France probably lays claim to our least favourite car in the looks department. The first generation Peugeot 308 was built at the very lowest point of French automobile design, being both painfully dull and yet somehow also managing to resemble a deep-sea fish that’s washed up on the shore.

Thankfully those dark days have passed as the French have re-discovered some of their joy de vivre, so we’re holding out hope that French car design can come full circle, and give us something like this again.

The fantastically luxurious 1939 Delahaye 136 was an utterly gorgeous machine, and probably took the art deco school of design further than any other car has ever managed. Sadly production was cut short by Hitler being a dick, and unfortunately post-war France then had no place for a vehicle manufacturer as opulent as Delahaye, with the brand quietly slipping away in the 1950s.

We remember when French design ruled the roads thanks to previous bloggee Lino Martins, who has recreated the Delayhaye 136’s incredible art deco shape beautifully in standard LEGO bricks. There’s more of his spellbinding creation to see at his photostream – click the link above to visit France circa 1939.