1939 Delahaye 165 Cabriolet

Wallpaper Description:

Done with PS a simple photo manipulation of a few layers to create something new.

A 1939 Delahaye 165 Cabriolet would be a French automobile that in my humble opinion has to be one of if not the sexiest art deco car ever produced of that time period. This car was built for the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the car was displayed in New York as a rolling chassis because its 4.5-liter 12-cylinder engine was not ready at the time of shipment. When the International Exposition ended a year later, war had already broken out in Europe, prompting the car to be held by U.S. Customs.

The car changed hands many times over the years. After WW II in 1946, the car was sold at auction to Beverly Hills car dealer Roger Barrow, then he sold after he installed a Cadillac engine to New York businessman Vivan Corradini for a then-remarkable $12,000. Later, the car was purchased from a Hawaiian used car lot by a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, who sold it to an enlisted man.
Stored in a Fresno, California, garage during the man’s deployment, the Delahaye would go unclaimed by his widow following his death. Ownership passed to the garage, which in turn sold the car for $1,200 to Al Brewer, a local tow truck driver, sometime in the 1970s. Then after a four-year negotiation with its then-owner, purchased the Delahaye in 1985.

The most complicated part of the cars restoration was reuniting the car with its original engine, owned by Count Hubertus von Doenhoff. Ultimately Mullin was able to acquire the 4.5-liter V-12 that had been earmarked for the Delahaye 165 at the time of its 1939 construction. Only six Type 165s were ever built.