The Mullin Automotive Museum shared its collection during the 2016 Monterey Car Week with the crowds at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Quail Motorsports Gathering, McCall’s Motorworks Reunion and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. This year the Mullin brought eight road and race cars from its collection, all of which were honored at the events in which they were entered.
“To have the Museum’s collection so honored at some of the most competitive and exclusive events in the automotive world is deeply satisfying,” said Peter Mullin, founder of the Mullin Automotive Museum.
“We feel privileged to be able to share our passion for the incredible engineering excellence and beauty of French automobiles with the public and it’s rewarding to see them appreciated in this way.”
The Mullin’s 1912 Delaunay-Belleville La Carrosserie Industrielle Omnibus, a favorite of Russian royalty when new, was entered into the A-2 Antique Closed class at the Pebble Beach Concours where it placed third. The Omnibus may at first seem a little ungainly, but the elegance of its design soon comes to the forefront and the quality of its construction is second to none.
Henri Chapron’s coachwork was celebrated at the 2016 Pebble Concours with its own class and the Mullin entered two vehicles into competition in both the open and closed categories. The 1939 Delage D8-120 Chapron Cabriolet, with its Bordeaux-colored paint, graceful curves and 3-way folding top placed third in its class which featured other examples of Chapron’s work. The Mullin’s 1937 Delahaye 145 Chapron Coupe placed second in its class, no doubt bolstered by its provenance including ownership by the Ecurie Bleue racing team and its leader, heiress and accomplished race car driver Lucy O’Reilly Schell. Lastly, the Mullin’s fourth car entered into competition at Pebble Beach, its 1937 Delahaye Type 135M also known as the Star of India, placed second in the K1 class for Delahayes, rounding out a successful day on the fairways of the Pebble Beach Golf Links.
The museum also showed its 1937 Talbot-Lago T150C SS coupe also known as the Goutte d’Eau at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, this year. The Talbot is regarded as being one of the most beautiful cars ever made and the example belonging to the Mullin was honored with the first ever Peninsula Classic Best of the Best Award, the competition for which is selected from among the winners of last year’s Car Week awards. The list of 24 judges who selected the winner included noted designers and car collectors such as Lord March, Jay Leno, Ian Callum, and many others.
Though the museum’s primary interest is in prewar French cars, it also has a great passion for the technological mastery and design excellence of Citroën and its legendary DS. The DS was introduced in 1955 at the Paris Motor Show and the public’s reaction to the car and its revolutionary oleopneumatic suspension system was unprecedented. The Mullin chose to share its enthusiasm for the marque by exhibiting an early DS, a black 1957 Berline model, at the McCall Motorworks Revival event at Jet Center.
The Mullin’s cars were not only parked on lawns at the week’s various concours, some of them also saw action on the track at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. The museum’s 1927 Delage ERA won its race on Saturday with racing driver Derek Hill at the wheel. Museum founder Peter Mullin drove the 1950 Talbot T26 Grand Prix to 19th place while his Timothy Mullin piloted the museum’s 1946 Delage D6 to a respectable 29th place in the same Pre-1940 Sports Racing and 1927-1951 Racing Cars class.
The Mullin Automotive Museum takes great pleasure in bringing its cars out into the world to be viewed by the public. The Monterey Car Week provides an unparalleled stage on which to showcase the French cars that exemplify the museum’s mission. For more information on the Mullin Automotive Museum, visit MullinAutomotiveMuseum.com or call 805.385.5400.
[Source: Mullin Automotive Museum]
