The name Delage dates back to the early 1900s, when the French automaker was as well-regarded on the track as icons like Bugatti and Ferrari. But after a 70-year hiatus, Delage was "re-founded" in 2019 – as CEO Laurent Tapie likes to say – and now, production of its radical D12 hypercar has officially kicked off.
The company has already built four examples of the D12, Tapie confirmed in an interview with Autocar. The total run for the D12 will be just 30 examples, and production will take place at a dedicated Delage facility in Magny-Cours, France. But it will take some time before all of the cars are on the road; it could take up to five years to complete the entire run.
Under the hood of the D12 is a 7.6-liter V12 engine and a single electric motor that gives it a total output of 1,100 horsepower and 794 pound-feet of torque. Delage employs a carbon fiber monocoque chassis with a central seating position and a unique F1-derived "contractive" suspension that ditches anti-roll bars entirely. This is the same setup used by the McLaren and Ferrari F1 teams in the 90s and is now exclusive to the Delage brand.
The Delage D12 will cost around $2.3 million (€2.7 million) in the US when it goes on sale, which would make it one of the 50 most expensive cars in the world. It’s unclear if all 30 examples have already been claimed.
As Tapie confirmed in our exclusive interview in 2022, the company is already hard at work on a second, slightly more attainable model for the Delage range.
"It will be a completely different model, more of a grand tourer two-seater like the Chiron. It will be road-legal as well, and very fast."
