Talbot-Lago was a French automobile manufacturer based in Suresnes, Hauts de Seine, outside Paris. The company was owned and managed by Antonio Lago, an Italian engineer that acquired rights to the Talbot brand name after the demise of Darracq London's subsidiary Automobiles Talbot France in 1936.Talbot-Lago isn’t a household name, but this French beauty made history by Rick Carey on Hagerty.com, 19 April 2022
Under Lago's managing, the company produced a range of automobiles that included sport and racing cars; in some cases, the bodies of the vehicles were designed by coachbuilding companies such as Figoni et Falaschi. Talbot-Lago faced financial problems; as a result, Lago sold the company to Simca in 1959.
Predecessors
Alexandre Darracq
The Suresnes factory had been built by Alexandre Darracq for his pioneering car manufacturing business begun in 1896, which he named A. Darracq & Cie. It was very profitable. Alexandre Darracq built racing as well as "pleasure" cars and Darracq rapidly became famous for its motor racing successes. Darracq sold his remaining portion of his business in 1912.
Talbot France
New owners renamed the Darracq business Automobiles Talbot in 1922. However, though its ordinary production cars were badged as Talbots, the new owners continued incorporating the Darracq name in Talbot-Darracq for their competition cars.
Owing to the simultaneous existence of British Talbot cars, French products when sold in Britain were badged Darracq-Talbot or Talbot-Darracq,Talbot Darracq or even simply Darracq.Darracq
Antonio Lago In 1932, after the onset of the Great Depression, Italo-British businessman Antonio Lago was appointed managing director in the hope that he might revive Automobiles Talbot's business. Lago began this process, but the owners were unable to stave off receivership beyond the end of 1934. The receiver did not immediately close Automobiles Talbot, and in 1936 Antonio Lago managed to complete a management buy-out from the receiver.
Reorganisation under Tony Lago For 1935, the existing range continued in production but from 1936 these were steadily replaced with cars designed by Walter Becchia, featuring transverse leaf-sprung independent suspension. These included the 4-cylinder 2323 cc (13CV) Talbot Type T4 "Minor", a surprise introduction at the 1937 Paris Motor Show, and the 6-cylinder 2,696 cc (15CV) Talbot "Cadette-15", along with and the 6-cylinder 2,996 cc or 3,996 cc (17 or 23CV) Talbot "Major" and its long-wheelbase version, the Talbot "Master": these were classified as Touring cars (voitures de tourisme).
There was also in the second half of the 1930s a range of Sporting cars (voitures de sport) which started with the Talbot "Baby-15", mechanically the same as the "Cadette-15" but using a shorter slightly lighter chassis. The Sporting Cars range centred on the 6-cylinder 2,996 cc or 3,996 cc (17 or 23CV) Talbot "Baby" and also included the 3,996 cc (23CV) 23 and sporting Lago-Spéciale and Lago-SS models, respectively with two and three carburettors, and corresponding increases in power and performance. The most frequently specified body for the Lago-SS was built by Figoni et Falaschi, and featured a particularly aerodynamic form.
Lago developed the existing six-cylinder engine into a 4-litre engine. The sporting six-cylinder models had a successful racing history. The bodies—such as those of the T150 coupé—were made by coachbuilders such as Figoni et Falaschi or Saoutchik.
Talbot-Lago models 1935–1940 Although the proliferation of cars types and model names that followed Lago's acquisition of the business is at first glance bewildering, it actually involved only four standard chassis lengths as follows:
Short chassis ( wheelbase): Minor T4 (4 cylinders, 2323 cc) Junior 11 Baby-15 (6 cylinders, 2696 cc) Baby 3 litres (6 cylinders, 2996 cc) T150 3 litres (6 cylinders, 2996 cc) Baby 4 litres (6 cylinders, 3996 cc) Lago Spécial (6 cylinders, 3996 cc with twin or triple carbs) Extra short chassis ( wheelbase): Lago SS (6 cylinders, 3996 cc with triple carbs) Normal chassis ( wheelbase): Cadette-15 (6 cylinders, 2696 cc) Major 3 litres (6 cylinders, 2996 cc) Major 4 litres (6 cylinders, 3996 cc) Long (7-seater) chassis ( wheelbase): Master 3 litres (6 cylinders, 2996 cc) Master 4 litres (6 cylinders, 3996 cc)
During the early years of the war, Walter Becchia left Talbot to work for Citroën. In 1942 Lago was joined by another engineer, Carlo Machetti, and from then the two of them were working on the twin camshaft 4483 cc six-cylinder unit that would lie at the heart of the 1946 Talbot T26.
After World War II After the war, the company continued to be known both for successful high-performance racing cars and for large luxurious passenger cars, with extensive sharing of chassis and engine components between the two. Nevertheless, the period was one of economic stagnation and financial stringency. The company had difficulty finding customers, and its finances were stretched.
