HomeNews and Events1912 Delaunay owned by former owner of Hope Diamond heading to auction

1912 Delaunay owned by former owner of Hope Diamond heading to auction

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Evalyn Walsh McLean has been characterized as an eccentric heiress, a socialite who used her inheritance from mining to purchase, among other things, the Hope Diamond and a 1912 Delaunay Belleville Type IA6 Park Phaeton, which will be offered for bidding October 16 at H&H Classics auction at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, England.

McLean was the last private owner of the 45-carat blue diamond, which she purchased from Pierre Cartier in 1911 for $180,000 to go along with another of her possessions, the 94-carat Star of the East diamond.

McLean was the daughter of an Irish immigrant who struck it rich during the American Gold Rush. She was known to be “feisty” and a tomboy, but after the family became wealthy, she groomed as a debutante and went to Paris to study music and to write her autobiography, Father Struck It Rich.

Against family wishes, she eloped in 1908 with Edward Beale McLean, heir to the Washington Post, and sailed off to Europe and the Middle East on a honeymoon on which they squandered $200,000 and then could not pay their final hotel bill. 

How wonderful to inherit the family fortune, and just three years later she was buying the Hope Diamond despite the curse; after being stolen from an idol in India, the diamond reportedly carried bad luck and death, not only for its owner but for anyone who even touched the gem.

McLean lived to be 60, and mothered a family with an interesting history. Her oldest son died when at age 9 when he was struck by a car. Another son was married four times, including to Gloria Hatrick, who later married actor Jimmy Stewart. 

Another son was married three times and his last wife turned down the Hope Diamond fearing its curse and later sold her mansion to John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Her daughter married U.S. Senator Robert Reynolds but died at age 24 of an overdose of sleeping pills.

McLean’s daughter’s daughter, Mamie Spears Reynolds, was the first women to qualify for the Daytona 500 stock car race and married Italian racer Luigi Chinetti. 

The cockpit

As for McLean’s Delaunay, H&H Classics expects it to bring as much as £120,000 ($150,000) at auction. The auction house says the car is original, “right down to its numbered floorboards.” 

The coachwork for the French-built car was done by Brewster and is being offered after nearly 40 years of private ownership when it was rallied frequently, including a 460-mile drive in 2018.

“Notable as the first French manufacturer to produce a six-cylinder engine, Delaunay Belleville was a genuine rival to Rolls-Royce in period,” said Damian Jones of the auction company. “It has a wonderful patina, and is a highly usable and imposing Edwardian motorcar.”

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

1 COMMENT

  1. Why do the dysfunctional, troubled rich get all the cool stuff?
    Imo this is the coolest car this month, even with all the Bentleys- and was cool before Bentley rocked the ’20’s-’30’s.
    Looks like something the silent film Hollywood crowd would be envious of; old money and class v. new money vulgarity. Leave the buggy top down and cruise it daily, no chauffeur required.

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