Delahaye 135 MS cabriolet Brandone

Concours of elegance at Cannes in 1939, Delahaye 135 MS cabriolet by Brandone

Brandone, probably the most talented coachbuilder from South of France, for this car, was definitely inspired  by Figoni & Falaschi. Look at the front bumper with the two parallel blades, the elegant line that starts at the top of the radiator and goes to the running board. A pretty nice cabriolet which won an award at the concours.

The dolce vita on the French Riviera, still for a short period...

Who could have imagine that 6 month after this pictures has been taken, the war is declared and in less than one year, the German army will occupy half of France in few weeks... One of the worst periods for Europe will begin and will last for four years.  

Lorraine B3-6 at La Baule

This very attractive roadster is a Lorraine model B3-6. These cars were built in Argenteuil, few miles from Paris. With a 3,445 cc (210.2 cu in) six cylinder engine,  overhead valves, hemispherical head, aluminium pistons, and four-bearing crankshaft, the B3-6 was a quite good car. For two consecutive years, 1925 and 1926, Lorraine won the famous endurance race, the 24 hours of Le Mans with a B3-6 tourer. Not a stock car, but the preparation was minimal.

It is seen here above, participating to the concours of elegance at La Baule, on the West coast of France in 1929.
This custom built body is, may be, from Gaston Grümmer, a quite famous coachbuilder from the era.

Another view of the same car, this time at a concours of elegance in Paris in June 1929.

Renault Reinastella torpedo scaphandrier Kellner

During the concours d’élégance, sponsored by Fémina and l’Intransigeant, in June 1930, at the Parc des Prince stadium in Paris, Renault exhibited a Reinastella RM coachbuilt by Kellner as a torpedo scaphandrier (can be translated as diver torpedo).

The carrosserie Kellner was probably the most exclusive coachbuilder in France by the end of the 20’s. Its style can be defined as classical always good taste and elegant lines. Kellner built bodies for any type of chassis from sports car to the French presidential parade cars.

Several “scaphandriers” were built on Renault and Panhard chassis. Very few survived but I recently saw an amazing video of one big Renault found in a barn in the US!  Most probably a future entrant for the Pebble beach concours…