Based initially at Tours and from 1906 in Paris, Delahaye built its first automobile in 1895 and later branched out into commercial vehicle manufacture.

Up to the mid-1930s its products tended to be worthy though unexciting but then in 1935 came the first of a new generation which would change the marque's image - the T135 Coupe Des Alpes .

Emile Delahaye himself designed the early cars and remained with the company he had founded after its sale in 1897.

He retired in 1901, leaving Delahaye in the capable hands of production manager Charles Weiffenbach and engineer Amédée Varlet.

The firm built single- and twin-cylinder models initially, and introduced its first four-cylinder car – the Type 11 – in 1903.

By the outbreak of The Great War, Delahaye had established a reputation for quality and reliability and was ranked in the top ten of French carmakers.

During WWI, Delahaye manufactured military trucks, FN rifles and parts for Hispano-Suiza aero engines.

One of its first post-war...