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French automotive engineer and manufacturer.
Born Pierre Louis Delâge went to study at a trade school Arts & Metiers in the city of Angers, graduating with an engineering degree in 1893. In 1895, he found work with a railway company in the south of France but in 1900 moved to Paris. There, he was employed in the engineering and design department of a motor vehicle manufacturing concern until 1903 when he received an offer to join the fledgling Renault automobile company. Filled with innovative ideas of his own, in 1905 he raised enough money to open his own assembly plant in a converted barn in Levallois at the outskirts of Paris. The Delage Automobile Company grew rapidly and their vehicles soon gained a reputation for their stylish appearance and quality and as a dominant force in motor racing. However, the Great Depression of the 1930s took its toll and car sales plummeted. By 1935 his company was forced into liquidation, the rights to the Delage name auctioned off to the Delahaye car company. The new owners unceremoniously dismissed Delâge with a penurious pension.
In 1990, in his hometown of Cognac, an industrial school was dedicated as the "Lycée professionnel Louis Delâge" in his memory.
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variant spelling:
DELAGE, Louis
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History
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* 22.03.1874
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Cognac en Charente
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born
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1890 - 1893
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Angers
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Diplômé de l'école des Arts et métiers d'Angers.
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1893
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Bône, Algérie
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Service militaire.
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1895 - 1900
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Embauché par la Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi pour effectuer le suivi de travaux.
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1903
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Graduate engineer, and a former chief draftsman and tester for Peugeot.
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1903
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Ingénieur diplômé, et un dessinateur et ancien chef testeur pour Peugeot.
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1905
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Levallois-Perret (Région Parisienne)
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Fondation de la Société Delage et Cie, qui installe ses bureaux et ateliers à Levallois-Perret.
Invention de plusieurs types de moteurs.
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1911
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Courbevoie
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Transfère son entreprise à Courbevoie et se lance dans la conception et la fabrication de voitures de très haut de gammedes et de course.
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1925
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Champion d'Europe : Lancement de ses véhicules dans la compétition automobile.
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1935
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Céde ses parts à la société Delahaye, qui absorbe l'entreprise Delage.
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† 14.12.1947
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died
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