1928 painting of Albert Divo taking on the banking at Montlhery in a Delage torpedo
Delage DI 6-Seater Tourer 1925
Delage D.8 Saloon 1931
Delage D8
The Delage Automobile company was established in January, 1905, at 62, rue Chaptal (62 Chaptal street) in Levallois, a northwesterly suburb of Paris, France. It was founded by Louis Delâge (1874-1947), an ambitious young engineer who had been working for the Peugeot car company. Initially, the company was only an assembly plant, acquiring engines and drive trains from other manufacturers to use with their own body designs purchased from others. By 1908, success saw the operation in new production facilities and competing in Grand Prix motor racing. A year later, they were making their own engines and fabricating advanced body designs. Delage cars began winning important races until the onset of World War I in 1914 when the new factory in nearby Courbevoie was converted to military production.
However, the Great Depression of the 1930s took its toll and in 1935 the company went into voluntary liquidation. The Delage plant in Courbevoie was closed and its contents sold. A license to manufacture cars under the Delage name was negotiated with the Delahaye automobile company who continued to produce a Delage model until it went out of business in 1953.
