From 1845 to 1894 the Émile Delahaye company produced railway carriages, machines and stationary engines. After this period the company started manufacturing automobiles. The first one appeared in 1895. It had a rear-engine with approx. 6 kW (8 HP) which transferred the torque to the rear wheels by means of a belt-drive and chains.

The car built one year later (above picture), looked a little less like a carriage. Like almost all the manufacturers of the founder years, Delahaye also took part in motor races, indeed with only moderate success. Nevertheless, the company flourished. From 1898 onwards they moved into new premises in Paris where they also produced trucks, buses and vehicles for the fire department. Only in the 1930s would they again take part in racing, then however, very successfully.

From 1902, Delahaye turned the company over to Charles Weiffenbach, who had been the chief constructor for the last four years. They then stopped their racing activities but were still successful. The first attempts at merging with other companies had already taken place. The simultaneous manufacturing of heavier vehicles also brought the installation of higher performance engines into the motor cars.

It is said that Weiffenbach was responsible for the introduction of a more precise production. He stood more for the conservative type of vehicle construction, although in 1903, he had already introduced engines with removable cylinder heads. In general, the Delahaye vehicles were said to have been robust and long-lasting.

At that time in France, The fabrication of motor cars was booming. As far as the production figures were concerned, and even before the turn of the century, they had left England and even Germany behind them. They were then producing more vehicles than the rest of Europe put together. Right at the top of the developing however, Peugeot would overtake Renault.

After the first world war, during which Delahaye increased it's truck production, Citroën, another big name, came into the development. Weiffenbach, together with the others, tried in vain, to assert himself against the two, through the founding of the Groupe Français de l'Automobil, the setting of standards and the reduction of production costs. The only interesting construction which remains in memory, is the particularly narrow V from 1911.

Delahaye had its heyday under the direction of Monsieur Charles, after the big recession of 1930/31. In 1935, the 135 M, with it's fascinating bodywork, mostly done by Henry Chapron, came onto the market. It appeared in various versions including the racing variation, the Course (see above picture). Until then, the truck-business had been carrying the company, now they also had sellable products on the motor car market.

This was the great era of the large, French luxury cars, whose demise was marked by the beginning of the second world war, for Delahaye, this included a twelve cylinder, which showed them to definitely be part of the luxury car world. In 1935, they bought the Delage company and with it, their more sports-orientated customers.

The start-up was probably the world record in 1934, of 175 km/h over 48 hours, this was accompanied by numerous good placings in international races and rallies. In 1937 they won against Bugatti in the French Million Franc race, in 1938 they even won the 24 hours at Le Mans.

The rest of the sad story can be told quickly. During the war and out of necessity, they reverted solely to truck production. After that, they couldn't latch on to the former successful results. They did still have a few more tolerable racing results with the pre-war models, indeed, when they attempted to extend their range in the direction of the upper-class cars, it proved to be the wrong strategy. In 1954 they were taken over by the Hotchkiss company and in 1957, completely dissolved. 08/14