Very little has been written in English about Delage, the sultry, art deco French car that was a favorite of the rich and famous during the inter-war years. This book seeks to introduce car enthusiasts to this fabulous marque. It describes the beginnings of the company headed by Louis Delage and his team of engineers, and touches upon its early racing history when driver Robert Benoist won the trophies that made the car famous around the world. Subsequent chapters describe the styling and design of the stunning cars built during the golden age of European Continental travel when the Delage chassis was dressed by the best French coachbuilders of the time, including Letourneur & Marchand, Henri Chapron, Marcel Pourtout and Figoni & Falaschi. Examples of each are described and photographed, with images taken at the time of their construction and present day photographs of beautifully restored cars. Reproductions of sales catalogues from the 1930s are also incorporated and the book includes an appendix with 15 pages of technical information and tune up specifications.
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About the Author
Richard Adatto is one of the world's experts on French aerodynamic cars produced before the onset of World War II. He sits on the Advisory Board of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, and for over 20 years has been a judge at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and Meadow Brook Hall. He is the technical advisor for the Classic Car Club of America on French-built cars and is the American correspondent for the French Delahaye and Talbot-Lago clubs. His articles and scripts have appeared in major magazines and automotive TV programs. Mr. Adatto lives in Seattle, Washington. Ms. Meredith is an interpreter, translator, editor and writer working in English, Spanish and French. She has traveled broadly to research and uncover original sources and information related to the automotive industry with a focus on the period before World War II. Ms. Meredith has collaborated on numerous projects involving private car collections of Alfa Romeos, Jaguars, Bentleys, Talbot-Lagos and other vintage automobiles. A native of Chile, Ms. Meredith is based in Seattle, Washington. Mr. Adatto and Ms. Meredith are the author and editor respectively of the award-winning book "From Passion to Perfection -The Story of French Streamlined Styling--1930-1939", published in 2003 with color photographs by Jean Paul Caron. In 2004, the book received the "Most Beautiful Book of the Year" award in Paris. The authors have collaborated over several years, most recently curating the acclaimed "French Curves" exhibit at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles that included many of the automobiles presented in their book.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By Justin Scott
Amazon Verified Purchase
Worth having, but not comprehensive enough. I was hoping for the definitive book on Delage, but this is not it.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful photos- but a coffee table book rather than a concise history.
24 July 2012
By Ralph Cook.
Amazon Verified Purchase
In fairness since this book has a sub- title 'Styling and Design' I suppose a coffee table- type volume may have been expected. Company history is given rather briefly, along with an account of Delage racing experience (which occupies 22 pages). To find a 'model summary' you have to look at the appendix where very brief details appear of the many Delage types, although Mr Hovell gives rather more data about the 1930's Straight 8's.
I'd have liked the Delage models to have been taken in turn, complete with contemporary and a few modern photo's of all the more 'usual' body styles as well as the exotics. Instead, the more extravert products of seven major coachbuilders occupy the bulk of the book, there being chapters on Chapron, Pourtout, de Villara, Figoni, Fernandez & Darrin, Guillore, Franay and Letourneur & Marchand in that order. There are indeed contemporary photo's, also illustrations taken from coachbuilders brochures, but 'pride of place' is given to restored (and, unfortunately, some very over- restored) cars in brilliant colour portraits. In my view this is the easy approach: unearthing the best contemporary photo's of the period gives a much better 'flavour' of the cars and their time. It can actually be harder to find good views of the more every- day cars than of the exotics.
All considered this is visually a very attractive book, nicely produced as is expected of Dalton Watson- but if you want a really concise hitory of Delage and his cars you should buy 'Delage- France's finest car', which I have also reviewed: that is a superb book and although it costs £110 it is at present cheaper to buy than this one (which quite frankly is ridiculous). I considered 3 stars, but I could not reasonably justify that since this volume does not claim to be a concise history and it would not be fair to 'mark it down' for not being one.
I'd have liked the Delage models to have been taken in turn, complete with contemporary and a few modern photo's of all the more 'usual' body styles as well as the exotics. Instead, the more extravert products of seven major coachbuilders occupy the bulk of the book, there being chapters on Chapron, Pourtout, de Villara, Figoni, Fernandez & Darrin, Guillore, Franay and Letourneur & Marchand in that order. There are indeed contemporary photo's, also illustrations taken from coachbuilders brochures, but 'pride of place' is given to restored (and, unfortunately, some very over- restored) cars in brilliant colour portraits. In my view this is the easy approach: unearthing the best contemporary photo's of the period gives a much better 'flavour' of the cars and their time. It can actually be harder to find good views of the more every- day cars than of the exotics.
All considered this is visually a very attractive book, nicely produced as is expected of Dalton Watson- but if you want a really concise hitory of Delage and his cars you should buy 'Delage- France's finest car', which I have also reviewed: that is a superb book and although it costs £110 it is at present cheaper to buy than this one (which quite frankly is ridiculous). I considered 3 stars, but I could not reasonably justify that since this volume does not claim to be a concise history and it would not be fair to 'mark it down' for not being one.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars
1 review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great designs, good photos, not much depth
11 Jan 2007
By Kenneth C. Reed
- Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase
If you just want to look at some special automotive designs but not get too involved in the history or the details of who and when this is a book for you. These cars are not well known in America, but deserve study. Some stunning designs, but don't expect to know too much more than you do now if you are interested in the coach work and who designed and built these wonderful rolling sculptures. Still, worth a look!
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4.0 out of 5 stars
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