1948, instead of 1946, was due to chief design-engineer Jean Francois' unanticipated death, in April 1944. Delahaye had nobody qualified to take his place. The production build number list verified that 51 Type 175 chassis were built (815001 to 815051), including the Type 175S Show-chassis, that was cycled back into production, after the October 1949 show. It likely went into the tail-end of Type 175S production. While not a success in the marketplace, a Type 175S won the 1951 Monte Carlo Rally, This car (815042) finished twelfth in the Carrera Panamericana, while a second Motto-bodied 175S coupe (815051) was disqualified on a technicality. The optional 175S had three Solex 40AiP carburettors and Rudge wire-spoked wheels, but was otherwise identical to the standard Type 175, with a short, 2.95-metre wheelbase. The other two longer wheelbased versions were the Types 178 and 180, with a single Solex carburetor, and stamped steel wheels. The standard 175 had a reported 140 horsepower, with 161 hp for the 175S. The Production Build List confirms there were 38 of the 3.15-metre wheelbase Type 178 chassis; and, 18 of the 3.35-meter Type 180, built and 180 (333.5 cm) mainly for heads of state, dignitaries, corporate executives, and the like. Two Chapron armoured Type 180 limousines were built for the leaders of the French Communist Party in 1948. A prototype "Delage D180" was also developed on this basis, but was not put into production. Delahaye focused its Delage production on the D6-70 model. Total production of three-chassis series, including the prototype, and the show-chassis, was 107 automobiles. (substantiated by Club Delahaye president Jean-Paul Tissot, from archived company records) The rear-wheel drive Type 175, 178 and 180 chassis is considerably more sophisticated than its Type 135 predecessor. The independent front suspension had horizontally pivoting cylindrical housings that contained a coil-spring and hydraulic shock absorber immersed in an oil-bath Dubonnet. The rear was by de Dion, with semi-elliptical springs. Brakes were dual system hydraulic by Lockheed. The brake-drums were deeply finned cast-iron, actuated by dual master cylinders with a balance-bar. The custom bodies of these cars were often much too heavy for what the chassis had originally been engineered for. In dry conditions, they were fast cars, but wet-weather handling was unpredictable. Another culprit was inferior quality of high-tensile-strength steel in the early postwar era. The specified grade was depleted by the war, and what little was produced was allocated