Delage Roars Back

Entrepreneur Laurent Tapie is raising the legendary marque from the grave

- By Nicolas Stecher, Photography by Robert Kerian

In 1874 Pierre Louis Adolphe Delage was born in the verdant countryside of Cognac, France. Among some of the finest vineyards in the world, this watchmaker’s son studied the sciences, graduating from the nearby Ecole des Arts & Métiers with an engineering degree. After securing a financial backer in 1905, he founded Delage, which would go on to find great fame in the world of motorsports. With a fleet of hand-built, V12-powered racers, Delage would claim Grand Prix wreaths and world speed records, peaking in 1927 when his Type 15 S 8 crossed four European Grand Prix checkered flags, winning his eponymous nameplate the World Championship and the Légion d’Honneur for his driver Robert Benoist.

Sadly, the halcyon years would be short-lived. Despite building some of the most luxurious and expensive cars the world had ever seen, the knockout combo of the Great Depression and World War II conspired to kill the marque. By the early ’50s, after being sold to peers Delahaye, Delage faded to black.