Lot n° 58
Estimation :
150000 - 200000
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 131 000EUR
1950
Serial number 101032
Delivered to Mister Forjonel te 24th of July
Rare and elegant cabriolet version
French registration
Just like the Renault 4 CV, the new Talbot 4.5 litre was designed during the German occupation. Antony Lago and his team designed a new high performance engine. It was original and had two camshafts with valves controlled by rocker arms. The displacement of 4.5 litres was chosen to correspond to the maximum displacement allowed for racing. In 1940, a new 4.5 litre naturally aspirated or 1.5 litre supercharged engine was planned. The new engine had to be able to provide excellent performance for the new Talbot and at the same time had to be easily adapted to a racing car. The engine was in production by the end of the war. Noble and robust, it has six cylinders and a seven-bearing crankshaft. The combustion chambers are hemispherical with the spark plugs in the middle and the valves inclined at 45°. The low-profile chassis is classically made up of two longitudinal members and crossmembers. Robust and extremely rigid, it has the disadvantage of its qualities, it is a little heavy. The raw materials were limited. But Anthony Lago obtained enough to build the first 125 cars at the beginning of 1946. In fact, the aim was to sell the new 4.5 litre Lago Record for export to bring in foreign currency by exporting French luxury. In June, the model was presented to the press. Unlike its competitors, when Talbot unveiled the T 26 at the 1946 Paris Motor Show, it was a real new model that the public discovered. The chassis and mechanics evolved very little between 1946 and 1955. This shows the quality of the car, which had no faults from the very first model. The T 26 catalogue offered the bare chassis or the complete car. The 'factory' range included the convertible, the Coach, the saloon and the 'over-profiled' Coach. Powerful and fast, the Talbot road cars can be considered as the French GT of the time. With 170 HP and at least 170 km/h top speed, the T26s had no equivalent in national or even world production. During a test drive with a T26 in 1951, André Costa, the test journalist of the Auto Journal, reported top performances such as Auxerre Joigny at an average speed of 134 km/h (for the record there was no motorway at the time). He also spoke of the T26 as "a machine designed above all for speed". During the test "on a slippery, curved road and in driving rain with gusts of wind, the car showed no tendency to stray at 160 km/h. This speed was maintained for more than ¾ of an hour between Meaux and Sainte Ménéhould.... between Auxerre and the Fontainebleau forest we accomplished several prolonged rushes at more than 170 km/h. This time the road was dry and flat. Who would dare today? Mr Costa in his conclusion: "From a general point of view, the Talbot Lago Record must be considered a success. On the achievement side, Edmond Mouche and a Coach T26 covered the distance Paris-Nice and back in 21 hours and 35 minutes (without motorway). On the competition side, Louis Rosier won the 1949 Belgian Grand Prix and the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hours with a T26 racing car. With a production T26, he finished 8th in the difficult 1952 Monte Carlo Rally. On the prestige side, the President of the French Republic ordered a Talbot-Lago T 26 as official car in 1950. On a specially extended chassis, the coachbuilder Saoutchik built a parade torpedo that still exists in a private collection. It took almost ten years to build, but production was very limited, due to its prohibitive price: in 1950, a T 26 Record had to be paid 1,870,000 francs for an interior when a Citroën Traction cost 424,000 francs and a Renault 4 CV 288,000 francs. Even a Delahaye 135 M cabriolet Chapron was worth less at 1,839,000 francs.
This very desirable Talbot T26 Cabriolet from 1950 was the subject of an old quality restoration and is in a beautiful general condition. A few points of the interior need to be repaired, but the whole is homogeneous and the bonnet is in good condition. The 6 cylinder 4.5L engine and its carburettors have been overhauled, the brakes checked and the tyres are recent. The car is therefore ready to be driven, as its current owner does in many historic rallies.
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