The French brand Delage, which distinguished itself in particular at the beginning of the last century by winning the Indianapolis 500 (1914), before disappearing in 1953, is reborn in 2019 and puts in the starting blocks its hypercar which aims, at say its president Laurent Tapie (son of the famous businessman Bernard Tapie), to be: “the fastest sports car in the world”, the D12.
Delage is famous for its 12-cylinder 'V' engine cars. The 2LCV model was the first of these cars to participate in the grand prix from 1923 to 1925. By using the 12-cylinder V, Laurent Tapie pays tribute to the engineers Albert Lory and Charles Planchon who developed the V12 racing engines for the team Delage at that time under the aegis of Louis Delagé. Lory’s work brought him to the pinnacle of engineering. The 15 S8 model, his masterpiece, is the one with which Robert Benoit won the title of Automobile World Champion in 1927 for Delage, built in 1926 & 1927 in only four examples. At the wheel, Benoit won the four grand prix of 1927, Italy, England, Spain and France, in the same season, something never equaled since.
Delage has chosen to put the 1997 F1 World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve, at the controls of the cockpit of the D12, accompanied by Benoît Bagur, a former SEAT who will be responsible for the development of this D12, which has a configuration intended for compete with the Bugatti Chiron and other Aston Martin Valkyrie, just that, you'll tell me! But to sharpen its weapons, the D12 hides a 7.6-liter naturally aspirated V12 under its hood. The Delage D12 is in fact offered in a “Club” version with a horsepower of 1,024 hp (with an electric unit developing around twenty horsepower), and in a more powerful GT version offering no less than 1,115 hp (the GT will then have 112 electric hp). The weight of each vehicle will vary from 1,220 kg for the D12 Club model to 1,310 kg for the D12 GT version, which will allow each model to offer different services. The “Club” version, which will be able to go from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.8 seconds, will therefore be faster on the circuit. It will be capable of reaching a top speed of 360 km/h.
In terms of prices, it also has nothing to envy of its competitors with a forecast price of two million euros, it will be responsible for delighting around thirty owners per year, starting in 2022 for the first deliveries. But before that, the French Hypercar should make a stopover at the Nürburgring Nordschleife where the manufacturer aims to achieve the new lap record in its category (road-approved automobile). The manufacturer notably wants to beat the absolute lap record on the Nordschleife, currently held by the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo in 5 min 19 sec 546 (20.832 km). Ambitious. The ‘showcar’ already made its debut late last year in California attracting the first orders.