In 1946, the company began production of a new engine design, based on earlier units but with a new cylinder head featuring twin in-block camshafts. This engine, designed under the leadership of Carlo Marchetti, was in many respects a new engine. A 4483 cc six-cylinder in-line engine was developed for the Talbot Lago Record (1946–1952) and for the Talbot Grand Sport 26CV (1947–1954). These cars were priced against large luxurious cars from the likes of Delahaye, Delage, Hotchkiss and Salmson. Talbot would remain in the auto-making business for longer than any of these others, and the Talbot name was resurrected in the early 1980s.
Talbot Lago Record T26
The "Talbot Lago Record T26" was a large car with a fiscal horsepower of 26 CV and a claimed actual power output of 170 hp, delivered to the rear wheels via a four-speed manual gear box, with the option at extra cost of a Wilson pre-selector gear box, and supporting a claimed top speed of 170 km/h (105 mph). The car was commonly sold as a four-door sedan, but a two-door cabriolet was also offered. There were also coachbuilt specials with bodywork by traditionalist firms such as Graber.
Talbot Lago Grand Sport T26
The "T26 Grand Sport (GS)" was first displayed in public in October 1947 as a shortened chassis,The standard wheelbase for the existing T26 models was 3125 mm, but for the T26 Grand Sport this was reduced to 2650 mm. and only 12 were made during 1948 which was the model's first full year of production. The car was noted for its speed. The engine which produced 170 hp in the Lago Record was adapted to provide or, later, in the GS, and a top speed of around 200 km/h (124 mph) was claimed, depending on the body that was fitted. The car was built for either racing or luxury and benefited directly from Talbot's successful T26C Grand Prix car. As such it was expensive, rare and helped Louis Rosier with his son to win the LeMans 24 Hour race in 1950. The GS replaced the Lago-Record chassis which was named for its remarkable top speed. The GS was one of the world's most powerful production cars at the time. It had several special features from the T26 Grand Prix cars, such as a 4.5-litre inline-6 aluminum cylinder head, a hollowed camshaft, multiport exhaust system and triple carburetors. Chassis details were similar to the Grand Prix cars, but it was longer and wider. It came it two wheelbase lengths -104 and .
Almost all the Talbots sold during the late 1940s came with Talbot bodies, constructed in the manufacturer's extensive workshops. The T26 Grand Sport (GS) was the exception, however, and cars were delivered only as bare chassis, requiring customers to choose bespoke bodywork from a specialist coachbuilder.
Talbot Lago Baby
The Talbot Lago Baby (1948–1951) marked the return of a pre-war Talbot model name and was the third model presented by the company during the 1940s. The car was commonly sold as a four-door sedan, but a two-door cabriolet was also offered. Its engine comprised only four cylinders, but the twin overhead camshaft with cylinder valves on both sides of the engine block was again featured: at 2690 cc the engine capacity equated to a fiscal horsepower of 15 CV, which was enough to attract the punitive levels of car tax applied by the French government to large cars. The power output was initially , which was increased to in 1949. Although the postwar Baby sedan closely resembled the more powerful Record on a brief glance, the Baby's 2,950 mm wheelbase was slightly shorter than the 3130 mm wheelbase of the Record, and the overall length was correspondingly 200 mm shorter, reflecting the shortened four-cylinder engine block. Additionally, the cheaper car sat on a simplified suspension set-up. Baby customers could specify as an option a Wilson pre-selector gear box.
Talbot Lago manufactured three special made seven-seater presidential cars; one for the President of France, one for the President of Tunisia, and one for the royal family in Saudi Arabia.
Talbot-Lago T26C
The Talbot-Lago T26C is an open-wheel formula race car, designed and developed by French manufacturer Talbot-Lago, and built to the new Formula One racing rules and regulations, in 1948.
New bodies for 1952 In 1951, as rumours of the company's financial difficulties intensified, a new Ponton format body appeared for the Talbot Baby and Record. The wheelbases were carried over from the earlier models. Although in many ways strikingly modern, the new car featured a two-piece front windscreen in place of the single flat screen of its predecessor, presumably reflecting the difficulties at the time of combining the strength of a windscreen with curved glass at an acceptable price and quality. The new car's large rear window was itself replaced by a larger three-piece "panoramic" wrap around back window as part of the car's first face-lift, which took place in time for the 1952 Paris Motor Show. The engine specification of the four-cylinder unit was unchanged as was the claimed performance even though the new body was some 100 kg heavier than the old. A new development with the Ponton-bodied cars body was the availability of the larger six-cylinder unit from the Talbot Record in the top-of-the-line Talbot Baby, which in this form was called the Talbot Baby/6 Luxe, and had the slightly longer wheel-base and overall length enforced by the greater length of the six-cylinder engine.
T14 LS engine / Talbot Lago Sport
At the 1954 Salon de L'Automobile de Paris, Talbot-Lago presented their last new engine: the new four-cylinder still had the typical twin laterally mounted camshafts, although it was upgraded to five main bearings. The new 2,491 cc engine was called the T14 LS, but it did not have a car to go in until May 1955 when the Talbot-Lago 2500 Coupé T14 LS was finally presented. The first car had all-aluminium bodywork, but later cars used more steel. Fifty-four of these coupés were built, but they proved hard to sell - the stylish bodywork couldn't quite hide the thirties' underpinnings, and the rough engine offered little elasticity nor longevity.Decker, p. 38