DELAGE / FRANCE

DELAGE / LEVALLOIS - PERET / COURBEVOIE / FRANCE  ( 1906 - 1953 ).

DELAGE  is a French automobile company, founded by Louis Delage. The first model, the type A appeared in 1906.

DELAGE was intensively and successfully involved in motorsports, where it enjoyed considerable success, thereby boosting sales considerably. DELAGE production ended in 1953.

Here I can show you the first enameled  emblem that was used on the DELAGE type H and R in 1909 / 1910: 

This early DELAGE emblem was mounted with a wide, nickel-plated frame

 

Size	8.2 cm x 5.6 cm
Year	1911- 1912
Estimate

 

The DELAGE emblem retained its color and shape until the brand was discontinued in 1953:

Size	6.4 cm
Year	1918 - 1939
Estimate

 

 

backside without makers mark

 

With a few exceptions, DELAGE always used a blue oval as its emblem and varied the letters only minimally.

 

one variation: DELAGE emblem with embossed letters

Size	6.4 cm
Year	c. 1920
Estimate

 

 

1922 advertisment with badge

Unfornately, this emblem never found its way on the radiator

 

 

This version was never available on any vehicle either

 

 It took me years to identify this emblem. It's an emblem for DELAGE type DR 70  from the 1929.

Size	6.4 cm x 6.4 cm
Year	1929
Estimate

 

 

 

 

unrestored 1929 DELAGE DR 70 seen in a French collection featuring the previously mysterious emblem

 

The only DELAGE emblem that stands out from the rest is the rectangular emblem shown below. It was used on the DELAGE Type GL in 1924

the letters LD stand for Louis Delage

 

Size	3.8 cm x 7.2 cm
Year	1924
Estimate

 

 

It's obviously an original used in 1924

 

 The Boutique de l´Automobilste even produced a reproduction in the nineteenseventies:

repro made by: La Boutique de l`Automobiliste

Laurent Tapie, son of French entrepreneur and politician Bernard Tapie, presented a super sports car at the Miami Grand Prix in Florida in 2022  that was intended to revive the DELAGE brand. Around 30 models were built, naturally featuring a plastic emblem.

 

 

 

 

 

my DELAGE exposition

 For more emblems see older posts or top right ( list of car makers ).

When using a smartphone please use the button webview. 

 

GORDON-KEEBLE / UK

 

GORDON - KEEBLE / SLOUGH / SOUTHAMPTON / / UK  ( 1963 - 1967 )

In 1959, John S. Gordon and Jim Keeble founded the company “GORDON AUTOMOBILE Co. Ltd.” in Slough, England. The goal was to produce a very fast sedan with Italian design from Giurgiaro, built by Bertone and equipped with  a powerful American engine. In fact, a partnership was formed with Chevrolet, from whom they could source a V-8 engine. Reportedly, the GORDON-KEEBLE was—for a time—one of the fastest production cars in the world. 

The British are known for their sense of humor, so they aptly decided to feature an animal on the emblem that is famous for its leisurely pace: the tortoise. However, the car was far too expensive to produce to be profitable. As a result, only exactly 100 vehicles were built, which is what makes the emblem so rare.

 

Here you can see the British sense of humor: a tortoise on one of the fastest cars of its time.

 

Size	7.8 cm
Year	1964 - 1967
Estimate

 

 

backside without makers mark

 

 

one of the rare survivors seen in Bremen / Germany in 2018

 

look at the tortoise top left on the photo

 

 

badge from the GORDON  - KEEBLE Owner club

For more emblems with an animal  logo please click here for the French Peugeot ( lion ) or the German MAJA (  bee! ) or Lorraine Dietrich ( stork ) or the Italian Bianchi ( eagle ) or the American KAISER ( buffalo ) and a lot more.

When using a smartphone please use the button webview.

HELIOS / GERMANY

 

HELIOS / COLOGNE / GERMANY ( 1923- 1926 )

On July 30, 1923, HELIOS AUTOMOBILBAU AG was founded in Cologne-Ehrenfeld to manufacture a vehicle based on the manufacturing system commonly used in the American automotive industry. The brand name HELIOS refers to the sun god in Greek mythology. The company initially produced a small car with 2/8 HP. Distribution was handled by the GDA (Gemeinschaft Deutscher Automobilfabriken = Association of German Automobile Manufacturers) to round out its product range at the lower end. At the beginning of 1926, HELIOS went bankrupt and was taken over in May 1926 by Delfosse Motorenfabrik, which unsuccessfully offered an improved HELIOS small car with a 4/20 hp engine.

