1946 Delahaye 135 M Cabriolet by Graber

Chassis No. 800320When Delahaye resumed production of its Type 135 after the war, the marque again turned to Europe's leading carrossiers for bodywork. Many of the resulting designs traded pre-war exuberance for a quieter postwar design language, and few read that shift more fluently than Hermann Graber of Wichtrach. Working from a small Swiss workshop that had gained renown for dressing chassis from Bugatti, Talbot-Lago, and Delage, Graber favored high fender lines, rounded volumes, and a near-total absence of ornamentation. The discipline of that approach has aged unusually well.Chassis number 800320 carries one of just two cabriolet bodies Graber is believed to have built to this design. It is also a desirable 'M,' or Modifié example fitted with the 3.5-liter overhead-valve six and triple Solex carburetors that together produce 110 horsepower. Drive reaches the rear wheels through a Cotal four-speed electromagnetic transmission, a sophisticated arrangement that found favor among privateer competitors of the period.According to a history compiled by Club Delahaye President Jean-Paul Tissot in 2024, the car was delivered new to M. Labhard of Bâle, a Swiss banker who kept it until his death, after which it remained with his estate in storage until 1995. Two owners followed, a Dr. Hair and the Swiss professor Dr. Norbert Reuter, the latter commissioning a ground-up restoration by marque specialist Richard Gorman of Vantage Motorworks in Miami in the late 1990s. That work established the car's present dark blue over red leather finishes, while a more recent cosmetic refresh in 2021 renewed the car to the same dark blue, complemented by chrome wire wheels and a new blue fabric top. Importantly, the car also retains its proper triple-carbureted 135 M engine.The quality of the restoration was demonstrated at the 71st Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2022, where the car appeared in the Graber Coachwork Early (P-1) class and proved its reliability in the demanding 50-mile Tour d'Elegance. Acquired at Broad Arrow's 2024 Monterey Jet Center Auction, the car has since been preserved within its owner's California-based collection. The result is among the most graceful and genuinely usable French sports tourers of the immediate postwar years, equally at home on a concours lawn or any number of prestigious rallies including the Mille Miglia Storica.