grégoire flat-4. This ingenious device was a development of the 1938 Amilcar theme featuring all-round independent suspension and a 4-speed overdrive gearbox, as well as front wheel drive. Production Hotchkiss car models with 2.2-litre engines were said to achieve 95mph and 30mpg, but the teething troubles were endless, and Hotchkiss only managed to make 250 Hotchkiss cars in the end. There was a shutdown in 1952 and the price of recovery was a merger with Delahaye that led inevitably to concentration on commercial vehicles. The old Hotchkiss cars 13CV and 20CV received another facelift in time for the 1954 Paris Salon, but his was their swansong, though medium-powered trucks continued to be made until 1970, along with a version of the American Jeep built under licence.

GB, 1920

Hotchkiss et Cie, Coventry, Warwickshire

Hotchkiss of Coventry, a British offshoot of the famous French Hotchkiss car firm, was set up during World War 1 to make engines in Britain. Their units became best known as the motive power for Morris and BSA light cars, but before they were taken over by William Morris, Hotchkiss experimented with a small car of their own. The Hotchkiss car consisted of their 1.080cc air-cooled V-twin ohv engine installed with a 3-speed gearbox in a pre-war Morris Oxford chassis. It never went into production.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS, TRN

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com