Delage - II

Regarding the Delage pictured on p.260 of your March issue: This is the 1937 prototype constructed by Jean Henri-Labourdette (with the collaboration of the aerodynamic specialist, engineer Audrand) on a Talbot competition chassis.

The car did not have a glass top as your caption said but, rather, it employed Labourdette’s patented “Vutotal” system which dispensed with the normal windshield post structure. Thus it provided “wraparound” vision through uninterrupted windshield and windows of thick tempered glass bolted to the cowl and top.

This car was displayed at a subsequent World’s Fair in New York City and was, in my opinion, the final masterpiece from the “house of Labourdette”.

For further reference see Labourdette’s book Un Siècle de Carrosserie Francoise, 1972, and the authentic and tragic words of Ovidio Falaschi published in Automobile Quarterly, Vol. XX , No. I.

More power to Motor Sport!

Frederick A. Usher

Santa Barbara, Calif.