For much of the 1920s and 1930s, Delage was at the forefront of French automotive engineering.

The firm's racing cars of the mid-1920s were advanced and successful: their complex engines, especially the two-litre V12 and 1½-litre straight-eight still command awe some 80 years later.

Beginning with proprietary-engined light cars, from 1905 Louis Delage drove his firm forward and soon became a major manufacturer, building racing cars which competed with credit in the Grands Prix of 1913 and 1914; a Delage won the important Coupe de l'Auto race of 1911.

Rarely encountered today, the Delage AI was produced between 1913 and 1915 and was rated as a 12hp in France and a 14hp in England.

Conceived as a replacement for the AB model, the chassis and four-cylinder, 2,296cc monobloc engine were designed by the talented engineer Arthur-Louis Michelat, who also originated the designs for the 1914 Grand Prix Delages.

The AI uses a four-speed gearbox with gate change and Hotchkiss drive and, conv...