With this week’s topic being coachbuilders we just can’t ignore this flashy Art Deco masterpiece designed by Jacques Saoutchik! This 1949 Delahaye Type 175S Saoutchik Roadster must be one of the most outstanding coachwork designs, honored at the time at many prestigious concourses! A massive body that is titled ‘the most beautiful car in the world’ by many! One of them was English actress and sex-bomb Diana Dors, who once owned it.In 2010 the masterpiece Roadster was sold for $3,3 million at the RM Sports & Classics Auction at Monterey in California. One POTW is just not enough for this wonderful piece of ART so POTW X5! I probably don’t have to mention which pics show Diana Dors…?Saoutchik was definitely one of the foremost designers of exquisite Art Deco coachwork during the 20s and 30s and the immediate post-war period, a master of the elite of automotive designers! If you are wondering… of course Saoutchik will be discussed this week!

Just want to mention some details about the car, because this 175S is so INCREDIBLE!Englishman Sir John Gaul commissioned Saoutchik to make a VERY special work-of-art Roadster body on the post-war Delahaye 175S chassis (chassis number 815023). The looks of the Roadster are as impressive as its performance! The engine of the 175S, much larger than the usual pre- and post-war Delahayes 135, produced 165 bhp.

The 175S had a 4,455 cc naturally aspirated overhead valve inline six engine, coupled to a four-speed electro-magnetically shifted Cotal gearbox. Dubonnet coil spring front suspension, De Dion rear axle with semi-elliptic springs and four-wheel hydraulic finned alloy drum brakes made this car perform far from just an oversized pony. It had a significant chassis with a wheelbase of a whopping 116 inches!The 175S Saoutchik Roadster was revealed in October 1949 at the Paris Salon de l’Auto, from where it became a big star… obviously! Also in recent years it has again been exhibited at most of the major concourses, leaving with important prizes! Wherever this fascinating automobile goes it steals the show, like it does here at CHB!