24h Le Mans
24 HOURS CENTENARY – MAKES, MARQUES AND IMPRINTS ⎮ Two French marques dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the late thirties. Bugatti, winners in 1937 and 1939, and Delahaye, who wrapped up their only victory in 1938 after a late introduction to motorsport.
Delahaye is one of France’s oldest makes, founded before the 19th century was out. The firm earned a glowing reputation for its luxury cars, especially in the 1930s when it swept the Concours d’élégance in partnership with the greatest French coachbuilders, such as Figoni/Falaschi and Chapron. Delahaye took its first steps in motorsport at the 1935 24 Hours of Le Mans with a model powered by a straight-six engine which took Marcel Mongin and Michel Paris to a respectable fifth place.
With eight cars entered, 1936 should have seen the marque make a true name for itself at the race. Sadly, the event was cancelled due to the social and political unrest at the time. In 1937, two of the seven Delahayes that started the race finished on the podium with a second place for Marcel Mongin/Joseph Paul and third for René Dreyfus/Henri Stoffel, behind the race-winning Bugatti and ahead of a third French marque, Delage.
Eugène Chaboud and Jean Trémoulet shared the wheel of the Delahaye 135 that was first past the chequered flag in 1938. It was sweet revenge for Trémoulet who had lost an ear lobe in a terrible accident at Maison Blanche the previous year, and who subsequently became a hero of the French Resistance in the war. Runners-up Gaston Serraud and Yves Giraud-Cabantous underlined the marque’s supremacy that year. This was also the year that Delahaye introduced the V12 to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Ecurie Bleue challengers powered by the engine were the pre-race favourites but failed to make it beyond the seventh and 23rd laps respectively.
In 1939, eight Delahayes took to the starting grid for the 16th edition of the 24 Hours. Bugatti returned to the race with just one Type 57 C, but it was enough to clinch victory. The best of the Delahayes were relegated to sixth and eighth places, although Robert Mazaud did set a lap record that stood eleven years.
When the 24 Hours resumed after the Second World War in 1949, many of the cars dated from the 1930s. Seven surviving Delahayes lined up for the start of the race. However, after dominating the early stages, they could only muster a fifth place through Robert Brunet and Pierre Meyrat, although did achieve the feat of having three cars in the Top Ten.
The cars began to feel their age as the pair entered in 1950 both failed to see the chequered flag. Just one model was entered in 1951 and it too failed to see out the 24 hours. It signalled the end of the great French touring cars that had ruled the sport at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The home nation had to wait two decades to see another winner in the shape of Matra.
PHOTOS: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 1935–1938 24 HOURS OF LE MANS – FROM TOP TO BOTTOM (© ACO ARCHIVES): Delahaye in the 1930s – the 135 S that took the top two spots in 1938 (pictured, the car of runners-up Gaston Serraud/Yves Giraud-Cabantous), the 18 CV Sport of Marcel Mongin/Michel Paris in 1935 (#7), the 135 S of René Dreyfus/Henri Stoffel (#10) and Marcel Mongin/Joseph Paul (#14) in 1937, and the 145 of Gianfranco Comotti/Albert Divo (#2), the first V12-engined car to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
