LILLE.- The Delage DS Roadster Cabriolet, No. 36144, built in 1933, has a unique history, having belonged to the grandson of the famous pilot Louis Bleriot, an aviator eminently known for being the first man to fly over the English Channel in 1909. The grandson is also named Louis Bleriot.

One of 1070 produced, 4-speed manual gearbox and reverse gear with dry single-plate clutch. Right-hand drive. Chassis with steel side members and cross members, sheet metal body on wooden frame.

Interior upholstery in garnet leather, in very good condition on both the front bench seat and the rear trunk bench seat. This beautifully restored vehicle,includes a photo file of the restoration. Louis Bleriot Junior sold the car in December 2004 to a man who sold it to the current owner in January 2022.

Louis Charles Joseph Bleriot, (1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of the money he made to finance his attempts to build a successful aircraft. Blériot was the first to use the combination of hand-operated joystick and foot-operated rudder control as used to the present day. He was also the first to make a working, powered, piloted monoplane and in 1909 he became world-famous for making the first aeroplane flight across the English Channel, winning the prize of £1,000 offered by the Daily Mail newspaper. He was the founder of Bleriot Aeronautique, a successful aircraft manufacturing company.

His grandson, also named Louis Bleriot, also had a passion for aviation and a desire to recreate his famous cross-Channel flight. In 1998, a 54-year-old Louis attempted a recreation of the flight in a replica of his grandfather's plane, but the attempt ended in a crash landing.

Delage, a French luxury car manufacturer, began its business in 1905 by building high-quality, luxury cars, achieving commercial success among wealthy customers and earning it recognition at the time. It was one of the most prestigious French car brands between the two wars, including the 1927 Constructors' World Champion with its Delage 15 S8 Grand Prix cars with 8-cylinder engines designed by Albert Lory (1926-27). The 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans honored the Delage brand due to its performance on the legendary circuit for almost the entire race, driven by drivers Louis Gérard and Georges Monneret, ensuring recognition for the Delage brand's performance, as the race was won by a Bugatti 57C driven by Jean-Pierre Wimille and Pierre Veyron after a fierce battle dominated for 22 hours by the Delage.

The Delage D6 or Delage Type D6 (6-cylinder variant of the Delage D4 and D8) is a prestige car from the French automaker Delage, manufactured between 1930 and 1940, and then from 1946 to 1954 by Delahaye following the brand's acquisition in 1935. The D6 was introduced in 1930 (during the 1929 crash and the beginning of the Great Depression) as a successor to the Delage D4, Delage DM, and Delage DR, with Delage DS and Delage D8 versions.

It was powered by a 2984 cc inline 6-cylinder engine, available in several power variants. Delage chassis-engines were bodied by the most prestigious independent French coachbuilders of the time, including Letourneur & Marchand, Henri Chapron, Jacques Saoutchik, Figoni & Falaschi, Marcel Pourtout, Jean Henri-Labourdette, Marius Franay, Alphonse Guilloré, and more. The Great Depression forced Louis Delage to close his Courbevoie factories in April 1935, and to resell its brand to its main competitor, Delahaye, becoming its subsidiary for high-end models.

Delage production was transferred to the Delahaye factory on Rue Pirandello in the 13th arrondissement of Paris (where, among other things, the Delahaye Type 135 with 6-cylinder engines was produced). Production ceased in 1939 following the declaration of World War II and the requisition of the Delahaye factories for the war effort. Production resumed after the war in 1946 under the name D6 3-Litres until Delahaye's disappearance in 1954.

Today, the Delage brand is reborn thanks to an agreement to transfer the rights granted in 2019 to Laurent Tapie, son of Bernard Tapie, who is relaunching a Delage D12 hypercar for competition, bringing Delage, a historically renowned French brand, up to date and perhaps becoming a competitor in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in an attempt to repeat Delage's 1939 victory.

To register for the sale click here: https://www.interencheres.com/vehicules/vente-de-voitures-de-collection-et-youngtimer-automobilia-652278

To set up a visit to see the car on the 18th of July in France near Douai (close to Lille), or get further information please do call, Michel Floirat at 00 33 6 80 14 30 77.