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Delahaye 135 M Cabriolet "El Glaoui," Figoni et Falaschi, #800998, 1948

Register
Significance
Technology
Production
Aesthetics

Location:
Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance, 2011
St. Michaels Concours d'Elegance, 2012

Owner: Ed & Carroll Windfelder | Baltimore, Maryland

Prologue:

Image Source: Nikon D200 (10.2 MP)

Images 1 through 4 were shot at the 2012 St. Michaels Concours d'Elegance. Images 5 through 7 came from the 2011 Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance.

Special thanks to Mr. Ed Windfelder for contributing to this feature. And please note that we'll return later in 2024 with a wealth of updated images and detail.

We've actually photographed #800998 since 2006, just following its restoration, and have seen the car at virtually every east coast show dating back to the now-defunct York event, sometime before the car traveled cross-country to Pebble Beach. So you could say this Delahaye is a local celebrity. I also learned a lot while photographing this car, proved by virtue of the number of failed shots I accumulated. But St. Michaels changed the landscape and I began to think through a systematic approach. Out on the eastern shore, not only was the light lovely and clear, but this car sat up with a perfect quarter-turn of the front wheels. Concours fields rarely see any steering lock, though it provides the perfect attitude for still photography. And for the car to have been opened up, we had the opportunity to check inside and out in just a few minutes. Photographing live at shows requires a scattershot approach, going here and there to find the right perspective and fill in quiet details. So it's nice when the take-what-you-can-get approach yields quick and easy variety.

References:

Wikipedia, Mohammed Ben Aarafa: Source for the referenced photograph of El Gloaui and Ben Aarafa together in the original Delahaye of this type.
Wikipedia, Thami El Glaoui: Information on the patron whose namesake defines the Figoni et Falaschi body style.
Mail & Guardian: "Cashing in on Congo," Chris McGreal, February 13, 1998

We cannot use the name "El Glaoui" lightly. The style of Figoni et Falaschi body that led to a series of 18 examples originated in a commission for T'hami El Galoui Pasha of Marrakesh, a central figure in the story of France's influence in 20th century Morocco. T'hami eventually led a coup d'etat against Sultan Mohammed V, installing Mohammed Ben Aarafa in his place. It is in fact a photograph of Ben Aarafa and El Glaoui in which we see the Delahaye in question, as the two sit in close conversation together in the back seat. We therefore find a striking connection between French style as an export and European interests in northern Africa. In this case, a gem-like Delahaye rolling through Marrakesh represented French sympathies under political influence—a soft-power symbol.

Not to belabor the squeamish subject of politics, (and it is a strange thing to say), but the Delahaye 135 model survived in the post-War era exactly for this purpose. Technology having progressed and the world having moved on, classic era styling would have appealed to those looking to evoke a mythical sense of wealth, as if having been borne from Versailles. The photograph noted above should be dated sometime in the early to mid-1950s, though it seems two decades older. This is only to say that a 1948 Delahaye is obsolete, and forcefully so. Delahaye were not simply making do with what remained of pre-War parts; they put these same parts to the same use as before, and the French coachbuilders glorified them. This process greatly contrasts the Italian post-War trajectory, which led the industry in modern design thinking. So, whereas Chapron and Figoni et Falaschi kept up with classic era pretenses, Touring and Pinin Farina innovated.

While El Glaoui Pasha did not own this particular car, a rudimentary search of its original owner turns us in an unexpected direction: one Marquis Bernard-Alexis Poisson de Menars, Prince de Bourbon-Vendôme. The name sounds as presumptuous and out-of-place for mid-century New York City as this Delahaye would have been when he imported the car from France. Without first-hand knowledge to validate its owner's credentials, at the very least they seem dubious.

You may encounter some fascinating search results, perhaps the most notable of which is a story published by a South Africa newspaper in February of 1998. The story recounts that the Marquis approached a Congolese politician in a ploy to secure a line of credit under the pretense of building a health system in the fledgling DRC. The author writes, "The 'marquis’s' credentials appeared impressive, if a little bizarre. In a letter to Mawampanga he described himself as a 'generalist and humanitarian,' a theoretician in biology and astrophysics, and an expert on the administration of large-scale, non-polluting industrial waste-disposal systems." The Mawampanga in question is a real politician and former DRC finance minister; according to the article, he declined the Marquis' offer to help.

