Every so often, we hear about some new boutique brand with fresh funding that comes up with some crazy supercar concept, and honestly it gets a little tiring. Too many of these just end up with no product at the end of the rainbow or are flawed from the start. We find it more exciting when ‘dead’ brands from the past are brought back with a solid, realistic plan and something exciting to look forward to. Borgward was one good example of that – how a dead German brand could come back to life with a bit of Chinese help and the brand today is actually expanding its portfolio and has a 2nd chance (though reports indicate they’re struggling in 2020). While Borgward represents ‘mass market’ consumers, on the other side of the spectrum, we have this: Delage.
Delage was a French brand that was founded in 1905, back when cars were made exclusively for royalty and the ultra-rich. It was a French brand and it actually has some real racing heritage attached to it, despite many of us not having heard of the brand before. Back in the 1920s, Delage were big in the motorsport scene, and the brand has multiple Le Mans podiums, FOUR Gran Prix wins and a “World Champion of Car Builders” title earned back in the 1927 year. Their 2-litre V12 and 1.5-litre inline-8 engines were amongst their most popular winning engines.
According to Goodwood’s new page, a French entrepreneur named Laurent Tapie has plans to revive the brand at its original plant in Levallois-Perret. This is 67 years AFTER the brand went bust. The plan is to build 30 of these single-seater Delage D12 hypercars. In fact, Tapie has already sold 2 before production has even begun!
The Delage D12 will use a 7.6-litre V12 engine that is paired to an electric motor for well over 1130PS. The hybrid powertrain features an 8-speed gearbox. It will be completely road legal and weigh around 1400kg in standard form, with a D12 Club model expected to weigh 90kg less. The century sprint can be completed in 2.5 seconds, theoretically. Pushrod suspension will be featured and former F1 World Champ Jacques Villeneuve is assisting engineers to develop the chassis.