In 1937 the Germans were dominating Grand Prix racing, a source of great indignity to the French government. Together with the French Automobile Club it offered one million francs to any French-made car that could beat the record of 146.508 km/hr over 200 km set in 1934 by an Alfa Romeo. Delahaye, a featured marque at this year's Pebble Beach Concours, accepted the challenge and with René Dreyfus at the wheel, set a new record of 146.654 km/hr. Dreyfus, driving the same car, then won the 1938 race at Pau, France, over the Mercedes-Benz Type W 154 (one of the fabled Silver Arrows) and beat the Italian Maserati at Cork in Ireland. Four of the Type 145 V-12 chassis had been built but only one, number 48771, drove into the record books. It was disassembled and stored to prevent its destruction during WW II, made a brief racing appearance afterwards, and was never seen again. During research for their new book "Delahaye Styling and Design," authors Richard S. Adatto and Diana E. Meredith became intrigued by the mystery and traced the serial number to a Delahaye being restored by Peter Mullin (who was unaware of its racing history) for this year's Concours. René Dreyfus, the Jewish Racer who had humiliated the Germans, served in the US Army, became a US citizen, and opened the world-famous Le Chanteclair restaurant in New York, long an unofficial meeting spot for the racing community.