3-Position Anachronism: Post-War Translation of the Classic Era Convertible

The top can be placed in open-drive configuration, as shown in image 1, or in closed configuration, as shown in image 5, or in open configuration, as shown in the historical photograph of T'hami El Glaoui and Mohammed Ben Aarafa together in the back seat of the first Delahaye to wear this coachwork. In this regard, the large chrome cabriolet pivot arms are more than vestigial classic era components. Still, the method is obsolete, as the post-War convertible take-over will see power retractable tops replace the conventional cabriolet. That said, we mustn't think electric top technology either strange to the early 20th century or unknown to the French. We know that Murphy developed a disappearing top design in the late 1920s, and that Georges Paulin patented the automatic folding hard-top in the early 1930s. So it is merely a stubborn crusade for lost riches that gave birth to this design in late 1940s. It is absolutely lovely, but even upon its inception, it belonged in the past.

Vaunted Elegance: Post-War Figoni Classicism

The motoring world often accused Figoni et Falaschi of gilding the lily. By 1950, the style could be described as old-French, a mere extension of classic era practice (no matter how well executed). The lines are Rubenesque and pleasant on their own. On chassis #800998, the leading edge of the fenders and nose form one of the best-proportioned fascia among French designs. The curves capture a balance comparable to the near-perfect 1940 Lincoln Continental, though soft and delicate, whereas the Lincoln is more avant-garde.

The flanks remain largely clean, the thin belt line and chrome spears on the bonnet sides suggesting windswept linearity. But the skirts wear heavy chrome anklets front and rear, and the tail is a touch busy. And then inside, the Lucite steering wheel, shift selector, and direction knobs trend toward automotive jewelry. So, many of the car's accents are charming on their own, whereas together they deliver a loud statement. This conglomerate approach of adding elegance to the already elegant defines French custom coachwork.

In concept, I rather think that the objective is to produce elegance at the expense of egality, that central theme in the French motto dating back to the Revolution. And if that is the case, then the post-War Delahaye 135 is even more anachronistic than previously discussed. In practice, the car offers a lot to see and talk about. This Delahaye is no simple metal slab but a nicely composed mix of ivory and chrome. Even among contemporaries, chassis #800998 could be the most refined. One critical reason why is that the headlights remain independent chrome units, whereas most others integrate the lights into the fascia along with a more modern, two-part grille with horizontal slats. This configuration compresses the fascia, giving those examples a decidedly 1940s appearance at the expense of their intrinsic beauty.

This car also does without chrome French curves along the flanks, which would have faded from vogue over a decade prior, but persisted in many cases. Even the paint, lovely and clean, absorbs the chrome reflections and holds the composition together. So our verdict is to say what you already know: Yes, this Delahaye is certainly pretty. Just, let's not forgot what the car represents.

Guiding Hands: Crafting a New Lucite Steeing Wheel

Acrylic steering wheels of coachbuilt Delahayes are artefacts in themselves. The owner, Mr. Windfelder, notes that #800998's original wheel is the banjo-style chrome wheel with acrylic surround. However, the chrome had oxidized and the plastic begun to craze. For the car's early showfield presentation, he crafted a new wheel from a solid block of Plexiglass, sculpting the form by hand using a router. The center chrome ring comes from a Ford Model A hubcap, the insignia from a modified Touring Club de France badge, creating a singular piece that resembles those of contemporary Vedette-style cars bodied by Chapron. The owner's craftsmanship can be seen in photos 6 and 7. The original wheel appears in photos 2 and 3. So the story goes, while at Pebble Beach, #800998 parked next to the turquoise Delahaye Type 175 S Saoutchik Roadster, (I believe chassis #815023), bearing an original wheel of the same type as the white El Glaoui. Mr. Windfelder learned of the 175's wheel restoration, which led to his original wheel reappearing with its original, hand-painted coat of arms. I admire the delicacy of that original banjo wheel, but also find the owner's ability to re-create such a central piece of ornament refreshingly impressive.

Last Updated: Feb 20, 2024

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