This time, I'll start by showing the emblem as it was found. It lay in the ground for around 80 years before being discovered by a metal detectorist:

emblem as found before the cleanup

 

It's amazing how well the emblem has survived 80 years in the soil.

 

Size	6.5cm
Year	1924 - 1926
Estimate

 

 

backside without makers mark

 

 

 

As described in the introduction, the car was distributed by GDA and promoted in this 1924 advertisement . I have created a small exhibition of the emblems used.

 

However, it is evident that the vehicle was also sold by a CITROEN dealer in Düsseldorf, as can be seen in this period photo

 

 

With a little imagination, you can even identify the emblem.

 

 

There was also a commercial vehicle version.

 

 

This draft shows how simple the vehicle's design was.

 

 

bottom left: the HELIOS

 

 

1926 advertisement from Delfosse Motorenfabrik after they took over HELIOS

For more emblems from the GDA please click here for NAG or BRENNABOR or HANSA or HANSA LLOYD or HAWA.

When using a smartphone please use the button webview. 

 

SIZAIRE BERWICK / FRANCE

 SIZAIRE BERWICK ( 1913 - 1927 )

In France, there were a wide variety of brands bearing the name “SIZAIRE.” For example, the brand “SIZAIRE NAUDIN” existed from 1905 to 1921, and “SIZAIRE BERWICK” existed in England and France from 1913 to 1927. The English agent for SIAZAIRE NAUDIN, F.W. Berwick, had these vehicles built in France and marketed them in England under his name. 

This time, the first image I'm showing isn't the emblem, but an advertisement. That's because I think this advertisement is wonderful. It appeared in The Autocar magazine in 1919, but only as a black-and-white drawing.
I then had the advertisement colored in with watercolors using AI, and because the result is so beautiful, I don't want to keep it from anyone, so I'll start with it:

1919 advertisement in The Autocar 1919

And here is the original advertisement in black and white. Color advertisements were very rare in 1919 and were very, very expensive. It can be assumed that SIZAIRE BERWICK did not have the money to pay for color advertisements.

 and here finally the SB emblem:

Size	4.5 cm x 6.4 cm
Year	c. 1920 - 1927
Estimate

 

backside without makers mark ( as usual in France )

 Since the car was built specifically for the UK market, there were of course test reports too:

 

 

 

 

 I found a second version of the emblem, but it is unclear whether it is an original:

 

I also edited this ad with AI:

Note the rear wheel of the car. The AI attempted to complete the car and add the rear wheel, which is intentionally not shown in the original display.

 

A car without rear wheels is impossible (says AI).

 

SIZAIRE BERWICK seen in the UK  (photo collection Claus H. Wulff)

For more SIZAIRE emblems please click here!

For other emblems see older posts or top right ( list of car makers ).

When using a smartphone please use the button webview. 

SORIANO PEDROSO / NEUILLY / FRANCE

 

SORIANO PEDROSO / NEUILLY / FRANCE  ( 1919 - 1924 )

Which country comes to your mind when you read the company name SORIANO PEDROSO?
Italy or Spain? The truth is that it is a short-lived, unsuccessful French company.

Carlos de Pedroso and Ivanre de Soriano were two Spanish counts who began building a two-seater sports car with chain drive and a Ballot engine in Neuilly in 1919. Very few models were delivered by 1924, as the two Spaniards had been at odds from the outset and subsequently went their separate ways to establish their own automobile production companies. But this was also unsuccessful.

The company manufactured sports cars. One of these cars, built in 1922 and equipped with a Ballot engine, is on display in a museum and bears the emblem shown here: 

 

Size	3.6 cm x 5.6  cm
Year	1922
Estimate

 

 

For more information about the engine supplier BALLOT please click here!

You find more emblems and their history when looking at older posts or top right (list of car makers).

When using a smartphone please use the button webview.