Story as told by Rick Eberst at the Mullin Automotive Museum's Under The Hood Day includes some of these following details, and ... more.

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The remarkably streamlined shape of this cabriolet, with body by Figoni and Falaschi, was recognized as an example of 1930s French design that it represented the nation at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Shipped without a powerplant due to it not being ready in time for the show, the engine-less body was impounded by U.S. Customs when Europe became embroiled in World War II. After trading hands at a public auction and receiving a Cadillac engine, it eventually wound up at a used car lot in Honolulu until it was bought by a military serviceman.

Following his death, it was abandoned by his widow in the 1970s and sold to a tow-truck driver for $1,200. It took four years of negotiation, but Peter Mullin and Jim Hull eventually purchased the car in 1985 and spearheaded a restoration that included the installation of the original 4.5-liter V-12 engine that can be tracked back to Count Hubertus von Doenhoff.
[ht: Robb Report]

... notes from The EDJE