Delage

France Est. 1905 Luxury & Racing Cars Grand Prix Winner

The finest expression of French automotive art — a legendary name from the golden age of Grand Prix racing, reborn in the twenty-first century as a hypercar for the modern era.

1905

Founded

Heritage

Paris

Origin

2021

Revival

Origins & Grand Prix Glory

Delage was founded in Levallois-Perret, near Paris, in 1905 by Louis Delage — an engineer who had trained under Peugeot before establishing his own company. From its earliest years, Delage pursued excellence at every level, producing both luxury road cars and dedicated racing machines that would compete at the highest levels of motorsport. Louis Delage was a perfectionist with a passion for racing, and he invested heavily in developing competitive Grand Prix cars even when the costs threatened the financial stability of the company.

The 1920s and early 1930s represented the peak of Delage's racing achievements. The supercharged 1.5-litre Delage 15-S-8 of 1927 dominated Grand Prix racing, winning the European Grand Prix and collecting multiple World Land Speed Records. These successes established Delage as one of the most technically sophisticated racing car constructors in history, with an engineering depth that rivalled Bugatti and Mercedes-Benz. The road cars of this period — particularly the D8 series — combined coachbuilt luxury with the mechanical sophistication that the racing programme had developed.

The company struggled financially through the Depression years and was eventually absorbed by Delahaye in 1935, with the Delage name continuing on badge-engineered Delahaye products until 1954. In 2021, the Delage brand was spectacularly revived by Michel Fabre with the D12 hypercar — a 1,100 hp hybrid that draws directly on the brand's Grand Prix heritage for its visual language. The D12 is one of the most dramatic French supercars ever conceived, and it positions the revived Delage alongside the great hypercar names of the twenty-first century.

Key Milestones

1905

Delage founded in Levallois-Perret by Louis Delage — combining engineering precision with an obsessive commitment to motorsport success that would define the brand throughout its original history.

1927

Delage 15-S-8 dominates the Grand Prix season — the supercharged straight-eight wins the European Grand Prix and becomes one of the most celebrated racing cars of the interwar period, cementing Delage's status as a world-class racing constructor.

1935

Delage absorbed by Delahaye following financial difficulties — the racing expenditure that produced its greatest achievements ultimately proved unsustainable; the brand continues on Delahaye products until 1954.

2021

Delage revived with the D12 hypercar — Michel Fabre's tribute to Louis Delage's legacy, a 1,100 hp hybrid hypercar with a dramatic low-slung body and engineering ambition that recalls the original Delage Grand Prix cars.

Historic & Modern Models

Delage's history encompasses some of the finest racing and luxury road cars of the interwar period, plus a dramatic twenty-first century revival.

Delage 15-S-8 (1927)

The pinnacle of interwar Grand Prix engineering — a supercharged 1.5-litre straight-eight that dominated European racing in 1927 and set land speed records. One of the most technically advanced racing cars of its era.

Delage D8 (1929–1940)

A series of coachbuilt luxury touring cars powered by straight-eight engines — the D8, D8S, and D8 120 variants represent the finest French luxury cars of the prewar period.

Delage D12 (2021–present)

The revived Delage's 1,100 hp hybrid hypercar — a dramatic low-slung body inspired by 1920s Grand Prix cars, combined with modern hybrid technology and an ambition to compete with Bugatti and Koenigsegg.

Engineering Heritage

Delage's original engineering achievements centre on the development of supercharged Grand Prix engines in the 1920s — a period when supercharging technology was genuinely new and the engineering challenges of high-speed motor racing were being understood for the first time.

Supercharged straight-eight engines — the 15-S-8's supercharged unit was among the most technically advanced racing engines of the 1920s, developing over 170 hp from 1.5 litres
Coachbuilt luxury construction — the D8 series was built on Delage chassis by the finest French coachbuilders, including Chapron, Figoni, and Letourneur — producing one-off masterpieces of automotive art
D12 hybrid powertrain — the revived Delage combines a mid-mounted V12 combustion engine with electric motors for a total output exceeding 1,100 hp in a structure weighing under 1,000 kg
D12 extreme aerodynamics — the D12 features an active aerodynamic system producing over 1,000 kg of downforce at speed, directly referencing the ground-effect aerodynamics of 1970s Formula 1

Delage in Azerbaijan

Classic Delage vehicles — particularly the coachbuilt D8 series — are extremely rare worldwide and essentially absent from the Azerbaijani market. They exist as museum pieces and collector trophies rather than cars that circulate in any active market. The revived D12 hypercar is similarly a rarefied proposition for ultra-high-net-worth collectors.

For Azerbaijani automotive enthusiasts with an interest in French automotive history, Delage represents the pinnacle of France's contribution to the racing car — a brand whose technical achievements rivalled those of German and British competitors and whose road cars exemplified the best of French luxury coachbuilding in the years between the wars.

Why Delage Endures

Grand Prix pioneer: Delage's 1927 season remains one of the most dominant performances by a single constructor in Grand Prix racing history — the 15-S-8 was so far ahead of its rivals that it effectively ended competition for that regulatory cycle.
Coachbuilt masterpieces: The D8 series luxury cars, bodied by France's greatest coachbuilders, are among the most beautiful and valuable pre-war automobiles in existence — genuine works of art as much as vehicles.
Twenty-first century revival: The D12 hypercar's revival demonstrates that the Delage name retains enough prestige to support a serious modern hypercar programme — an extraordinary testament to the enduring power of a brand that has been dormant for most of the past 70 years.
French excellence: Delage represents France at its automotive best — combining artistic sensibility with engineering rigour in a way that few manufacturers from any country have achieved before or since.