Delahaye does not build many cars like the Delahaye VLR with gasoline engine, built from 1951 to 1954 at the height of the post-war boom.
How it came about
The Delahaye VLR was a four-wheel-drive passenger vehicle clearly inspired by the Jeep and first presented, after an unusually long gestation, by Delahaye during the Summer of 1950. At a time when the luxury car market had been driven into freefall by a combination of government taxation policy and the depressed state of the postwar economy, the VLR was critical in keeping alive the company that produced it during the early 1950s.
"VLR" stood for Véhicule léger de reconnaissance (light reconnaissance vehicle). The name "VLRD" (Véhicule léger de reconnaissance Delahaye) is also sometimes used.
The hardware
Under the skin sits gasoline engine. Kerb weight is 1360 kg. The gearbox is a 4-speed all synchromesh manual with transfer box. The layout matters: drive goes to all four wheels, which is what lets the power be used on a wet road. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Toyota Land Cruiser, the Cadillac Eldorado, the Chevrolet Bel Air. Its Delahaye stablemates include the Delahaye 103 and the Delahaye 12CV.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the Delahaye VLR — 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.