Delahaye does not build many cars like the Delahaye 171: a Light truck “normal” / Light truck “wide” / 9-seater “familiale” / ”break” & various derivatives, built from 1949 to 1953 in a decade split by war, when civilian production stopped and restarted.
How it came about
The Delahaye 171 was a “colonial” style vehicle developed by Delahaye for use in French Equatorial Africa and French West Africa. 1,082 units were built in its production run, which came to an end in 1953 or 1954. Sources differ. The thinking behind the car was similar to that of Renault chairman Pierre Lefaucheux at this time: the 171 was intended to satisfy similar marketplace objectives to those addressed by the Renault Colorale. It first appeared formally at the Paris Motor Show in 1949, but sales started only in 1950 of two different “Pick-up” versions, designed to take a ton of load.
The “Pick-up Normal” version, with an advertised starting price of 991,500 Francs, had its load area behind the vehicle's cabin but between the two rear wheels, giving a load area that was unencumbered by wheel arches but relatively narrow. With the “Pick-up Large” version the load area extended to the full width of the cabin, but with the intrusion of the wheel arches. The bodywork of the load area did not extend beyond the cabin width on either version. Staying true to its Delahaye roots, the 171 gained greatly in credibility with its target market by competing with distinction in the 14,394 km (8,944 mi) Mediterranean-Cape Town Rally that was run along the length of Africa between 31 December 1950 and 21 February 1951. The cars were run by a team from the French Army. The “Break” (station wagon) version of the 171 was also offered, from 1952, as a nine-seater “familiale” which makes this one of several vehicles that could claim to have inspired the SUVs that became mainstream only in t
Under the skin
The record carries the shape — a Light truck “normal” / Light truck “wide” / 9-seater “familiale” / ”break” & various derivatives — and the layout: drive goes to all four wheels, which is what lets the power be used on a wet road. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Family and rivals
On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Chevrolet Bel Air, the Porsche 356, the Citroën 2CV. Its Delahaye stablemates include the Delahaye 103 and the Delahaye 12CV.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the Delahaye 171 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.