01
Origins
The D8 of 1929 crowned Louis Delage's marque at precisely the wrong economic moment and did so magnificently: a 4-litre straight-eight chassis that France's greatest coachbuilders — Chapron, Letourneur, Figoni — dressed in bodywork now regarded among the most beautiful ever made. The D8's blend of racing-derived engineering and Parisian elegance defined the grande routière; concours lawns have never released their grip on it. Commercially the Depression devoured the clientele, and Delage's independence ended in 1935 with absorption by Delahaye, though D8 production continued under the new regime. The car remains the marque's definitive statement — proof that a company which had won Grands Prix could apply the same fastidiousness to pure glamour, and briefly make the world's most elegant machine in either category.
1935 Delage D8-15 Cabriolet by Letourneur et Marchand · Alden Jewell · CC BY 2.0
