Coachwork by Guilloré Chassis no. 801186 •One of the all-time great French sports cars •Top-of-the-range MS model •Matching numbers •Unique coachwork
A unique example, '801186' is featured in 'Delahaye – La Belle Carosserrie Française' by Jean-Paul Tissot, President of the Delahaye club (page 162).
It carries 'Alpin' enclosed coupé coachwork very similar in appearance to that of Guilloré's 'Estérel' cabriolet. (Guilloré gave names of French provinces to some of his more luxurious models such as Béarn, Dauphiné, Estérel, and Alpin).
'801186' also appeared in the October 1949 edition of 'La Revue l'Équipement Automobile' (copy entry available).
Right-hand drive like many quality French cars of the period, '801186' has the most powerful (125/130bhp) engine, as fitted to the top-of-the-range MS model, and the Cotal semi-automatic gearbox.
This Delahaye was first registered 11th April 1949 as '4359 YD1' in the name of Monsieur Francis Bonnerue of Bougival, Paris, and reregistered on 29th August 1952 as '9895 BK75', again in Paris.
In the 1970s, '801186' was one of a number of Delahayes belonging to the Dejaiffe collection in Belgium.
At the beginning of the 2000s it went to Retrolegends and afterwards back to France. Described by the vendor as '100%' throughout, this rare and beautiful French thoroughbred is offered with French Carte Grise and Netherlands registration documents.