1923 Delage The Bequet Grand Prix

Strapping a surplus fighter-plane engine to a racing car chassis was a popular 'go fast' solution during the 1920s but few of these conversions were so well executed Delage Bequet Special created in 1926. Built on the behest of privateer racer and trained pilot Maurice Bequet and business partner Roland Coty, it combined an obsolete Delage Grand Prix chassis with a Hispano Suiza V8 engine originally used in a Spad airplane.

Bequet had been no stranger to the Spad and the Hispano Suiza V8 as he had worked during the Great War with Louis Blériot as an engineer at Spad. Following the Armistice, this gave him access to surplus engines. Among his first notable outings behind the wheel was a third place finish in the 1922 Targa Florio, driving a Peugeot. Before acquiring the Delage chassis, he had also raced a 1914 Alda, fitted with the same Hispano Suiza V8 engine.

The chassis used is believed the very first of the Delage 2LCV Grand Prix cars built in 1923. This sophisticated machine featured a two-litre V12 engine, which was originally raced without and later with a supercharger. The 2LCV was not particularly successful and a reduction of the maximum displacement to 1.5 litres in 1926 rendered the car obsolete for Grand Prix racing. This prompted Delage to sell the car to make way for the altogether more successful 15 S8 raced in 1926 and 1927.

The Delage's ladder frame, suspension and brakes were retained for the Bequet Special. Mounted in place of the sophisticated V12 was a tarmac shredding Hispano Suiza V8 almost six times the size of the Delage engine. Breathing through a Zenith carburettor and fitted with twin-spark ignition, it produced 180 bhp and a staggering 800+ Nm of torque. Modified where necessary, the lightweight body was draped back over the chassis. The new special tipped the scales at 875 kg compared to 690 kg for the original 2LCV.

Bequet debuted the car at the Spanish Grand Prix in July of 1926 but scratched his entry after he learnt he had to run with a minimum weight of 1,500 kg due to the engine's displacement. Fitted with a revised body, it was then raced by Coty in the Grand Prix de la Baule. After having to start four laps down, he finished a very close second to the eventual winner. Although very quick, the Delage Bequet was not raced in Grands Prix again as it strictly speaking did not comply with any contemporary regulations.

Bequet and Coty did retain the car and used it extensively on the road. It was also shown at the Paris Auto Salon in 1926. For that occasion, the original body had been refitted. It was subsequently fielded in minor events for several years, often with considerable success. The unique machine was eventually sold on in 1936 by the two partners. The Bequet Special has survived and today, it is one just three remaining 1923-1925 Delage Grand Prix cars.2

Following its long contemporary racing career, the unique Delage Bequet Special was sold to Jean Salis. He was at the time restoring a Spad airplane and needed the Hispano Suiza V8 engine. During the early 1960s, the car was acquired, without the V8, by Swiss enthusiast Hanz Matti. After buying the Delage, Matti also managed to persuade Salis to sell him the Hispano engine. In 1976 the car and the engine were acquired by British enthusiast Nigel Arnold Forster. He set about completely restoring the car, which proved to be a complicated endeavour. Time and corrosion had not been kind on the engine, which had a sizeable hole in the carter. In 1988, the restored car complete with a spare engine was sold to the current British owner. He has since campaigned the car at select historic events. For ease of use and maintenance, the engine has been slightly enlarged and the original Zenith carburettor replaced by a pair of SUs. The V8 now produces an even more impressive 220 bhp.

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