Pre War

Description

The Delage D8 was an eight-cylinder luxury sports tourer, built between 1929 and 1940. In the time of the D8, Delage took the typical role of producing its cars as rolling chassis, ready to be bodied by the various carrosserie of choice by the clients who pursued them. The D8’s straight eight was the first eight cylinder engine that France produced, plausibly to emulate the successes of the Italians, and Alfa Romeo in particular.
It may be fair to say that the Delage D8S was one of the most desirable cars of its day, rivalling the luxury and design of its major Franco-Spanish rival, Hipano-Suiza.

This particular example was imported into Melbourne in 1932 by Mr Jim Watt, and typical to the process detailed above, Mr Watt had his own custom body built by Martin & King, one of the most renowned Australian Coach builders of the period. He then took the car to Europe and toured extensively before returning the car to Melbourne in 1945.

In the early nineteen-sixties the car was taken off the road and dismantled with the intention of being rebuilt. Like many restoration projects, it stalled and it was acquired by its current in 2006 as a basket-case. Over a period of three years, the car went through a thorough restoration by Historic & Vintage Restorations, with a new body – a replica of a one-off Delage factory body from 1931, that was crafted by Vince Panozzo at the Automotive Centre of Excellence at Docklands.