The Talbot-Lago T26C was a single-seater racing car designed and developed by French manufacturer Talbot-Lago. It featured a box section chassis, an unsupercharged capacity straight-six engine and a four speed Wilson preselector gearbox. The chassis and gearbox were derived from the company's 1930s racing cars and were similar to those used on their post-war road cars. For the 1950 Formula One season a version with a more powerful engine was introduced, with revised carburation and twin spark plugs. These variants are known as T26C-DA (for Double Allume, i.e. twin plug).
Racing history The T26C made its racing debut in the 1948 Monaco Grand Prix, finishing second in the hands of Louis Chiron. Grand Prix victories were achieved the following year with Louis Rosier winning the 1949 Belgian Grand PrixVIII Grand Prix de Belgique, www.statsf1.com Retrieved on 17 February 2014 and Louis Chiron winning the 1949 French Grand Prix.VI Grand Prix de France, www.statsf1.com Retrieved on 17 February 2014
A modified version, the T26C-GS (for Grand Sport), fitted with two-seater bodywork, cycle wings and lights, won the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans driven by Louis Rosier and Jean-Louis Rosier.
Doug Whiteford won the 1952 and 1953 Australian Grand Prix driving a Talbot-Lago T26C.
Technical data
Technical data T26C (F1) Engine: Front mounted 6-cylinder in-line engine Displacement: 4482 cm³ Bore x stroke: 93 x 110 mm Max power at rpm: 260 hp at 5 000 rpm Valve control: 2 camshafts in the engine block, 2 push rod actuated valves per cylinder Compression: 11.0:1 Carburetor: 3 Zenith 50 HN Gearbox: 4-speed Wilson preselector box Suspension front: Double cross links, transverse leaf springs Suspension rear: Rigid rear axle, longitudinal leaf springs Brakes: Hydraulic drum brakes Chassis & body: Steel box beam frame with aluminum body Wheelbase: 250 cm Dry weight: 950 kg Top speed: 270 km/h
Complete Formula One World Championship results
Works team entries (key) Year Chassis Engine Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1950 T26C-DA Talbot L6 GBR MON 500 SUI BEL FRA ITA Yves Giraud-Cabantous 4DNA Ret Ret 8 Eugene Martin Ret Ret Louis Rosier 3 3 6* Philippe Étancelin Ret Raymond Sommer Ret
* Indicates shared drive with Charles Pozzi in his privately entered T26C
n.b. Prior to there was no Constructor's World Championship, hence constructors were not awarded points.
Results of other Talbot-Lago cars (key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Entrant Chassis Engine Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1950 Ecurie Rosier T26C Talbot L6 GBR MON 500 SUI BEL FRA ITA Louis Rosier 5 Ret 4 Henri Louveau Ret Charles PozziDNAprivate 6* Raymond Sommer Ret Ret Pierre LeveghDNA 7 Ret Ret Guy Mairesse RetEcurie Belge Johnny Claes 11 7 10 8 Ret RetEcurie Bleue Harry Schell 8Ecurie Leutitia Eugene Chaboud Ret Philippe Étancelin 5* T26CT26C-DA Philippe Étancelin 8 Ret Ret 5* 5 1951 Ecurie Rosier T26CT26C-DAT26C-GS SUI 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA ESP Louis Rosier 9 4 Ret 10 8 7 7 Louis Chiron Ret 6 Ret Ret Ret RetEcurie Belge Johnny Claes 13 7 Ret 13 11 Ret Ret Ecurie Belgique Jacques Swaters 10 Ret André Pilette 6 private Yves Giraud-Cabantous Ret 5 7 Ret 8 Ret Philippe Étancelin 10 Ret Ret Ret 8 Guy Mairesse 14 9 Eugene Chaboud 8 Henri Louveau Ret Pierre Levegh 8 9 Ret Duncan Hamilton 12 Ret José Froilán González Ret Georges Grignard Ret
* Indicates shared drive
References