Delahaye 180 Coupé de Ville by Franay
A stunning chaffeur limousine with 18 cars produced, mainly for the statesmen and royals. This body version is the only made on a 180 chassis. It makes it not only one of the last coupé de ville ever produced by French coachbuilder Franay, but also generally, as this type of body vanished from production with the rapid decline of small coachbuilders.
Úžasná šoférska limuzína, vrchol luxusu svojej doby zároveň labutia pieseň pre značku Delahaye. Vyrobených iba 18 kusov, z toho v takejto karosárskej verzii bol vyrobený iba jediný exemplár v dielni svetoznámeho karosára Franay.
| Model year: | 1949 |
| Manufacturer: | Delahaye |
| Model: | 180 |
|
Type: |
Coupé de ville |
| Coachwork: | Franay |
| Enginer: | Straight-6 |
| Capacity: | 4455 cc |
| Max. power @ rpm: | 138 hp @ 4000 rpm |
| Bore: | 94 mm |
| Stroke: | 107 mm |
| Weight: | 2200 kg |
| Length: | 5700 mm |
| Width: | 1950 mm |
| Transmission: | Cotal pre-selector (semi-automatic) |
The vehicle was unveiled at Paris Salon in 1949. It is one of the very last coupé de ville body-style not only for Franay, but in general. The 33.3 meter long wheelbase was built in 18 examples. This particular 180 was sold only in 1953 and registered in 1956 for the first time. The rumours are it belonged to French attaché in one of the African colonies. The pictures show both the original version (light colour) and after subsequent modification according to the wishes of the new keeper (darker colour).
This Delahaye was imported from USA. The previous owner commenced the restoration works, however abandoned the project long before being completed, leaving the car untouched for 10 years. The car was shipped together with a collection of 20 boxes filled with parts and transported back to Europe.
The initial inspection proved that the car is 99% complete with only few minor parts missing. Unfortunately, the bodywork is overfilled with body filler. This means that the effort of the previous owner can only be considered as unnecessary if not worthless due to the questionable quality. The vehicle undergoes a complete renovation, which includes stripping down all layers to metal.
Delahaye has been in the process of total renovation. First, the completeness of the vehicle is inspected. Therefore the first phase is completing the car with the parts from boxes to find out what's missing, what doesn't fit and what needs to be adjusted. Afterwards, everything will be removed again, the bodywork and the chassis are split and everything will be stripped to metal. For more about the restoration, please refer to the Story of Delahaye 180 section.
