Delahaye Type 135-M Cabriolet, Blue

In the late 1930s the Delahaye 135 turned a respectable French touring chassis into something closer to rolling sculpture. This Type 135-M Cabriolet carries the work of a great carrossier in every line: pontoon wings that flow uninterrupted from nose to tail, a low raked vee-screen, and a teardrop cabin set far back over the rear axle. Under the long bonnet sat the 3.5-litre overhead-valve six that earned its competition pedigree at Le Mans and on the Monte Carlo Rally, here dressed for the concours lawn rather than the circuit. This was a car built for the wealthy and well-travelled, when coachbuilding was still an art commissioned one chassis at a time.

The two-tone treatment is the centrepiece: deep royal-blue wings sweeping into a pale ice-blue body, the colours divided by a single fine pinstripe that traces the whole flank. Chromed grille bars, faired headlamps and the polished spears down the tail are crisply rendered, and the model sits on a cobblestone-effect presentation base. Minichamps captures it at 1:18.