The rarest 86-year-old Delahaye roadster to be sold for $3 million (19 photos)

A Delahaye 135M roadster with a body by Figoni et Falaschi will be put up for auction at Gooding&Co in mid-August. The car was assembled as part of a batch of only 11 examples in 1938, and it is believed that no more than five of these roadsters have survived to this day. A rarity with a mysterious history, which is in a museum state after a long restoration, is estimated at between 2 and 3 million dollars.





The roadster put up for sale was the eighth one built. An Algerian businessman ordered the car in March 1938. The auction house specifies that the archives contain photographs from the early 1940s, confirming its presence in the country. However, nothing is known about the roadster's further fate until 1992, when one of the French enthusiasts accidentally discovered the 135M on the mountainous outskirts of the country in the garage of a scrap metal dealer.

The car, in relatively good condition, although almost without an interior, was transported to France, and then to Great Britain. In both countries, the roadster was restored over several years, first using "new" parts, and later installing authentic ones. The presentation of the restored car took place in 1997.

Since 1999, the rarest representative of the French pre-war era has belonged to the famous American collector Robert Petersen and is periodically exhibited in his museum. On behalf of the Petersen Museum, the car is put up for auction. It is equipped with a 3.5-liter inline six-cylinder engine with 116 horsepower and a four-speed manual transmission.