1913 Delage Type R4 Two Seater 'Raceabout'

1913 Delage Type R4 Two Seater 'Raceabout'

Founded in 1905 by Louis Delage in collaboration with Augustin Legros, a fellow engineer-graduate of an Arts et Métiers college, Automobiles Delage commenced production with a single-cylinder De Dion-engined runabout and within a few years was offering multi-cylinder designs. The publicity value of racing was recognised right from the start, a single-cylinder Delage winning the Coupe Des Voiturettes as early as 1908 and Louis himself taking the 1911 Coupe de l'Auto in a 3-litre four-cylinder. Victories at the Grand Prix du Mans and the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race were achieved prior to WWI, while production grew alongside these successes. The 'R4' model was built by Delage from 1911 to 1913 and while the earlier examples were equipped with a Ballot engine, later in the run a similar Ballot-Delage Type 4G3 engine was fitted in the 7th to 11th Series, of which this is an example.

Descriptions & pictures by bonhams & flickr & en.wheelsage