Delage was a French automaker that made a name for themselves building racing cars, before shifting to focus on luxury cars later in the company’s life.
The engineering that went into the Delage Grand Prix cars was amongst the best in the world at the time, their two most famous engines were likely the V12 and straight-8 fitted to their Grand Prix cars of the 1920s. Both engines were staggeringly well designed for the time, featuring double overhead cams, 8000 rpm red lines, a horsepower figures from 110 right the way up to 195.
The Delage 15 S8 was so named because of it’s engine, a supercharged, DOHC straight-8 with a capacity of 1488 cc and 170 bhp at 8000 rpm. With its feather-like kerb weight of 748 kilograms (1649 lbs), the Delage 15 S8 was an exceptionally quick car, and in 1927 it won the Spanish, Italian, French, and British Grands Prix – taking the championship win for the year.
The sculpture you see here is the work of famed artist Raoul.W. It’s the 3rd in a series of 6 automotive sculptures he has planned on iconic 20th century racing cars. The Delage is constructed from 56 unique sections, each made from steel with a matte black epoxy finish. The wheels and tires have been built to give the illusion of movement, and it measures in at 147″ × 57″ × 40″.
© 2017 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
