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2022 Shannons Summer Timed Online Auction
Lot
159

1922 Delage CO2 Hispano-Suiza Aero engine Special

$555,000

Sydney

Sold

Specifications

Engine V8, 18,500cc
Gearbox 4-speed manual
Body Work Sports Twi-Seater
Colour Blue
Interior Natural
Trim Ostrich Skin
Wheels Wire-Spoked
Brakes Drums

Auction
Notice (Form 11)

Description

This lot is no longer available

Louis Delage’s eponymous company was founded in partnership with Augustin Legros in 1905 and began offering a simple Runabout model powered by the ubiquitous De Dion single-cylinder engine.  Delage expanded rapidly to become one of the leading French automotive manufacturers before the First World War, becoming heavily involved in the burgeoning motor racing scene.  Louis himself won the 1911 Coupe de l’Auto, while victories as far afield as the Indianapolis 500-Miles cemented the French company’s reputation for building rapid, high quality machinery.  Delage’s first post-Armistice offering was a large luxury model – debuting at the 1919 Paris Salon, the Model CO was powered by a side-valve six-cylinder engine displacing 4524cc but sales proved disappointing so the engine was modernised in 1922 with pushrod-operated overhead valves and a new cylinder head.  Known as the CO2, the revised design also featured all-wheel braking, semi-elliptic leaf springs and friction dampers along with a four-speed gearbox at a time when most luxury cars still relied on three-speeds.  An estimated 200 were built, along with another 80 Grand Sport variants, and a small number were delivered to Australia through local agents Joubert and Joubert and one example famously broke the Sydney to Melbourne record in 1923, recording a time of 13 hours and 47 minutes – no mean feat considering the state of the roads almost 100 years ago.  Less than ten CO2 Delages are known to exist today.  Meanwhile Louis Delage had turned his attention to record breaking of another kind in Europe, commissioning his designer Charles Planchon to build a Land Speed Record car around an enormous V12 engine in 1923 and the one-off DH became a long-serving works racer, culminating in Rene Thomas’ land speed record of 143mph set at Arpajon on July 6th, 1924.  It was this very special car, which still exists in a private collection, that served as the inspiration for the fabulous aero-engined CO2 offered here.