1937 Delahaye 145 Franay Cabriolet: Grand Prix Racer Turned Roadster

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00:00 [Music]

00:09 So I'm here with Sam Mann, owner of the wonderful

00:12 Delahaye 145 Franay Roadster,

00:15 a wonderful car to bring to Pebble Beach, Sam.

00:18 It started life as a Grand Prix car,

00:20 which is kind of boggling the mind.

00:22 It's like someone putting a body on Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes in 50 years' time.

00:26 Well, they probably will, actually,

00:28 because those race cars, after they were finished with their seasons,

00:32 rarely met the requirements of the next year's formula for racing

00:36 or the technology, which always seemed to be marching on,

00:39 marching forward.

00:41 But that was one of four cars that Delahaye built,

00:44 and in '45, they were approached by a gentleman

00:48 who wanted them to build a roadster.

00:50 So they sold him the chassis.

00:52 He, in turn, took it to Franay,

00:54 the coachbuilder in Paris, to have it bodied.

00:58 And it was finished in about nine months, ten months' time.

01:01 But a week before he was to pick it up,

01:04 he was arrested and thrown in prison

01:07 as a collaborator with the B.C. government.

01:10 So the car went up for auction.

01:13 Franay bought it and kept it till 1956.

01:17 The last owner, prior to ourselves, had taken the car apart,

01:22 recreated the race car on that 12-cylinder chassis,

01:26 and then put the body, as you see it, on a 6-cylinder Delahaye chassis.

01:31 So we happened to see an advertisement for it going into an auction.

01:35 Called the auction house and said, "We want to buy it right now."

01:38 And we did.

01:40 And then about a year later, we acquired the race car.

01:43 So what does Pebble Beach mean to you?

01:46 It's the preeminent Concours event in the world?

01:50 Oh, without question. Without question.

01:52 Yeah, I don't think any other Concours can equal this.

01:57 Because of the demands they put on these cars.

02:01 Not just what goes on on the field.

02:05 I mean, it looks to you like a bunch of us went for a drive today.

02:09 But I have to tell you, if you took that drive in your car, it's tough.

02:13 The roads are tough.

02:15 Uphill, downhill, bumpy, tight turns.

02:18 So, you know, the quality of the workmanship here is just flabbergasting.

02:25 It's that detail. Everything is like a Swiss watch.

02:29 Well, Sam, best of luck on Sunday.

02:31 Sam Mann, his Delahaye.

02:33 One of the cars to watch on the lawn at Pebble Beach on Sunday.

02:37 [MUSIC]

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