The 1937 Delage D8-120. A Real Beauty.

We saw this 1937 Delage D8-120 earlier in the year at Salon Privé.  We just wanted to highlight this car to you, as it’s exceptional, and my car heaven.  I hope you love it as much as we do.  Just superb in every way. We love it.   This car came runner up in the 2018 Salon Privé Concours D’Elegance.

Delivered as a running chassis to celebrated Parisian coachbuilder Henri Chapron in June 1939, this eight-cylinder Delage D8-120 had a colourful early life.  During the war the Delage was repeatedly appropriated by a French General of the Vichy Government who was a German Collaborator.  Post-war, in 1946 the General sent the car to California, but was unable to obtain a visa for himself, so he went to Argentina and sold the car to RKO Studios.  In Hollywood, the car’s arresting styling earned it roles in a number of movies, including the 1951 classic, An American in Paris.  The film’s producers commissioned changes to the car’s design, including tail light modifications and new green coachwork, Chapron himself being involved in the alterations.  The film showed Gene Kelly being chauffeured around Paris in the Delage with actress Nina Foch.  Once the movie was completed, the D8-120 was acquired by a member of the RKO Studios production team, who took the car in lieu of the $15,000 severance pay he was owned by RKO.

If you are still hungry for more information on the Delage D8-120, you can get it here.