15 Of The Most Beautiful Pre-War Cars Ever Built

Named after its founder Emile Delahaye, the French carmaker Delahaye had been in business since the turn of the century but saw its profile grow exponentially in the mid-'30s after the release of the Type 135. The car established itself as both a premier racing machine and a highly desirable luxury car. After its many triumphs in competition, Delahaye developed a successor, the Type 145. The luxury variant of the Type 145 was christened the Type 165, which in its most famous form was bodied by Figoni & Falaschi. Only a handful of examples were made, the most desirable of which features a V12 engine derived from the racing Type 145.

A Type 165 was shown off at the New York World Fair in 1939, being billed as part of "The World of Tomorrow." However, with war looming in Europe, that tomorrow turned out to be a world away from what Delahaye had envisioned. The company did survive the war but, like many other luxury car manufacturers, struggled to find enough willing buyers in the years after. It was eventually bought out in 1954 after several failed attempts at revival and stopped producing passenger cars a year later. 

That left the Type 165 as one of the last products of its heyday — a representation of a future that never was.

Unveiled in 1929 as the replacement to the original Phantom, the Phantom II featured iterative mechanical improvements well as styling tweaks by its coachbuilders. Throughout the '20s, a number of noteworthy competitors emerged from the likes of Daimler and Lanchester, and so Henry Royce designed the car specifically to reassert the company's place at the head of the luxury car field. That meant a revised version of the 7.7L six-cylinder engine producing 122 horsepower was standard, and a redesigned chassis allowed the car to sit lower than before, setting it apart visually from the competition.

Just under 1,700 examples of the car were made over the course of production, with various approved coachbuilders providing individually designed bodywork to the specifications of each owner. A higher-performance Continental variant was also produced, with an estimated 281 examples leaving the factory. Many consider the Phantom II to be the best-looking of the pre-war Rolls-Royces, with the Phantom III delivering an upgraded engine and more technological complexity but a slightly less timeless silhouette than its predecessor.

The long-running Delage D8 received an upgrade in 1937 with a new chassis similar to the one being produced by Delahaye, which was not that surprising considering that the two had merged just over a year prior. A new gearbox and revised brakes were also fitted, with the resulting car christened the D8-120. As was convention at the time, a selection of coachbuilders provided bodies with the car, with no two examples exactly the same. Many of the most sought-after versions combined the latest in aerodynamics knowledge with the flair of Art Deco, giving the car a top speed of just under 100 mph without compromising on looks.

Their rarity and status as one of the leading French luxury cars has kept them high on the wishlist for collectors, although prices haven't seen the same huge increases as other French rarities from the era like the Talbot-Lago Teardrop Coupe. Nonetheless, they remain an order of magnitude out of reach for most car collectors, with a 1937 example selling for $770,000 at auction in 2013. 

It's tricky to establish a set model value for cars like this since condition and history play a huge part. Beyond that, many sales of pre-war cars are private, and therefore no data is available on the selling price. However, it's safe to say that interest in the D8-120 is unlikely to wane anytime soon, and so owners can be almost sure of a safe return on their investment.

The Duesenberg SJ was the supercharged version of the Model J and has something of confusing history. Although Duesenberg built 38 superchargers in total, some were swapped between different chassis, and several factory SJs had superchargers removed in the years after they were originally sold. So, it's not out of the question to find a non-supercharged SJ, despite the entire point of the model being the fitting of a supercharger. 

While its provenance might be confusing, its grand looks are much less debatable. The SJ summed up all the best aspects of American car design at the time, with a selection of noteworthy coachbuilders available to choose from for discerning buyers.

Each one varied slightly from the other, and it's impossible to single out a certain chassis as being definitely better looking than the next, but all of them conveyed a level of importance and refinement that even today's best luxury cars struggle to match. Many surviving examples now have interesting backstories to further add to their appeal, too. For instance, one example sold at RM Sotheby's in 2015 was even used as a taxi in Chicago for a brief period after being originally built for the heiress to the Mars candy empire.

Not only was the Auburn Boattail Speedster one of the best-looking cars of its era — it was also one of the fastest. The supercharged version of the car was unveiled in 1935 and broke an astonishing 70 different speed records at Bonneville Salt Flats that year, in stock form no less. The boattail styling of the car had been the preserve of the most high-end coachbuilders in previous years, but the Boattail Speedster brought the design to a production car for the first time. It was still a very limited production car, though, as just 150 examples a year are thought to have been produced.

It reportedly wasn't easy to drive either, but its appeal was as a halo product with unique styling and class-leading performance. Every car was certified to reach at least 100 mph and came with a plaque proclaiming so. Like most high-end cars of the era, the Boattail Speedster commands significant sums today. In fact, most of the priciest examples will have additionally had hundreds of thousands of dollars of restoration work completed to keep them pristine over the decades.

BMW's leading status in modern motorsport is hard-earned, but it may never have been achieved were it not for the early successes of the 328 race car. It debuted in 1936, but its exceptionally long racing career saw it active in competitions well into the '50s. 

Taking a function-over-form approach, the 328 still managed to be one of the best-looking race cars of its era, with a focus on lightweight design that was somewhat controversial at the time. In the 1930s, some engineers still believed a heavier car would grip the road better, but the 328 proved that reducing weight was by far the more competitive option. 

Over the years, it proved its worth with wins at many of Europe's biggest race events, including a win at Mille Miglia in 1940. That title was a particular highlight since the winning car set an average speed record for the race that remains unbeaten to date. In total, 464 examples of the 328 were built, with BMW estimating that around 200 of those survive to the present day.

The first automobile to use a V16 engine, and indeed the most successful, was the Cadillac V-16. Debuting in 1930, the car would remain in production for a decade, although the economic pressures caused by the Great Depression meant it never sold as well as the brand was initially hoping. It was, at one point in its production run, actually a loss maker for Cadillac. However, the brand continued to churn out examples, such was its importance to the company's image at the time.

The V-16 was available with a plethora of body styles, with leading coachbuilder Fleetwood offering 65 variations by itself. Each was customized to the preferences of the commissioning party, with the cars being particularly popular among Hollywood celebrities. 

As well as its bodywork being among the most imposing of the era, Cadillac took great care to make the engine itself look as beautiful as possible. When it debuted, the signature V16 engine sported an aluminum and chrome finish with enamel accents. It was the first luxury car to focus on engine styling as much as exterior and cabin styling, cementing its legacy as one of the greatest American cars of its era — even if it didn't always turn a profit for Cadillac.

The styling of the Cord 810 was drastically different from anything else on the road when it debuted in 1936. This was in part due to the fact that it was front-wheel drive, a layout that, despite its ubiquity today, was very cutting-edge at the time. The folding headlights were also a unique touch, although the narrow shape of the hood gave it the nickname coffin-nose. As with any futuristic design, the 810 had its fair share of fans and detractors at the time of its release, but it quickly became a hit with the rich and famous of the era.

Unfortunately, the car was doomed by its mechanical shortcomings –- the engine, while powerful, lacked the refinement of its rivals, and the transmission suffered serious reliability issues. In the end, the 810 would be produced for just two years between 1936 and 1937, with later cars sold under the 812 moniker after a supercharged option was launched in a bid to boost sales. It didn't work, and in the end, only around 3,000 examples were built. Remarkably, however, around 1,800 of those are thought to have survived to the present day thanks to a dedicated community of collectors.