1914 Delage Type AI Sports Tourer

1914 Delage Type AI Sports Tourer

In 1905, Louis Delage's journey to the top of the French automobile business began about 4km outside of Paris in a tiny workshop in Levallois-Perret, with just three employees and two lathes. A former Peugeot employee, Delage knew from the onset to surround himself with talent, and one of those three original employees was a former chief engineer from Peugeot. In those early years of his firm, Delage produced a series of small voiturettes utilizing off-the-shelf DeDion-Bouton engines. He soon developed an interest in motorsport, and a range of in-house engine designs naturally followed. Gradually, Delage motorcars grew in size, quality, and performance. By 1910, the company built a new factory to accommodate the demand for its latest four-cylinder models. Following World War I, production expanded again to include a six-cylinder model, which ushered in Delage's interest in Grand Prix and sports car racing. By the 1930s, Delage earned tremendous success on the world motorsport stage and would live on as one of France's most storied and revered marques. In 1913, Delage was made four-cylinder and six-cylinder cars. The four-cylinder model, known as the Type A1, was designed in-house by Arthur-Louis Michelat. The A1 was also called the "12CV" in France or "14HP" in England. The Type A1 featured fairly advanced specification for the time, namely in the side-valve, 2.3-liter monobloc inline-four which paired to a four-speed manual gearbox. The chassis was light and the engine potent for its size, with a low center of gravity for excellent road manners. Braking was by Delage's two-wheel system, aided by a hand-operated transmission brake. At a time when many small cars were primitive, unreliable, and unrefined, Michelat's brilliant Delage Type A1 was reliable, well-made, and a pure delight to drive.

Descriptions & pictures by classiccars & bonhams & hymanltd & flickr & other